Euro 2012 Championships: Sports Betting in Host Countries

Soon, the big event will come to the former Communist states. The Euro Football Championships are near.

One of the host countries, Poland, will have games in Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan, and Wroclaw. The last city is the homebase of the current Polish league champion, Slask Wroclaw, which just has gotten for itself a very nice and modern stadium, which will see top teams play in the Euro 2012.

Certainly, Polish football punters are looking to place bets on their team. However, sportsbooks give Poland little chance of winning the tournament. But Poles did well before. The Polish national team has finished the World Cup at third place twice, albeit quite a long time ago: in 1974 and 1982.

The team has good players, such as Kuszczak, the goalkeeper of Manchester United, or Lewandowski, the best player in German Bundesliga who led his team, Borussia Dortmund, to victory in the German League.

The online sportsbooks in Poland are legal and already offer bets on the upcoming matches. Bets can be made on a variety of outcomes, such as the winning team, the top scorer, or specific scores. Bets on Lewandowski as the top scorer come with payouts such as 33/1. Long shot, but if it happens, the gain can be tremendous.

AS for Polish gambling laws, these are more liberal when it comes to sports betting than for casinos.

For bets on sports in Ukraine, these are illegal and can result in fines. Many Ukrainian punters are seeking instead to bet at foreign sites. Unfortunately for Ukraine, the national team will need to match against England, France, and Sweden for the two top places which allow to reach for the quarter-finals.

Most give Ukrainians few chances to make the next round. If Ukraine happens to reach it, the sports betting on football in the country is expected to explode. But the bad news is that the online and mobile betting prohibition will lead the Ukrainian football punters to bet at illegal dens. Unlike the Poles who can place easy online bets on the Euro 2012.