Prediction Markets

Most people who like to bet online will stick to sports they know and love. Many don't even realize that gambling sites cover novelty and entertainment markets including your favorite celebrity events and reality television shows.

While this was certainly true in years gone by, these days you can place a bet on almost any event including political elections, reality shows, movie box office numbers, and popular award shows are common place at online bookmakers. Most novelty betting sites will cover all kinds of markets, such as politics, awards ceremonies, which celebrities will get married next or even on the weather.

Novelty Betting

Novelty bets change frequently, so you’ll find different bets available depending on when you visit. Sometimes you’ll have bets on whichever TV show is popular right now and other times you’ll have novelty bets related to upcoming elections or whatever else is in the news at the time.

What Kind of Specialty Bets Are There?

With the wide range of options offered by entertainment betting websites instead of just sports, the demographic of customers has shifted. Traditionally considered the domain of mostly male sports fans, many different people now enjoy placing bets on all kinds of outcomes and situations.

Reality TV Betting and Entertainment

One of the most popular entertainment markets has proved to be betting on the results of reality TV shows.

These shows attract large audiences and most people watching will always have their own views on who is going to win or be kicked out next. Fans of these shows can now put their prediction skills to the test and back their judgment with real money predictions.

Awards Shows, Competitions, and Celebrity Predictions

Television and music award ceremonies, such as the Oscars or the MTV Awards, and even beauty pageants also attract a decent amount of action.

The range of bets available is truly phenomenal, you can even bet on Nathans hot dog eating contest. Most Novelty sites will open markets on just about anything that is even vaguely newsworthy. For example, if a celebrity is pregnant there will be odds available on whether the baby is a boy or a girl, what the name will be, or what day it is born.

Strictly Come Dancing Betting

Novelty acts never win Strictly Come Dancing although, for entertainment value, one engaging celebrity always mysteriously lingers far longer than their talent should allow.

Celebrity Special Betting

Reality television carries markets too: the Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here format has been licensed to numerous countries and is priced much as the other celebrity shows are.

Lasting a little over three weeks and featuring 12 contestants, all Celebrity betting sites clamber over themselves to be the first to offer prices on contestants and earn some related press coverage.

Politics and Elections Betting

Politics also attracts a lot of interest, specifically around election time. Presidential elections in the US and parliament elections in the UK are prime targets for political wagers. Wagers on which parties will gain or lose the most influence are also popular.

UK-focused bookmakers frequently host royal family wagers. These bets range the whole gamut from the gender of the next royal baby to how long it will be until Prince Harry finally gets married. Other wagering options include the likes of next year’s interest rates or the outcomes of major court cases and policy debates.

Most political stories that reach the newspapers are priced somewhere. In the United States, political predictions are not a sportsbook product: prediction markets are federally regulated and under federal law can operate in all 50 states. Note too that polymarket.com blocks trading from the United States and points US users to polymarket.us.

Something worth keeping in mind is that political bets usually take a long time to resolve. It’s not uncommon to see futures offered up to a year in advance of the actual event happening. In some cases, you don’t even know when the bet will close (for example, a bet on when someone will get married). Take care not to wrap up too much of your bankroll into long term bets.

*New - Political Betting Sites - learn about how to bet on politics.

Weather and Forecast Predictions

Some sites even accept wagers on weather predictions. One fairly common bet is whether there will be a white Christmas.

Weather betting is interesting because it ties closely into certain types of investing. The stock market has its own style of weather “props” that are used as hedges. Farmers are known for “betting” significant amounts of money on an extraordinarily dry season to hedge against the risk of their crops going bad.

In the United States, weather predictions are not a sportsbook product either: they trade as CFTC-regulated event contracts on registered prediction markets, and the CFTC’s own guidance is to trade only with registered entities. A grower, for example, might buy a weather event contract to hedge against losses that a sudden freeze would cause.

Of course, you can always just bet on the weather for fun. Are you convinced this summer will be a real cooker? Go bet on the weather.

*New - Weather Betting Sites - learn about how to bet on the weather.

Professional Video Games (Esports)

Professional video game competitions have grown enormously in both size and scope.

DOTA 2 (Defense of the Ancients 2) is one of the largest. We can expect to see more of this as professional gaming picks up steam in the Western world.

Death Pool Betting

Death pool betting is quite morbid and controversial, which is exactly what makes Death Pools alluring for certain types of sites. You don’t see death pools as often these days thanks to the outrage they caused in the past.

A typical death pool might have a list of celebrities who are very old, dealing with various health issues or have known drug problems. The participants can then place their bets on who they think will die first. If you make the right pick, you get paid.

These days, you won’t find death pools at mainstream betting sites. Death pools are most often played among friends rather than hosted by betting sites. This just isn’t the kind of thing that licensed betting sites with investors and brand images are willing to mess with any more.

Other Random Novelty Wagers

The list goes on and on. Any newsworthy event that gets people talking is fair game for online betting. It can be things as morbid as celebrity death pools to run-of-the-mill bets on the high temperature next month in the United States or the UK.

Tips and Advice

Coverage of these markets differs sharply between operators: the range of events priced, and the odds on the same event, vary from one spot to another, and there is often quite a difference in the prices available. Comparing prices across platforms is therefore worth the time it takes.

The more knowledge you have, the more likely you are to be successful with your selections. Following and staying up to date with the latest news will have you in a good position to make a judgement on potential outcomes.

Remember also that some types of bets are more about reading public opinion than actually predicting the most logical outcome. When betting on politics, you need to put your personal bias aside and try to predict what the general public will do. Keep up to date on the news, political blogs and discussion forums and try to use that information to see which direction the general public is leaning.

And finally, don’t forget to look for value. There’s more to betting than just predicting the most likely outcome. You also need to compare the odds to the likelihood of winning in an effort to find outcomes that are undervalued. For example, if you think Politician A has a 60% chance of winning but the odds are -1200, it’s not a good value bet.

Look for sides that are undervalued. This might even have you betting on the underdog if the payout odds make up for the possibility of losing. On the other hand, you may sometimes find favorites that aren’t paying as much as you think they should be. This is a skill that takes time and experience to develop, but it will lead you well over the long run.

Novelty/entertainment gambling is a great opportunity to have a bit of fun and try and make yourself some money. Whatever you have an interest in, you are almost certain to find a company taking bets on it.