The LIV Golf Invitational Series kicked off its inaugural event in London on Tuesday.
LIV Golf is a startup tour that hopes to rival the PGA Tour. It has already signed former tour stars such as Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia and expects to add even more big names, such as Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau in the coming weeks.
There has been plenty of controversy surrounding the tour because it is backed by the Saudi regime, causing some to question the morality of top players taking the money and running from the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour has already banned the players playing in this week's event from playing any PGA Tour-sanctioned events in the future.
Enough with the drama, that's not why you're here. This will explain all the various ways to bet on LIV Golf.
The Format
In order to understand how to bet it, it's important to understand the format in which these events will be played.
The series is made up of eight events throughout the summer. The first seven events will be 54-hole stroke play tournaments and the last event will be a matchplay, knockout-style tournament between the 12 teams.
Wait, teams? Yes, there are teams involved in LIV Golf. For each tournament, there is an individual prize pool and a team prize pool. There are 48 players in each tournament and they make up 12 teams of four.
The 12 captains select their teams in a snake-style draft. Here's a look at the teams for the first event in London.
Where to Bet
Sportsbooks had difficulties acquiring licenses from state regulators in order to post the odds in time for the first event.
The biggest issue was a lack of a governing body, an issue that LIV has solved.
DraftKings, FanDuel and PointsBet posted odds for the London event but — depending on which state you live in — they weren't all available to bet on.
LIV Golf is available on DraftKings in Arizona, Connecticut, Wyoming, Oregon and Illinois.
MaximBet was the only sportsbook in Colorado to post odds before the London event.
The books have reported that what they offer will be up to the state regulators and gaming commissions.
It is likely every state will allow betting on LIV Golf, but it is not out of the question that some could ban it. Some states banned betting on Russian sports after Russia invaded Ukraine which set a precedent for banning sports bets due to political issues.
However, it would be a surprise if LIV Golf offerings were not available on the major sportsbooks in all legal states in the coming weeks.
Betting Strategy
Betting strategy will be very similar to betting on the PGA Tour. At a minimum, there will be outright odds and matchups. As LIV continues to grow, there will be more ways to bet such as first round leader, top 10, top 20, etc. Not many of those were available for the first week.
One thing to keep in mind is it is only 54 holes, instead of 72 — which will typically bring more variance. The more holes that are played, the more likely it is the top guys will win.
The other additional wrinkle is the teams. PointsBet posted odds for the team competition and that's something that will likely be available every week. The difficult part might be finding an edge. LIV takes the top two scores from each team on the first two days and the top three scores from each team for the final round. It could become a bit random.
Be sure to check back at the Action Network for breakdowns on all of the events, including our best bets.
Where to watch
Every round of the LIV Golf Invitational Series will be broadcasted on LIV's website, YouTube and Facebook.
LIV Golf is not expected to sign a TV deal in the U.S. anytime soon and it is expected to be streamed throughout the first season.
