Ulster Championship Betting Guide: Tips, Odds & Predictions

While the Ulster Senior Football Championship is far from being the only such tournament in Ireland, it’s widely considered to be the hardest to win. According to Gaelic football referee David Coldrick, the Ulster Championship “makes or breaks you”, while he also opined that “there’s an extra dimension and intensity to such games and you must be at your best to succeed”.

We’ll explore this and more in the guide below while offering some Gaelic football betting advice ahead of the 2023 iteration.

💯 Ulster Championship Betting Odds (2023)

Due to the popularity of the Ulster Gaelic Football Championship, all top sportsbooks that are happy to accept punters from Ireland will offer some Ulster Championship betting odds. However, if you have been in the world of sports betting for any period of time, you will know that not all sports betting sites are equal and that some are a lot better than others. Finding out which sportsbooks are the best when it comes to placing bets on the Ulster Football Championship is something that can be quite time consuming, but this is where our in-depth Ulster Championship betting guide 2023 comes into play as all of the hard work has already been done for you.

In the table below, you will be able to see the top Ulster Championship Football odds that some of the best betting sites available to Irish sports bettors are offering for this competition. It is always wise to make use of the best odds possible since it is the odds that dictate the type of profit that you will land if you end up placing a winning bet. We will speak more about this a little later on in this betting guide.

Team
Derry	3.00	2.88	3.35	3.35	3.25
Armagh	4.50	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.33
Tyrone	4.50	4.50	4.30	4.30	4.00
Donegal	7.00	6.50	5.05	5.00	5.00
Monaghan	11.00	11.00	11.10	11.00	13.00
Down	17.00	19.00	17.10	17.00	N/A
Cavan	11.00	17.00	25.00	25.00	21.00
Fermanagh	51.00	151.00	89.00	90.00	151.00
Antrim	51.00	151.00	105.00	110.00	151.00

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🏆 Best Ulster Football Betting Sites by Category

🔍 The Best Ulster Championship Betting Sites

When it comes to Ulster Club Football betting, there are plenty of sportsbooks available to Irish punters, but below we are going to take the time to have a closer look at the five that we think are some of the best for Irish sports bettors. We will provide you with a link to a review that our experts have written for each one, so just click on it if you would like to find out all you need to know about a particular sports betting site.

1️⃣ PokerStars Sports

PokerStars Sports, as you can probably tell by its name, started life as a poker site, but eight years ago they opted to take the plunge into the world of sports betting, and it was a decision that they will definitely not regret. They are now very popular with Irish punters due to the number of markets that they have available for the sports that they offer as well as the competitive odds that are always available.

At this moment in time, they do not offer a Welcome Bonus to their customers, but we urge you not to let this put you off because everything else is really good. When it comes to making deposits and requesting withdrawals at PokerStars Sports, you will find banking options such as VISA, MasterCard, Skrill, PayPal, Neteller, Bank Transfer, or Entropay. You can also use these payment methods to withdraw any winnings that you are fortunate enough to land. If you are the kind of gambler that likes to bet on the go, you will be happy to find out that they have a great mobile app and have made sure that their desktop website is 100% mobile compatible.

2️⃣ 888Sport

888Sport is a sportsbook that was founded in 2008, and since then it has gone on to become one of the best sportsbooks not only in Ireland, but around the world. This bookmaker entices punters to open an account with them by offering top bonuses and promotions, plenty of markets for more than 30 sports, and competitive odds.

If you decide to register with 888Sport, then you will be able to claim free bets to the value of €30 when using the promo code "30FB". As always, with any kind of bonus, be sure to read the terms and conditions that apply.

When it comes to depositing money to do some Ulster Club Championship betting, you will be able to choose from top banking methods such as Paysafecard, VISA, MasterCard, Trustly, Apple Pay, Skrill, and Neteller. They also offer a quality mobile app that you can download, while their site is 100% mobile compatible. To top things off, they have one of the best customer care teams around, ensuring any issues are quickly fixed.

3️⃣ Luckster

Luckster might have only just launched a little over a year ago, but they have shown us already that they know how to have success in a dog-eat-dog industry. This sports betting site, which is also situated in Ireland, has become really popular among Irish sports bettors because it offers everything that they are looking for in a bookmaker. If you decide to sign up with Luckster in order to do some Ulster Championship betting 2023, then you will be able to try and get your Gaelic football gambling experience off to a flier with the €100 bonus that they have on offer.

When it comes to Gaelic football betting, or betting on any other sport for that matter, you can be sure that Luckster Sports have got your back since they offer a plethora of markets and very competitive odds for all of the sports categories that they have. To top it off, they have a really good

customer support team, many different banking options, and a top mobile gambling platform, meaning that complaints are few and far between.

4️⃣ Sportaza

Sportaza might be based in Curacao, but this is no problem since they are more than happy to welcome Irish punters to their site. Some sportsbooks are basically just there to help make up the numbers, but we truly feel that Sportaza is not a sports betting site that fits into such a category. All in all, they offer their punters a variety of markets and competitive odds for no fewer than 34 sports, so variety is not lacking here. If you decide to become one of their many customers, then you first deposit will be matched 100% to the sum €100.

When it comes to the payment methods that are available, wheter you are depositing or withdrawing money, you can make use of top banking methods such as MasterCard, VISA, Skrill, Neteller, Bitcoin, Ethereum, NeoSurf, and Paysafecard. They do not have their own mobile app, but this is no problem as they have made sure their desktop site is fully mobile compatible. If you ever have any issues, then you can contact their profressional customer care team 24/7 using live chat or email.

5️⃣ William Hill

William Hill is a sports betting site that we are sure you have heard of, even if you are relatively new to the sports betting industry. They are the second oldest bookmaker in the world, only behind Ladbrokes, which highlights just how good a bookmaker they are. What makes them so popular among punters is their wide variety of markets, the fact that they are not cheap with their odds, and that they stream more than 60,000 sports events every year.

Those who decide to start betting with this top sportsbook will be able to claim a welcome offer of three free bets that are worth a total of €10 each - as always, make sure that you take the time to read all of the important terms and conditions before you claim the bonus. If you want to place bets on the go, then you can do so thanks to their quality mobile betting app and their desktop site that has been made 100% mobile compatible. To put the cherry on a rather large cake, their customer support is top-quality and is available 24/7.

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🕵️‍♂️ How We Review Ulster Football Betting Sites

So, since there is a chance that you are sitting there wondering how it is that we decide what is a good site or not, we are now going to relieve you of your curiosity by having a look at the major features that we look at whenever we sit down to review a bookmaker for our readers.

▶ The Bonuses on Offer

We will always have a good look at the different bonuses that are available to see if you can get a good deal if you opt to sign up with them. Now, we are not saying that bonuses are all that matters when it comes to sports betting sites, as is highlighted by the fact that we have recommended PokerStars Sports - a bookmaker that does not offer a Welcome Bonus. However, there can be no denying that it is nice to get a little reward for opening an account with a sportsbook. We will not promote a bookmaker solely because they have a very good Welcome Bonus, but a very good bonus is something that will definitely get our attention.

When we do come across a bonus that we find attractive, we will not just look at the size of the bonus in question. No, we also pay attention to the important T&Cs that apply so that we can tell you all about the important terms in our in-depth reviews. However, we do recommend that you take a bit of time out of your day to read the T&Cs yourself before you go ahead and claim any bonus that is on offer.

▶ The Competitiveness of the Odds

Being welcomed to a sportsbook with a quality bonus is always nice, but the bonus will become pretty obsolete if the odds that are available are average or worse. The Welcome Bonus is something that will not last forever, but the odds will, and poor odds will be very detrimental to you since the odds are what determine the profit that you will make from any winning wagers that you place.

For example, if you bet €10 on Derry to win the Ulster Championship with odds of 3.00 with one bookmaker and they go on to do that, then you will land yourself a profit of €20. However, if you bet €10 on Derry to win at odds of 2.80 with another bookmaker and they do, then the profit that you make will be €18. Now, while a difference of €2 might not seem too drastic for a one off wager, if you are missing out on €2 or more with every winning bet that you make, then your losses will quickly start to add up.

So, if we do not feel that the sportsbook in question offers good enough odds to their punters, we will make you fully aware of that fact in the review that we write for it. In some cases, we might just decide to not write a review about it at all and forget about it.

▶ The Range of Markets on Offer

We all need some sort of variety in our lives since things will quickly become boring without any. Yes, it can be entertaining to place bets on the outright winner of a tournament or the winner of a particular match, but can you imagine if there were the only things that you could bet on at every sports betting site? We would be quite happy betting our live savings on you becoming bored rather fast.

Thus, when we are looking at an online sports betting site, we will always have a look at the various sports that they have available and then go through the markets that are on offer for these sports. If we conclude that they are slacking in their market offerings, then this is something that we will let you know about in our in-depth review. The last thing that we want is for you to register with an online sports betting site and then end up getting bored of it in no time at all.

▶ Do They Have Quick Deposits and Withdrawals?

A lot of inexperienced punters when searching for a sportsbook to register with will pay no attention to the payment methods that they are offering, but this really is a huge mistake. You need to ensure that a sportsbook offers all of the best payment methods and that they are not slow when it comes to making deposits and requesting withdrawals.

We have been in this industry for quite some time now, and we are yet to come across anyone who likes to deposit money and then have to wait days before they can start placing wagers. Likewise, if you place bets and are lucky enough to get some winnings from them, we are pretty sure that you do not want to wait an absolute age before you receive what you have won.

If you have read some of our reviews already, then you will be aware that we pay close attention to the banking options that are available. If we believe that a sports betting site is lacking when it comes to quick deposit and withdrawal options, then we will point it out in our review or will just decide not to recommend that site at all.

▶ Customer Care

One of the last things that we analyze closely is the customer care that is on offer. However, just because this is one of the last things that we will look at, it does not mean that it holds any less importance than anything else that we have just spoken about above. With the top bookmakers, there is the chance that you will not need to contact their customer care team, but there is always the possibility of something going wrong and, when it does, you will want to be able to speak to a top customer care team that can solve your problems quickly. It is very annoying to have to wait ages for an issue to be fixed as this could cost you some potential winning wagers.

It is for this reason that we will always send mock problems to a sports betting site that we are reviewing as this is a great way to see how quickly they respond and whether their solutions to our issues are any good. If we end up not liking something about a bookmaker's customer support, then we will definitely let you know in the review that we write.

📌 The Ulster Football Championship Format and Fixtures

The Ulster Senior Football Championship is a straight knockout format, meaning that just one loss will see a team eliminated from the competition. There are nine teams in total, and seven of these teams are randomly drawn into the Quarter-Finals. The remaining two teams are drawn into the preliminary round, with the winner of this match joining the other seven teams in the last eight. The winners of the 2023 Ulster Senior Football Championship and the runner-up will receive a pass into the Round Robin stage of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, while the remaining eight teams will compete in the All-Ireland qualifiers.

The dates for the different rounds have been listed below for you so that you can mark them down in your diary or your phone:

• Preliminary Round - 8th of April
• Quarter Final 1 - 15th of April
• Quarter Final 2 - 16th of April
• Quarter Final 3 - 16th of April
• Quarter-Final 4 - 23rd of April
• Semi-Final 1 - 29th of April
• Semi-Final 2 - 30th of April
• Final - 14th of May

📆 The Ulster Football Championships 2023 Schedule

The draw for the 2023 Ulster Football Championship has been made, and below you will find the full schedule for this year's edition. When each game has been played, we will return to update the scores.

Preliminary Round

Quarter Finals

Semi-Finals

Final

📊 Ulster Championship Predictions

👍 The Best Ulster Club Football Betting Markets

At this stage, it’s time to take a look at some of the best and most popular Ulster Championships bets, with a number of ante-post and in-play markets available to punters.

We’ve listed three of the most popular wagers below, so you can look at how to deploy your bankroll in the marketplace.

☑️ Outright Betting

Let’s start with the basics; as outright betting on tournaments such as the Ulster, SFC represents the most popular type of ante-post wager in the market. In simple terms, outright betting requires you to wager on the eventual winner of the championship, with eventual payouts based on the real-time price offered to you by sportsbooks.

This is an excellent market for informed punters who prefer ante-post wagers, as odds typically shorten over time as bettors flock to the market and each side receives a certain amount of backing.

☑️ The Over/Under Betting Market

Another popular market refers to over/under betting, as you look to target individual matches and the total amount of points scored during the contest. More specifically, the sportsbook in question will recommend a theoretical points tally for certain matches, and it’s your task to determine whether the actual total will be higher (over) or lower (under).

This wager is great fun and ideal for Gaelic Football fans and casual gamblers, while it’s also an even money wager that offers significant value for money.

☑️ Accumulator Betting

While the Ulster Senior Football Championship isn’t necessarily a natural fit with accumulator betting, it is possible to place this type of wager over the course of the initial qualifying round and four quarter-final matches.

With acca betting, you’ll have to include a minimum of four selections within a single wager, where the odds of each individual outcome are multiplied together to create an extended price. Each selection will have to come in for the bet to be successful, but it’s a wager that can deliver increased returns for punters too. So, you could look to create a four or five-fold accumulator covering the early stages of the Ulster SFC, ideally backing slightly shorter-priced favourites to optimise your chances of winning.

✔️ The Top Ulster Championship Betting Tips

Now that we have spoken about some of the most popular betting markets for this competition, we are now going to provide you with some very useful Ulster Championship betting tips. Now, nobody is forcing you to make use of these tips, but it will be within your best interest to keep them firmly in mind when you are Ulster Club GAA betting as they can increase your chances of having a successful betting experience.

🎁 Make the Most of Free Bets and Welcome Offers

Due to the competitiveness of the online sports betting industry, sportsbooks need to stand out from the crowd if they are to have the type of success that they are looking for. The majority of sportsbooks that you will come across will have bonus offers for you to choose from, which will usually be in the shape of a free bet, but some bonuses are much better than others. In the following table, you can find five of the best bonus offers around at this moment in time. As always, before you claim such a bonus offer, make sure to read the T&Cs that apply.

Betting Site	Offer	Claim
	Bet €10 and receive €50 of free bets	Get Offer
	They do not currently offer a welcome offer	Get Offer
	100% Deposit Match Up to €100	Get Offer
	100% Deposit Match Up to €100	Get Offer
	Claim a free bet that has a €50 value	Get Offer

N.B. Sports betting sites consistently change their bonuses and promos as this is how they make sure that they stay ahead of their competitors while making sure that they keep things fresh for their punters. Therefore, there is a chance that the bonuses you just saw in the above table are no longer on offer at their respective sportsbooks. If this happens to you, we apologise for any inconvenience or disappointment, but any of the new bonuses should be just as good or better.

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❌ Avoid Handicap Betting With the Ulster SFC

While this may sound strange, handicap betting is an option that only really suits markets where there’s an overwhelming favourite and a perceived gulf in quality between two competing sides.

However, rarely does such a chasm exist in Ulster Championship matches, with the aforementioned 2023 odds highlighting the close, competitive and keenly-contested nature of the tournament as a whole.

⭐ Target Individual Player Markets

Outside of team markets, there’s also a host of ante-post and in-play bets pertaining to individual players that you can target. Top points or goalscorer is perhaps the most popular ante-post market of this type, as this is a straightforward wager that’s ideal for both casual and serious gamblers. Tyrone’s Darren McCurry topped the charts in 2021, with a total of 22 points scored overall.

From an in-play perspective, you could also target the first goal or points scorer in a particular game, with this market known for offering competitive odds and appeal for knowledgeable GAA fans.

📈 Interesting Facts about Ulster Championship (2023)

Now that you know some top tips to keep in mind when you are betting on this championship, the next thing that this Ulster Championship betting guide is going to do is have a look at some interesting championship facts. The 2022 Ulster GAA Football Championship was very entertaining with a lot of drama, with Derry edging out Donegal to claim just their 8th title.

If you would like to relive that game in all of its glory, then you can do so courtesy of the highlights that we have provided you with below:

Now that you have relived Derry's success story, we are now going to provide you with some very interesting facts from the Ulster Senior Football Championship:

• Derry are the current title holders, but their previous success in this competition came way back in 1998
• Cavan are the most successful team in this competition as they have won 40 titles, with their last one coming in 2020. Despite their dominance, they had to wait 23 years between their 39th and 40th title
• Fermanagh are the only team to have not won the title at least once - they have made it to a total of six finals, but lost all of them
• Mickey Harte, who currently manages the Louth County team, is the most successful manager in this competition with six wins under his belt. These wins came when he was the manager of Tyrone
• The all-time top scorer in the Ulster Championship is Paddy Bradley as he scored 253 points for Derry between 2000 and 2012

🏁 History of Ulster Championship

The very first Ulster Senior Football Championship was played in 1888, and Monaghan picked up the title by defeating Cavan in the final. Despite the commercial success and initial popularity for the championship, there was no edition the following year, and from 1892 until 1900 the competition was dormant. The championship returned in 1901, and it has been contested every year since apart from in 1907.

Antrim had a spell of dominance between 1908 and 1913, winning six titles in a row, but Monaghan's third title in 1914 triggered a remarkable sequence of three decades in which they shared the championship with Cavan. While the competition is a lot more competitive now, as can be seen from the fact that four different teams have won the title in the last five years, Cavan can still claim to be the most successful team with 40 titles in all.

However, since the turn of the century, they have only managed the one win, while Tyrone have claimed eight titles in that period. Monaghan (16), Armagh (14), Down (12), and Donegal (10) have all made it into double figures, which just highlights how competitive this competition has been since the end of the Second World War.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions About Munster Football Betting

✒️ Sheldon Muchmore - iGaming and Sports Betting Enthusiast

This Ulster Football Championship guide was written by Sheldon Muchmore.

Sheldon is a tipster and betting expert from the United Kingdom who has a passion for a whole range of sports, particularly football, rugby, and cricket. He is an avid Aston Villa fan, so feel free to feel a bit of pity for him. He has been involved in the online gambling industry for a number of years now and has written a large number of predictions for a variety of sports including GAA, so he has built up a lot of sporting expertise over the years.