Handball Gambling Anyone?

BetUS Sportsbook bettors are always looking for something new and exciting they can play. Well, we've got something that maybe more exciting than anything else. Well, almost.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing another game I know nothing about Handball.

This is not handball like your grandfather (if he was athletic) might have played. It does not involve simply hitting a ball with your hand against a wall. In other words, it's not racquetball without the rackets.

It's a TEAM game, and if you’re lucky, you might see it being played in the Olympics. It is probably played on its highest level by the EHF Champions League, where the top teams in Europe have been competing since 1957.

Here are the online odds on who is going to win the EHF Champions League for the 2008-09 season:

BetUS Handball Betting Odds

To Win 2008-09 Men's EHF Champions League

Ciudad Real +180

THW Kiel +180

F C Barcelona +450

HSV Hamburg +900

HC Croatia Zagreb +1200

Flensburg Handewitt +1700

Rhein Neckar Lowen +1700

Portland San Antonio +2200

MKB Veszprem +7000

Montpellier HB +9000

Celje Pivovarna Lasko +9000

FCK Handbold +9000

Chehovski Medvedi Chekov +12500

Pick Szeged +15000

Chambery +15000

GOG Svendborg TGI +25000

Hammarby IF HF +25000

RK Cimos Koper +25000

FC Barcelona might be considered the "Boston Celtics" of this competition, having won the league more than anyone else (seven times). THW Kiel, the co-favorite, won it last year. The dominant countries are Spain and Germany, who have won it for a combined 23 times in the 48 years the league has been holding contests.

Played on a field 40 meters long by 20 meters wide, team handball is a 7-on-7 game that, to the American viewer, seems to combine some of the elements of basketball with that of water polo (DRY water polo, that is). That's because you have to throw the ball into the goal. But you can advance the ball by dribbling; in fact, it is the opposite of basketball in a sense in that you can run with it for a few steps, then you HAVE to dribble it to move it forward again. Like basketball, dribbling after touching it with both hands is a "double dribble."

Teams pass the ball around the perimeter, like in the NBA, and the defenders stand at the six-meter line, as if playing a zone defense. This is a physical game, though fouls are often called. It is extremely fast-paced, and there is a lot of scoring. It is not unusual for 50 goals to be scored in one game. Actually, it's probably more exciting than I've described it to you.

If you've got one of those plans that lets you see all the different Olympic sports, you should catch it if you can, then bet it - along with the Champions League and the other futures - at BetUS Sportsbook.

Go to the BetUS.com oonline sports betting action!

(Charles Jay of http://www.ebookies.com is always looking to punch it ahead as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)