Leinster Hurling Betting 2023

There are two major provincial tournaments in the sport of hurling, which are held every year in Leinster and Munster respectively. Each of these competitions provide qualifiers to the prestigious All-Ireland Senior Championship, but while three of the four most successful hurling teams in Ireland originate from Munster, Leinster’s Kilkenny has won the most All-Ireland titles with 36 overall.

Dublin also competes in the Leinster Championship, although this county has only won a grand total of six All-Ireland titles since the formation of the tournament 134 years ago.

In this detailed guide, we’ll explore some Leinster betting markets and top wagering tips, while answering some of your most frequently-asked questions about the championship!

Best Leinster Hurling Betting Sites by Category

What are the Best Sportsbooks for Hurling Betting on the Leinster Championship?

While plenty of Irish and UK sportsbooks provide coverage of the Leinster Championship, not all of these entities have been created equal.

Below, we’ve shortlisted the leading operators for betting on the Leinster Championship, while asking what sets them apart from their rivals.

BoyleSports

Irish sports fans and punters will be familiar with BoyleSports, which is renowned across both on and offline channels and boasts more than 320 retail branches nationwide. When wagering online, BoyleSports will offer you access to match and outright betting on the Leinster Hurling Championship, while providing some of the most competitive odds across the length-and-breath of the marketplace.

As for the site’s welcome offer, BoyleSports is currently offering a €20 free bet to any new player who credits their account with a minimum of €10. The minimum odds in play here are 2.00, while you’ll have a limited window of 30 days from the placement of the bet to fulfil any wagering requirements.

Ladbrokes

From its origins on the UK high street to its evolution as an online market leader, Ladbrokes remains synonymous with immersive and competitively priced sports betting. It currently provides access to a whopping 38 sports betting markets, including extensive coverage of all GAA disciplines and the summer Leinster Championships.

The operator is also running a real-time, €20 welcome offer that comprises four free €5 bets, which carry maximum odds of 1.50 and aren’t currently subject to any wagering requirements.

William Hill

William Hill also made its name on the high streets of the UK and Ireland, while it’s similarly renowned for covering a vast array of sports (31 in total). It certainly provides a diverse selection of betting markets for the Leinster, Munster and All-Ireland Championships, so it’s a great platform from which to build accumulators and place outright bets.

With William Hill, you’ll be rewarded with a €30 welcome bonus as a new player, with this featuring two €15 free bets that are credited after you’ve made a qualifying wager of €5 or more. Obviously, these free bets are slightly higher in value, so there’s the potential to increase your potential returns on odds of 1.50 or above.

888Sport

Third on our list is 888Sport, which is an iconic online sports betting brand and one that’s best known for offering the most competitive and enhanced odds to punters. This applies to both ante-post and in-play markets, so 888Sport is undoubtedly an excellent port of call if you want to get the most bang for your buck over time.

As for the welcome offer, 888Sport awards new players with up to €100 in free bet credits, so long as they initially credit their account with a minimum deposit of €5. The value of this bonus will depend on your total deposit amount, while this sum will also be subject to nominal wagering requirements of 5x.

The Leinster Championship Format and Fixtures

Typically, the Championship starts in late April or early May and concludes in June. For 2023, Round 1 is yet to be announced, but we can assume it will be early April to continue every weekend till the final in June, TBA. In total, six sides will compete in the 2023 Leinster Championship, with four of these eventually being drawn into two quarter-finals. Conversely, the two finalists from 2022 (Kilkenny and Galway) have automatically earned their semi-final berths, and they’ll subsequently take on the winners of the two quarter-finals.

The two teams that ultimately qualify for the Leinster Hurling Championship final will also be automatically eligible for the 2023 All-Ireland Championship, with the winners entering the semi-final stage and the runners-up claiming a quarter-final place.

As for the three teams that finish third, fourth and fifth in the Leinster Championship, they’ll enter a preliminary qualifying round pertaining to the All-Ireland tournament. Here, they’ll do battle with three similarly placed sides from the Munster Championship, with four of the six teams competing in a Round One match and the other two being afforded a bye into Round Two.

The two Round One winners will then play the automatic qualifiers in Round 2, with the victorious sides claiming the final two All-Ireland Championship quarter-final places. The same six sides from this year will also compete in the 2023 Leinster Championship.

The Leinster Championships 2023 Schedule

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Final

2023 Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Odds

In the table below, you can see the odds from our recommended sportsbooks. It's possible for the sportsbooks to make changes to their odds from time to time, so don't worry if the ones you see are slightly different. You can go directly to the sportsbook by clicking on the odds and can also head over to our in-depth reviews by clicking on the name of the sportsbook.

📊 Leinster Hurling Championship Predictions

Recommended - The Best Leinster Championship Bets

Before the 2023 Championship odds are released, you have a limited window of opportunity in which to seek out the best bets and wager types. We’ve broken down three of the best below while asking why they hold such value in the eyes of punters.

The Top Points Scorer

There are two ways to score points in hurling. When you strike the sliotar over the crossbar and between the uprights, you’ll earn a single point, while a goal (where the ball is fired directly into the netting) is worth a total of three points. Like with most team sports, it’s the forwards that are most likely to score points in senior hurling matches, creating an opportunity for you to wager intelligently on the Leinster Championship’s leading scorers and most prolific players.

For example, Kilkenny’s TJ Reid is one of the most prolific and dominant centre forwards of his generation and is always good value to top the scoring charts.

Betting on Odd/Even Final Points Total

Next up is a relatively simple betting market, albeit one that’s completely governed by chance and requires no particular knowledge or insight at all. With this even-money wager, you simply have to bet on whether the total number of points scored in a Leinster province game will be odd or even, while you’ll have a 50% chance of selecting the right outcome.

While such a betting market is unlikely to appeal to knowledgable hurling fans or serious punters, it may be ideal for novice bettors or those who simply want to wager for fun rather than the pursuit of consistent returns.

Handicap Betting

Our final preferred betting market is handicap wagering, which is a market that sees a virtual advantage or disadvantage afforded to selected teams in order to offset a perceived difference in quality between the competing sides. For example, if Kilkenny were heavily favoured to beat an unfancied Laois outfit in a Leinster Championship match, you could apply a handicap of –7 to the defending provincial champions. In this instance, you can create longer and higher value odds that Kilkenny will win, without overly compromising your chances of the bet coming in. Of course, Kilkenny will have to win by eight points or more for the wager to come in, but there’s no doubt that the strategic use of handicap betting can help you to bank increased winnings over time.

The Top Leinster Championship Betting Tips

Next up, we thought we’d pick the brains of our expert team to uncover some of the best and most insightful betting tips. These include:

Look Out for Free Bet Offers

Earlier in the guide, we discussed the best sportsbooks for Leinster Championship betting, while also appraising their current welcome offers.

We’d certainly recommend that you make the most of free bets when wagering on Leinster Championship matches, or even placing an early ante-post bet on who will win the 2023 iteration of the tournament. Such complimentary wagers or free bet credits enable you to minimise risk and pursue optimal returns, without asking you to commit your hard-earned money in the process.

N.B. Sportsbooks are changing their bonuses more often than you could ever imagine as this is one of the ways that they can stay that one little step ahead of their rivals. Therefore, there is a chance that the bonuses we have just briefly spoken about in the above table will not be the same as the ones you can see when you visit their website. If this happens to you, we sincerely apologise whilst striving to update them as soon as possible.

Additionally, all types of bonuses, no matter who you have signed up with, will have plenty of T&Cs that appl. It is in your best interest to read the terms and conditions before you start making use of any bonus.

• www.begambleaware.org

Use Accumulators Sensibly

The Leinster Hurling Championship often produces close and keenly contested matches, so it can be hard to find value in individual odds or prices. However, accumulator betting can help you to pursue potentially higher returns by betting on relatively short-priced selections, simply by combining four or more moneyline bets into a single wager where the odds are multiplied to create a longer, cumulative price.

By carefully selecting sides who are favourites to win and limiting your accumulator bet to six or so selections, you can create odds with far greater value and see an increased return if every single team that you pick prevails.

Make the Most of the Over/Under Market

The so-called “over/under” betting market is a popular one, where a sportsbook establishes a threshold or value that usually relates to the total number of points that are likely to be scored in a match. If you think that the actual points tally will exceed this value, you’ll place an ‘over’ wager. If you think the suggested points tally is a little ambitious, you’ll place an ‘under’ wager with your sportsbook of choice.

This affords you access to a number of potentially rewarding ante-post and in-play individual odds, while over/under betting can be particularly effective if you’re a knowledgeable fan and someone who likes to study the form prior to wagering.

Interesting Facts and Stats About the 2022 Leinster Championship

The 2022 Leinster Championship was a truly engaging and exciting competition and one that saw Kilkenny and Galway compete in the showpiece final. Here’s some of the interesting statistics and records from the latest iteration of the championship and the final match-up:

• Kilkenny’s legendary manager Brian Cody claimed his 18th Leinster Championship title in 2022, as he continued a remarkable run since taking charge in 1998.
• The 2022 Leinster final was the 39th contested by Kilkenny and Galway, with the former claiming their 74th crown with a confident and commanding win.Despite 2022 being the sixth final that Dublin has contested since the year 2000, they’ve only won one provincial title (2013) during this time.
• Ritchie Reid scored 0-22 in the 2022 final, as he won his 11th Leinster Championship winners medal as a player.

Then and Now - A Brief History of the Leinster Championships

It was in 1884 that the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) unveiled standardised rules for hurling, with the All-Ireland Senior Championship contested for the very first time three years later in 1887. The inter-club contests that underpinned the tournament were wildly popular and drew huge crowds, but the increase to nine competing sides in 1888 caused significant logistical and financial challenges for travelling teams. So, the GAA sought to introduce provisional championships in Leinster and Munster to create regional tournaments and de facto qualifiers for the All-Ireland competition.

The inaugural Leinster Championship subsequently kicked off on Sunday, June 3rd 1888, with Kilkenny, Dublin, Kildare and Laois competing for the Bob O’Keefe Cup. Kilkenny subsequently won the 1888 Championship, comfortably beating bitter rivals Dublin at Portlaoise in the process. Interestingly, the first 26 Leinster Championships were shared between Kilkenny (14), Dublin (7) and Wexford (5), until Laois claimed their first title in 1914. However, the former three sides have largely dominated throughout, winning 118 out of the 133 tournaments contested to date.

The most recent final saw Kilkenny once again defeat Dublin to claim their 73rd provincial title and second consecutive crown, following a consummate performance and a comfortable 1-25 to 0-19 scoreline.

FAQS - Your Questions Answered

At this stage, all that’s left is to answer some of your most-frequently asked hurling and Leinster Championship questions, which often prop up here and elsewhere online. So, here’s a breakdown of our four most popular FAQs and some detailed responses to help you on your way!