Surf’s Up…At BetUS with the Rip Curl Pro Search

I wonder if you knew that at BetUS Sportsbook you can even bet on surfing events, which obviously includes all the signature events in the world. Talk about being able to "ride a wave'" of a sports betting winning streak!

Right upon us is one of the true prestige events on the ASP World Tour - the Rip Curl Pro Search. So you ask, does Charles Jay know surfing?

Are you kidding? DOES CHARLES JAY KNOW SURFING?

No.

But let's proceed anyway.

Without further adieu, here are the numbers for the top 20 surfers on the list:

BetUS Surfing Betting

To Win Rip Curl Pro Search 2008

Kelly Slater [USA] +225

Mick Fanning [AUS] +500

CJ Hobgood [USA] +800

Taj Burrow [AUS] +900

Joel Parkinson [AUS] +1000

Andy Irons [HAW] +1100

Bede Durbidge [AUS] +1400

Bobby Martinez [USA] +1400

Damien Hobgood [USA] +2000

Adrian Buchan [AUS] +2000

Adriano De Souza [BRA] +2500

Jordy Smith [ZAF] +2500

Kai Otton [AUS] +2500

Dane Reynolds [USA] +3000

Jeremy Flores [FRA] +4000

Dean Morrison [AUS] +5000

Fredrick Patacchia [HAW] +6000

Pancho Sullivan [HAW] +8000

Tom Whitaker [AUS] +8000

Taylor Knox [USA] +8000

To the uninitiated, surfers may come off as "beach bums" who do this as a way to avoid working. Nothing can be further than the truth; well, almost nothing. Surfers are actually some of the best athletes in the world, as they excel in an endeavor that requires a lot of dexterity and physical coordination. This is a bit different than some of the other athletes we talked about last week in the sport of darts, which employs a little more in the way of hand-eye coordination. And surfing is one of the most dangerous sports anyone can engage in; when you are faced with a 15-foot wave, you make a wrong move and that thing can swallow you up like George Foreman swallows up hamburgers. And there is very little these guys have to protect themselves. There is no padding to protect what could potential be a collision with a force more powerful than any NFL middle linebacker could dream of.

There is a pro surfing organization; it is called the ASP, or Association of Surfing Professionals. These athletes go on tour every year, and one of the biggest events is the "Rip Curl Pro Search," an event only in its fourth year and already a sensation.

The tournament brings together the world's 45 top-ranked surfers from July 30 through August 10. And while spectacles like the Super Bowl or a college bowl game may have a set location and take months and months of preparation on the part of the locals, the location of the Rip Curl Pro Search is not even known to the public until virtually the last minute. It's a "search" indeed, because the tour organizers are looking for a place where the surf is best at that particular time.

Reunion Island was the site of the first Rip Curl Search event in '05. Two years ago it was LaJolla, Mexico, and last year the top 45 went to Chile.

Kelly Slater is the logical favorite, at +225, considering that he has won four of the five events that have been contested thus far on the ASP World Tour. Slater has also yet to lose this year to any of the other surfers among the top 45. Bruno Santos, who is the only surfer who has won an event besides Slater this year, got a sponsor "wildcard," which is similar to a sponsor's exemption in golf. Mick Fanning, who won last year's ASP World title, is the second favorite, at +500. Is there a darkhorse? I don't know, but Andy Irons is sitting at +1100, despite the fact that he has won the last two Rip Curl Pro Search events.