Pro wrestling just ventured into Ohio as the WWE Raw made its way to Nationwide Arena in Columbus on December 26th.
Unfortunately the lingering effects of bad weather and the ensuing holiday travel mess wreaked havoc on the schedule, forcing several top wrestlers to miss the WWE Holiday Tour event.
Pro Wrestling Is Coming Soon To Ohio
But have no fear, wrestling returns to the Buckeye state a few times early in 2023. WWE Raw makes its way to Heritage Bank Arena in Cincinnati on January 16th and the Road to Wrestlemania Tour rolls into the Covelli Centre in Youngstown on March 11th. The upstart All Elite Wrestling Tour comes to Ohio as well with the AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage event hitting the Nutter Center at Wright State in Dayton on February 1st.
Sportsbooks do not post betting lines on pro wrestling because (spoiler alert) they deem themselves an entertainment show and not a sport, but Ohio residents aged 21 or over can place bets on other combat sports like boxing and MMA as of 12:01 AM on January 1st, 2023. That is when sports betting legalization in Ohio officially begins.
Buckeye state residents can sign up now ahead of the launch and take advantage of the latest Ohio sports betting promos. 16 online sportsbooks, 12 retail sportsbooks and hundreds of betting kiosks will open the windows just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, with several more
on track to get approval early in 2023. Most are offering generous promos to sign up. One common offer is first bet free bet insurance. Just sign up, make a deposit and place your first bet. If the wager wins, you collect the proceeds! If the wager loses, the book replenishes the account with risk free bets equal in amount to the size of the loss on the first bet up to a maximum amount the sportsbook allows. That max is usually in the $1000 range. There may be a timeframe with which to use the free bets as well as a rollover requirement before withdrawing the funds. It is important to note these are free bets and not a pure deposit match.
Many sportsbooks alternatively offer just a straight free bet with value in the $100 to $200 range with very easy conditions to meet. Just deposit at least $10 and then bet $1 and receive a $100 to $200 free bet. The lower deposit level and straightforward nature here make this type offer even more attractive to many.
There are many ways to wager on boxing and MMA, including the following
Moneylines
This is generally the most popular combat sports bet type. Just pick the winner of the match. Draftkings has the following lines up on the Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski UFC lightweight championship fight at UFC 284 on February 11th for example.
Makhachev -315 vs Volkanovski +260
Makhachev bettors need to risk $315 to win $100 while Volkanovski players win $260 on a $100 bet. UFC fights can draw, though it is a rare occurrence. The bet voids in a tie.
Total Rounds
This is just an over/under on the length of the fight. UFC matches generally are scheduled for three rounds of five minutes each and total rounds bets usually use 2.5 rounds as the over/under level, with the price on each side the biggest variable. In the Makhachev vs Volkanovski fight, Draftkings lists over 2.5 rounds at -125 and under at -105. The under wins if the fight stops before there’s 2:30 left in the third round, otherwise the over wins. Boxing matches with three minute rounds use the 1:30 mark of the round in question as the decision point. If the fight stops between rounds, the length is considered the end of the previous round.
Round Betting
Bettors here wager on both the round the fight ends and who will win. WBO champ Kazuto Ioka faces WBA belt holder Joshua Franco on Saturday in Tokyo to unify the Junior Bantamweight crown in boxing. The moneyline has Ioka as a -160 favorite vs +125 for Franco in the 12 round bout. Here are some of the round betting markets at DraftKings.
Ioka to win in Round 4: +5000
Ioka to win in Round 5: +4000
Ioka to win in Round 6: +3500
Ioka to win in Round 7: +3500
Ioka Decision or Tech Decision: +100
Draw: +1400
Franco to win in Round 4: +8000
Franco to win in Round 5: +6500
Franco to win in Round 6: +5000
Franco to win in Round 7: +4000
Franco Decision or Tech Decision: +190
Books also list “Round Group” odds in boxing. For example Ioka is +1800 to win in rounds 4-6, and +600 to win in Rounds 10-16.
Method of Victory
As it sounds, there are markets on how the fight will end. For example, these betting odds from BetMGM on the Ioka vs Franco fight.
Ioka by KO/TKO/Technical Decision or DQ: +600
Ioka on Points: -110
Franco by KO/TKO/Technical Decision or DQ: +650
Franco on Point: +220
Draw: +1600
Props
These vary from book to book and fight to fight, but expect some creative props as the event nears. BetMGM has a prop on the Ioka-Franco fight going under 11 rounds at +300 and 11 rounds or more at -450. Think Ioka will get knocked down then still win? That is priced at +1000. There is also a fun longshot bet on either boxer winning in under 60 seconds. Both are listed at +20000. There are also these props on “Final Judgment”
Ioka by Unanimous Decision: +150
Ioka by Split Decision: +650
Ioka by Majority Decision: +1200
Franco by Unanimous Decision: +400
Franco by Split Decision: +800
Franco by Majority Decision: +18
