Throughout the long illustrious history of sports betting fans and gamblers alike have been witness to some of the greatest rivalries both team and individually. For the online betting enthusiast who likes to wager a little bit extra when a rivalry game takes place, here are three rivalries you should consider.

1.     Manny Pacquiao v Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Perhaps the best rivalry of the decade, Pacquiao and Mayweather have not actually faced each other. Over the last few years, both boxers have established themselves as the best in the world. The question fans of both fighters and boxing fans in general wonder is who exactly is the best fighter in the world?

From what we can tell, Manny Pacquiao in recent time has taken on much tougher opponents, but Mayweather has a fiercer repertoire. Never the less, when this fight does eventually happen, it may go down as the biggest draw in boxing history. The two fighter’s average 1 million paper view buys for their individual fights, but when they meet up expect that number to triple.

2.      Montreal Canadiens v Toronto Maple Leafs – The rivalry that made hockey Canada’s game, Montreal and Toronto have hated each other since the 1930s. Initially when there were only six teams in the NHL, Montreal and Toronto was the main divide in Canada. The French Canadiens loved Montreal while the English speaking Canadiens followed the Leafs.

Overall, Montreal is the better team as it has won the most Stanley Cups in league history, while Toronto has been plagued without a Stanley Cup for several decades. In recent time, the Leafs have struggled mightily while Montreal had its dream run almost come to fruition during the 2009-2010 season.

3.     Duke Blue Devils v North Carolina Tar Heels – The ACC NCAA basketball division has long been considered a two horse conference. While the other schools in the conference are coming around, the two schools to dominate the ACC since it was established are Duke and North Carolina. Add the fact these schools are located in the same state and only differ by one championship, and you have one if not the best rivalry in sports.

Many online sports betting fans are new to the sport of mixed martial arts, so we’re going to briefly run down everything you need to know to turn your weekend penchant for elite level violence into a fun way to line your pockets.

The first thing you have to understand about mixed martial arts is it is crazy unpredictable. Anything can happen on any given night. And it does.

With that in mind, betting favorites in MMA is risky. It is generally not a sound investment to bet favorites in MMA unless you’re really sure, or you just have some connection to a particular fighter.

Betting underdogs, on the other hand, can be a very wise move. Even if you’re unsure about a particular fighter’s ability to get it done in a fight, an attractive enough line can warrant a small bet. These are called value bets. A skewed line can ensure a small bet pays off serious dividends, and if the fight goes down as anticipated, your losses aren’t significant. This is where it pays to know the fighters, know their styles, and know how they match up. If you’ve never seen a fighter before, and you’re curious about breaking down their style, youtube is your friend.

MMA odds are presented as betting lines. Let’s say in the main event for UFC 124, GSP is a heavy favorite. The fictional line for GSP going into the bout is -300. That means, a winning bet of $100 will win you your original $100 back, as well as $300 in winnings. The fictional betting line for his opponent, Josh Koscheck could be +200. That means, a winning bet of $200 on Kos will get you your original $200 back, plus another $100.

BetMania is one of the oldest online sportsbooks in the industry having over 15 years of experience. However, with that said, BetMania does not receive nearly as much attention as the experienced heavyweights in the online betting industry, BetOnline, Bodog and 5Dimes. In fact, when BetMania is in the sports gambling media spotlight it tends to be for negative purposes. Nevertheless here is a look at one of the oldest betting online shops in the industry.

Who Bets Here - BetMania main target of customers are the public sports bettors. They do offer low juice and high limits, however they aren’t concerned with getting the lines out early and betting variety leaves a lot to be desired if you are a sharp.

Their main forte of attraction is high bonuses, which tends to attract new bettors. Any type of bonus with cash back or free play will bring in a large amount of casual bettors as playing with the sportsbooks money is a good way to test it out. Bettors can deposit and withdraw from accounts using both money gram and Western Union.

Customer Service -One of the biggest areas that is make or break for online sportsbooks is that of their customer service department. Answering questions, being around frequently and tending to client payouts in a timely fashion are all sub categories of customer service.

As we noted above, BetMania is only in the media spotlight when it comes to negativity. Primarily the complaints against BetMania in the past have been towards their payouts as withdrawing from ones account takes a considerable amount of time.

A secondary issue with BetMania is that of how well you can access the customer service department. While they offer the classic year round 24 hours seven day a week approach for phones, e-mail and chat, phoning in is your best option.