The betting market for the Eurovision Song Contest is big business. Whereas 10 or 20 years ago, it was really only the physical betting shops in the UK and Ireland that took much of an interest in our favourite music competition, nowadays there are literally dozens of gambling websites open to anyone with a credit card (and living in a country that allows online gambling, of course!) – and a similarly wide range of different bets to choose from.

One of the most popular markets is “to qualify/not qualify for the final”, and although 2012 won’t go down as a major year for shocks in this respect, any punters who took a chance on Malta’s Kurt Calleja will have enjoyed their Thursday night! Even with the semi-finals out of the way, however, there are still plenty of interesting gambling opportunities available for this year’s event.

Before we start, I should note that I’ll be using the British-style fractional odds throughout this post, as they’re the ones most commonly found online. For one explanation of the difference between decimal and fractional odds, see our article from last year. And if that doesn’t help, most betting sites have an option to display decimal instead of fractional odds, so use it if necessary!

Now of course, the “classic” ESC bet is on the winner. As in 2009, when Alexander Rybak ran away with the contest, Loreen’s “Euphoria” has been the clear bookies’ favourite for victory for a couple of months now. If you agree that Sweden will take home the trophy this year, therefore, you won’t make a great deal of money back (the best price – at the time of writing, like all the odds quoted in this article – is 11/8 at Coral). However, this also means that pretty much every other country is more generously priced than they would be if there weren’t a runaway favourite – making popular choices such as Russia (13/2, Betfred) and Italy (12/1, Bwin) more tempting than they might be otherwise.

If you want to place an each-way bet – a kind of double bet where you receive a smaller amount if your choice doesn’t win but still finishes in the top 4 (or 3, or 5 – it depends on the bookie) – then, logically, you should focus on countries that tend to perform well regardless of what they send. Serbia is probably too short at 10/1 (various), but the likes of Romania (33/1, various), Ukraine (50/1, Betfred) and especially host country Azerbaijan (80/1, Betfred) look well worth a nibble.

Often, the greatest joy is to be found in the less conventional markets, however. “To finish in the top 10” is an interesting way of betting on something you expect to have a good Saturday night without necessarily threatening for victory. Of course, the odds aren’t as generous as in other markets, but they can represent guaranteed money if you’re confident in your views. Take Cyprus, for example – the first modern up-tempo song of the night could net you 13/5 at Boylesports. Or if you think a late draw can give a televoter-friendly song a real boost, there’s Moldova at 9/4 (various) or even surprise qualifier Malta at 7/1 (Coral).

Similarly, you can bet against a country to reach the top 10 – so if you think Loreen is so hugely overrated that she’ll barely make it to the left-hand side of the scoreboard, why not snap up the 6/1 offered by Bwin for her to finish 11th or lower?

Match bets are another popular market – “Country X to beat Country Y” is a language that anyone can understand. I won’t go into details here, though, as so many sites have so many different options in this respect, and they tend to be fairly similarly priced – it’s in the bookies’ interests to avoid clear mismatches. It might be a fun way to resolve any disputes you have with your friends, though – if you’re all about the Hump, for example, but your buddy is a die-hard Jedhead, why not both put your money where your mouth is?

And the “novelty” bets don’t end there. For example, Bwin will give you 6/1 if you think Spain will be the highest-placed “big 5” country – while poor France is way out at 33/1 (various). Alternatively, if you believe in the power of Greece to get its vote out when it matters, 15/4 (Bet365) says that they’ll be the top “Balkan” country – a definition that includes big-hitters such as Serbia, Romania and Turkey.

Finally, it should never be said that gamblers are an inherently optimistic bunch – and if you’re also sceptical about the quality of this year’s field, you might like to know that Boylesports and William Hill will give you odds of 8/1 for a country to finish with absolutely no points in the grand final.

For a full overview of the various betting markets for this year’s ESC, take a look at the Oddschecker site. Meanwhile, more Eurovision betting tips can be found over at the excellent Sofabet.

However you spend your money this year, we hope you have a profitable ESC night – and, whatever happens, a very enjoyable one!