Many people do not consider water polo to be an exciting sport - let alone a sport worth a bet. But, they couldn't be more wrong! As the oldest continuous Olympic team sport, water polo is highly-competitive with knife-edge drama and fast action - it's a tricky sport and requires several skills honed to perfection to compete, including strong ball-handling skills, reflexes and awareness, treading water and of course a very strong skill in swimming!

A team sport consisting of six field players and one goalkeeper, each team can have a maximum of six substitutes and the winner of each game is the team that scores the most goals. Games consist of plenty of swimming, players passing the ball above the water to each other (while being defended by opponents, although it is a non-contact sport) and scoring by throwing the ball into a goalie-defended net at each end. The land-based equivalent of water polo would be handball, although water polo has been compared with ice hockey.

Don't fool yourself that water polo is a team of players paddling about in the water throwing balls at each other - it's a fast and often aggressive game and injuries are frequent. Players wear little padding and facial and head injuries often occur, with broken noses and split lips common. Goalies do not wear gloves, so hand injuries are frequent, too.

There are loads of events and tournaments where you can catch some of the action and place a bet on your favourites, with the male teams at the Olympics a common choice. In addition, you can get some great odds on the Water Polo World Championships, the FINA Water Polo World Cup and the FINA Water Polo World League to name just a few.