Bandy

If you live outside of the Scandinavian countries, you can be forgiven for not knowing about the exciting sport of bandy. But after reading through this bandy-filled description, you’ll be completely ready to place your first-ever bet on bandy with Sportingbet SA.

Bandy explained

Despite its Scandinavian popularity, Bandy originated in England with Queen Victoria’s own husband – Prince Albert – playing goalkeeper in a famous 1853 match at Windsor Castle. It’s often described as a cross between soccer and ice hockey, played on an ice rink with sticks, although there is no puck but rather a plastic orange ball.

Like soccer, the game consists of 11 players per team and is divided into 45-minute halves. Players pass, dribble and shoot the ball with play stopped for a goal throw, corner stroke, penalty stroke or stroke in with rules dictated by a red- and blue-card system.

Biggest bandy competition

There are several annual tournaments such as Elitserien - The Swedish Bandy League. This is the world’s most established league, consisting of 14 teams playing 26 games a season. There is also the Russian Bandy Super League, as well as the Bandy World Championship, a popular tournament hosted in Sweden annually, alongside professional leagues in Russia, Finland, Norway and elsewhere.

Bandy Betting options

There are several ways to bet on the sport of bandy, the most popular being the outright winner. There is also handicap betting whereby bookies offer a goal handicap to level the playing field, or totals betting where the bettor wages on the total number of goals by both teams. Sportingbet SA gives endless bandy betting options, including the must-try Live Betting experience with many rewarding promotions.