Coming to the end of the European football season and the National Hunt racing campaign, there will soon be a bit of a void for punters seeking value betting opportunities.
There are chances to bet on different versions of your favourite sports – club football will continue at pace in the Americas and Asia, while there’s a full Flat racing schedule as normal.
Or, alternatively, you can spread your wings a little to examine the betting markets that you might not ordinarily consider – generally filed under Specials, Novelty, TV and other such categories.
Many bookmakers offer odds for the most unexpected of events – you just have to search for the terms listed above in their A-Z of ‘sports’.
Who knows, you might just be surprised by the value that you find….
BBC Sports Personality of the Year Betting
This will be the 68th year of the annual BBC extravaganza, and most of the great and good of British sport have gone on to lift the little trophy over the past seven decades.
There’s a betting market available ahead of the December show, and while the winner often presents themselves on the back of their sporting prowess, so far 2022 hasn’t really identified any likely candidates.
Tyson Fury has, according to him, retired from boxing undefeated – he’s the current 6/1 favourite in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year betting, but given his outspoken opposition to the award in the past it’s hard to imagine him winning.
Can you see England triumphing in the football World Cup? If you can, one of their players would surely be a shoe-in for the award – Harry Kane (9/1) and Raheem Sterling (20/1) are perhaps the most likely winners in such an eventuality.
There’s chances for defending champion Emma Raducanu (12/1), Ronnie O’Sullivan (20/1) and Dina Asher-Smith (25/1), and the latter – third in the BBC vote in 2019 – has to be a major player in a World Athletics Championship year. For the same reason, heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson (50/1) could be an outsider to follow.
Eurovision 2022 Betting
As we know by now, Eurovision is as much a battle of acceptable politics as it is a singing contest.
That’s why Russia have been kicked out of the 2022 competition, and why Ukraine have been installed as odds-on favourites to win it.
To be fair to them, Ukraine have won this event twice – in 2004 and again in 2016, so maybe they don’t need the sympathy vote. However, their entry by self-styled ‘folk rap’ outfit, Kalush Orchestra, is not exactly typical Eurovision fare.
Poland (40/1) have been key allies of Ukraine throughout the conflict, while Norway’s (40/1) entry ‘Give That Wolf a Banana’ has the feel of a cult favourite like masked satanists Lordi were when they won back in 2006.
As for the UK’s entry, odds of 9/1 suggest a score in excess of ‘nil points’ could well be in the offing.
Next James Bond Betting
It’s a contest that’s been going on ever since Daniel Craig announced he was hanging up his tuxedo back in 2015.
Dozens of names have been linked with the role since, and you suspect that the franchise’s owners will want to attract a younger audience to the next generation of 007 adventures – hence, their choice of Bond has to reflect the fact.
Rege-Jean Page (13/8) is the current favourite with the bookies following his star turn in Bridgerton, although at 34 you wonder if he ticks the ‘youth’ box. As a black actor, however, he could help bring the 007 franchise into a modern, progressive age.
Tom Hiddleston (40/1) has featured in various Marvel movies – perhaps he would appeal to a younger audience, while Tom Holland is 66/1 in places….he is British and is currently Spider-Man, so he can helm big budget releases.
Oscars – Best Actor/Actress Betting
This specials market is of interest as it makes Brendan Fraser, he of ‘George of the Jungle’ fame who has been in acting wilderness for years, the 5/1 second favourite to win the Best Actor gong at the Oscars.
The Aussie stars in Martin Scorsese’s upcoming release Killers of the Flower Moon alongside heavyweights like Leonardo Di Caprio and Jesse Plemons, and he is supposed to be rather good in it.
The bookies favourite is Hugh Jackman (4/1), who has a host of films coming out this year, while in the Best Actress category it’s Cate Blanchett who leads the way at 5/1.
