Lesser-Known Obscure Betting Sports
Marc Armstrong ENI for one recently learned to get into sports betting. I grant you I am still not what could be considered an enthusiast, but I still get a fair amount of enjoyment placing the occasional bet, after doing what can only be described as a pedantic amount of research. More often than not, my bets succeed, but the truth is that I’m so deathly paranoid about losing that a shy away from placing another bet soon after any success, for fear of jinxing myself. I also claim to not be superstitious, but I think we both know how a real conversation on that subject would end.
Regardless, one thing that fascinates me to no end is the type of things, or activities, that people are willing to place bets on. If thinking about it logically, all that is really required for a bet to be placed is an event with an unknown outcome. And when being realistic, this could be just about anything, as long as there is no way of anyone altering the outcome. But still, some betting sports lean so far into the outrageous that I can’t help but think people just have a natural affinity for betting.
Look around, see what happens to be in your immediate environment, and work out a way to bet it. That more or less seems to be the formula. Either way, these are some of the more outrageous betting sports I came across. And just in case you’re wondering, sportsbooks have become so all inclusive that many will accept online bets on some of these activities. Not all, though. Either way; what a world we live in, what a time to be alive!
Cricket Fighting
Cock fighting is big in some parts of the world. That is; the act of pitting two male chickens against one another, and betting on whom the winner will be. This, most will agree, is pretty cruel, but I certainly won’t go into any monologues about animal cruelty. Instead, cricket fighting might be seen as less cruel, although some may even heartily disagree with that. That’s the activity of pitting two crickets against one another, and betting on the outcome. Who even knew that one cricket may be more adept at fighting than another? Either way, cricket fighting is a thing.
Now, I have to admit that I didn’t find any websites offering betting options on cricket fighting, but had to mention it regardless. Sadly, one would have to make their way down to the local cricket-fighting arena to get some action.
But the idea of grown men screaming encouragement at a fighting cricket just tickled my fancy. I am overwhelmed by the notion that the crickets might even be dressed up in fighting gear, perhaps little protective pieces of armour. I love the idea so much that I might just get a pet cricket.
Rubber Duck Racing
Why bet on such silly things as horse races, when you could just as well put down cash on rubber duck races? Sure, horses are bred for racing, and have legacies and genetics you can research, but a rubber duck is made of rubber, offers no sentience, and squeaks if you squeeze it. I think we’re both in agreement that rubber duck racing makes a great deal more sense.
Upon first reading about rubber duck racing, I though it must be restricted to some unheard of little town somewhere, but it turns out that it is in fact a Great British tradition. Once a year people float rubber ducks down the River Thames, and the first prize winner happens to be a rather staggering ten thousand pounds. With that sort of cash, I suddenly thing rubber duck racing might just be up my alley after all.
If you’re interested, there is a website dedicated to the rubber duck race, and the cost to adopt a duck in the race is just two pounds.
When Will Alien Life Be Discovered?
Now, this isn’t a sport per se, but the notion that there is actually a running bet on this blows my mind. It means that someone, somewhere, actually had to work out the odds of alien life being discovered in certain time periods. Perhaps these odds were worked out via a formula that has less to do with actual alien life, and more to do with financial sense, but either way I sat back and had a little gasp.
I can only imagine how many conspiracy theorists point at this bet as some sort of evidence, and in this case I can’t really blame them. Just as a matter of interest, the odds I looked at were lower for the next few years, and higher the further into the future you went, which would seem to suggest that the odds maker anticipates it to be soon. Isn’t that rather fascinating for a number of reasons?
