Ever since its inception in ancient Greece when men would perform their disciplines wearing nothing more than the sweat on their brow and the only rule in the boxing ring was that you were not allowed to kill your opponent the Olympic games has caught the imagination of the public and competitors alike. There seems to be nothing more intriguing than watching athletes at the peak of their physical fitness battling it out for a spot on the podium and a place in history.

But if the Olympics is a beautiful thing for the average Joe to watch late in to the night and if it brings inspiration to young kids trying to break their way in the sporting world then for people who like to bet the Olympics is nothing but one great big wet dream.

It is not the same as the world’s other big sporting moments such as the Football World Cup where an intimate knowledge of the sport can go a long way to determining tour success at having a punt. The Olympics is a totally different beast with 26 different sports breaking down in to number of different disciplines. In cycling alone there is the individual pursuit, team pursuit and time trials while the likes of boxing, wrestling and weightlifting will cycle through all of the different weight categories. You can even bet on the likes beach volley ball, which will give you an excuse to watch athletes jumping around on the sand wearing nearly as little as their ancient Greek counterparts, skeet shooting, gymnastics and synchronised swimming.

The Olympics are also a great leveller and anyone from almost any country can pull off the performance of their lives to take out the gold medal. There will of course be the obligatory hot favourites with the likes of Usain Bolt in the 100M along with Australia’s own Sally Pearson in the 100m Hurdles and Stephanie Rice in pool. There are also the Asian competitors in Table Tennis, the American Basketball team and many of the African long distance runners all of whom have dominated recent Games and will again be hard to beat. But outside of those it is almost anybody’s guess and it is this that makes the Olympics such a special occasion.

Read more: London 2012 Olympics