ITM cup betting

Ever wonder why the All Blacks are so good? Why a country with such a limited population can produce bone crushers and world beaters? ITM cup betting offers plenty of clues.

The competition is one of the highlights of the domestic rugby season, one which attracts great volumes of rugby betting, while cup fixtures draw massive crowds. ITM cup betting odds are studied as closely as team news and injury reports; subsequently, live ITM cup betting in particular is becoming increasingly popular as fixtures are screened to UK audiences via TV and the internet.

Not surprisingly then, rugby betting in the land of the long white cloud focuses heavily on ITM cup betting.

The ITM Cup consists of 14 teams covering most of New Zealand, each team is under the governance of a union. For example, Auckland is governed by the Auckland Rugby Football Union and each team is the leading representative team the union has to offer.

Such is the depth of talent in New Zealand, predictions of match outcomes are difficult, especially as so many provincial teams are capable of upsetting the odds and obtaining excellent results against the so-called bigger teams.

The ITM Cup was established following a review, which the NZRU launched in 2003. The inaugural competition involving 14 teams kicked off in 2006. There have been changes which have increased the level of competition and, as a consequence, interest in ITM cup betting odds.

The competition is a round robin format and comprises 94 matches played over 15 weeks.

The round robin stage takes place lasts 13 weeks after which the leading four teams advance to the semi-finals. This quartet are ranked one to four based on the number of points accumulated during the competition.

Throughout the final stage, the higher-seeded team in any match will play at home.

The system is simple, and ITM cup bets provide value at every stage of the competition.

Place an ITM cup bet on which four teams will reach the play-offs and then search for the odds on the teams capable of stringing together an unbeaten sequence of results. This, however, is an unlikely event - which highlights the competition’s strength in depth.

Of course, online ITM cup betting offers an opportunity to make use of free bets regularly distributed by online bookmakers. Including a free bet as part of an ITM cup bet on a sequence of matches played over a weekend can prove hugely profitable.

Rugby betting has increased in popularity since the introduction of professionalism, with betting on ITM cup matches now an important part of the sport’s culture.

As one southern hemisphere rugby expert explained: “The cup was re-vamped to give the All Blacks the best chance of international success and punters have profited because of raised levels in the quality of play. ITM cup bets are growing in popularity with punters/ predictors all the time and this is another competition where the volume of wagers increase as the final looms.

“Canterbury are invariably among the favourites in pre-tournament ITM cup betting. They won the most recent final and punters in receipt of a free bet would expect them to be involved in the play-offs most years.

“To place a bet on ITM cup matches is to become part of the competition, to give you a real interest in match outcomes, while live ITM cup betting presents punters with the chance to make some serious money, be it betting on the number of tries or total points scored. Like New Zealand itself, ITM cup betting gives everyone an opportunity to succeed.”