Special Topics

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BetFair is the world’s largest betting community. It has the most users, the most categories and the most markets of any gambling site. This is the site that others aspire to, the site that others learn from. BetFair has created many firsts in the gambling world, and it continues to do so.

Many of these firsts are in the category listed as “Special Topics”. This basically covers everything that is not a sport, with a wide range of categories falling under this umbrella. We have listed some of them below, but these are only the most common ones and there are many more markets that can make it into this category.

Politics

If you’re looking to make politics a little more interesting, then a bet might help. Some of the most popular special topics available on the BetFair website are political, including bets on elections around the world. The US Presidential Race attracts the most action, as is so often the case, and there are extensive markets on this race. Canadian politics are also covered on the BetFair exchange, with plenty of options when it comes to Bets and Lays. These bets don’t just cover which person or party will win the race either, as you can also bet on which one will win the most seats in the House of Commons (UK elections) and which states will vote for which party (US elections). There are other bets as well, including match-ups, where you can vote on which party or which leader will win more votes in an electron that has many different candidates.

Realty Television

This would have been unheard of a decade ago, and it may have even raised a few eyebrows some years after that, but these days it is very common for sports books and betting exchanges to offer markets on reality TV outcomes, and BetFair offers some of the most extensive markets here, as is so often the case. The beauty of these markets is that they are frequented by people who typically don’t gamble a lot, but have watched a particular show from the beginning and have a good feeling that a certain contestant will win. The odds makers tend to struggle with these markets, and it is not unusual for there to be big winners here.

You can pretty much bet on any reality TV show that has an audience big enough for betters and odds makers to bother with. The biggest ones have included shows like Big Brother and the X Factor, both of which have their own versions in countries all over the world. America’s Top Model has also spawned a lot of markets in the past. The shows that are not live tend not to make it, including those that are occasionally live, but with the winner announced on a recorded show, because in these instances there are a number of people who know the outcome before the markets are closed, which jeopardises the integrity of it.

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Award Shows

Another very popular set of markets in this category relates to award shows. The main one of these is, of course, the Academy Awards, also known as The Oscars. These annual awards attract a lot of attention and speculation, and if you fancy yourself as a film buff then this could be a great market for you. There are also markets on other major film and music awards, and these days you can also bet on sport awards, the Booker Prize and even the Noble Prize. This is a market that is growing, mostly thanks to the success of the markets that cover the Oscars and attract millions of dollars in bets every year.

TV Presenters

One of the most recent additions to this market concerned the presenter of a famous TV program in England. The program, Top Gear, is franchised all over the world and can be seen in over 100 countries. They all have their own presenters, but it is the same format as the original and the original began in England. After the leading presenter got himself into some very public trouble, he was suspended and eventually fired, and that created a vacancy in one of the most prestigious TV presenting jobs in the country. This doesn’t really concern us gamblers in Canada, as many Canadians don’t know the presenter and have never seen the original show, but this did set a precedent that is worth paying attention to.

It seems likely that more markets will crop up in the future, with odds being created and taken on who will get certain presenting roles, news anchor roles and even film roles.

Celebrity

One of the more obscure markets, but one that is just as popular as some of the ones listed above, covers the comings and goings of celebrities. These markets allow celeb-worshippers to bet on what celeb couples will name their next child, where they will get married, if they will divorce and more. In a world obsessed with the idea of celebrity, the potential for these markets is truly endless.