Betting: Not Just for Sports Anymore!

Gambling is one of the oldest human pastimes. Wagering money on games of luck, skill, or even on sports dates back to the ancient world. Today, most people are familiar with sports betting. For this, we have the incredibly large sports betting market to thank. As well as the fact that sports are simply huge in general. For example, soccer has 3 billion fans worldwide, a number which continues to grow each year.

Naturally, sportsbooks focus primarily on sports betting. However, what most people don’t understand is that betting is not just an activity for fans of sport. Indeed, many sportsbooks have begun to diversify their library. The practice is especially popular online, with sportweddenschappen websites covering the latest sports competition, but also a diverse range of other options. In this article, we’d like to discuss these alternatives to sports betting.

e-Sports

The digital descendant of sports competitions, e-Sports (or eSports) is a term that describes competitive video game tournaments. For those who may not be familiar, video games have become a bustling market. In the early 2000s, grass-root video game competitions first began. They started getting a lot of attention by the end of the decade, and soon grew into massive events, attracting viewers from all over the world.

Today, video game competitions are common, and quite popular. A lot of games are created solely with eSports in mind, with examples being the numerous MOBA games, as well as the online multiplayer first-person shooters, like Overwatch and Counter-Strike 2. The success of eSports has led to many bookies embracing video game tournaments, and allowing fans to wager on them.

For the most part, eSports betting functions just like regular sports betting. There are similar betting options and odds are derived in much the same way. If you are interested in wagering on eSports, we’ve pointed out a few notable betting options in the list below:

• Match Bets: which team or player will win the game.
• Most Points: which player on a team will get the most points in a game. (note that this can come in multiple different versions, as points are measured differently depending on the game).
• First to Score: which team or player will be the first to score a point in the game.

There are, of course, much more betting options. However, the three we’ve listed are among the most popular.

Professional Wrestling

Professional wrestling may have started out as a serious sport. However, over the years, it has evolved into something entirely different and new. Today, professional wrestling is mostly identified with colorful characters, hammy, over-the-top performances, and flashy finishing moves, more reminiscent of anime, than of actual combat sports. And the fans love it.

But, even the most hardcore fan of pro wrestling may find it strange that you can wager on the outcome of a match. After all, isn’t professional wrestling fake? Well, yes and no. As most fans of the WWE understand, the fights in a wrestling match are pre-determined and pre-written. Basically, the winner is decided before the match has even begun.

However, outsiders tend to be unaware of the outcome. Which means, bookies can still make odds on which of the fighters will win. But, if the fight is scripted, what is the point? What are the odds even based on? Well, this is where it gets interesting.

Rather than focusing solely on the athleticism of each wrestler, the WWE odds have to rely on dramatic tension, a wrestler’s fan following and popularity, and more. In other words, rather than betting on athletics, fans of the WWE can bet on dramatic tension and story direction. If that sounds like fun, give WWE betting a try.

Politics

Most people find politics tedious and boring. With new AI tech being misused during elections, the bad taste of politics is more bitter than ever. However, there is no denying that separating ourselves from the political sphere is nigh-impossible. So, why not at least make things a bit more interesting. Thanks to online bookies, fans of betting can now wager on the outcome of presidential elections, all over the world.

But, how does politics betting work? Well, it is simple really. Odd makers look at the polls, analyze voter approval rates, and then create odds for which presidential candidate is most likely to win the election. In terms of odds, the whole thing works just like any sports odds. If you know how to analyze sports odds, you already have a head start in analyzing political odds as well.

Of course, politics-based betting does not just end at a presidential candidate winning an election. There are other prop bets that many bookies set up, that fans can wager on. For example, one option is to bet on how many promises will a presidential candidate fulfill in the first year of their term. You could also wager on the length of a president’s inaugural speech.

There are also some risky bets that we would advise against betting on. For example, in 2008, a pretty popular bookie created odds on whether or not an American presidential candidate will be assassinated during the election. The prop drew a lot of negative attention, resulting in the bookie ultimate taking the odds down. However, negative press surrounding it still exists.

Television Shows

Reality TV tends to draw a lot of criticism and flak from the general public. Yet, these programs remain quite popular. Shows like American Idol and Big Brother remain some of the most watched programs in the world. So, many sportsbooks have decided to create odds for their outcomes.

Europeans will certainly be familiar with betting on television events. The Eurovision music competition is one of the most popular entertainment competitions in the world. European bookies have been offering odds on the winner of the Eurovision for decades now. Online bookies have also begun to catch up.

Believe it or not, it is also possible to bet on fiction shows. For example, during the height of Game of Thrones’ popularity, there were plenty of bookies offering odds on the ending. And since the book series isn’t done, nobody but the writers knew how the show would end.