The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics succeeded in bringing the world together, showcasing the top athletes in every winter sport, allowing a resurgence of Canadian pride and of course giving us sports bettors some great events to bet on and get excited about.  Now that the Olympics are over, what do we sports betting fanatics have to look forward to?  Well you don’t have to look too far into the future to get pumped up for the 2010 NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.  Then following that we have the biggest sporting event in the world, that only comes around every 4 years, the World Cup of soccer.  Combine this with the NHL and NBA playoffs and we have plenty to get excited about.

The March Madness tournament selection takes place this Sunday March 14th and the tournament gets underway shortly thereafter on the 16th.  The Kansas Jayhawks are the pretournament favourites, while the defending champion North Carolina Tarheels won’t even be at the dance to defend their title.  You heard that right, the Tarheels will not even be participating in this March Madness tournament!  Well we know we will have a new champion, but who will it be?

Then in June the World Cup of soccer takes place in South Africa.  The first game takes place on June 11th and the tournament will run for exactly a month until the tournament concludes on the 11th of July.  Spain is the pretourney favourite with 4/1 odds to take the title, while Brazil is a close second with 5/1 odds.  Rounding out the top five are England, Argentina and Italy.  I personally like Germany or the Netherlands to take down the championship, but we will have to wait and see.  One thing is for sure, the World Cup is never dull.

The NHL and NBA seasons are drawing to a close with only a handful of games left in each.  The playoff race is heating up and this is the most exciting time of the season.  Then when the season closes we of course are treated to some good, exciting playoff hockey and basketball.  Personally, I’m a huge hockey fan and I always get excited for my NHL playoff pool.  Last year I finished second, but this year I’m confident I will take down the top prize.  In the NHL the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals are currently the teams to beat, each with 15/4 odds to win the Stanley Cup.  In the NBA the Los Angeles Lakers are of course big favourites to repeat led by superstar Kobe Bryant.  Either way the favourites on paper don’t matter, they still have to prove it on the ice and the court.

Post Olympics betting seems like it will be just fine.  March Madness, the 2010 World Cup, the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NBA Championships are all in the near future so us sports bettors have a lot to look forward to!  Then only two short years until the Summer Olympics!