What Are Novelty Sports Bets?
What is Novelty Betting? – Guide to Understanding Special & Novelty Sports Bets
Sports betting is just predicting which team will win the game. There are thousands of ways to bet on sport, and at Stake Sportsbook you can choose from a wide range of betting markets on all major events. In this guide, we’ll look at what novelty betting is and the most popular types of novelty bets available at Stake.com.
What is Novelty Betting?
Novelty bets, sometimes known as specials or speciality bets, are bets which fall outside the usual betting categories. Rather than focusing on sporting action, these are bets that can be placed outside of sports or on non-sporting actions within a game.
Novelty betting markets include betting on specials such as presidential elections and the winners of award shows. However, it can also include betting on what happens during the halftime show at the biggest sporting events.
There’s almost no limit on the number of things people will bet on, and a growing number of online sportsbooks now offer odds on a variety of events and markets. Novelty betting is growing in popularity as more people choose to bet online. You can read our sports betting guide for more info on how to choose and place bets.
What are the Most Popular Types of Novelty Bets?
Novelty and speciality bets can cover a huge range of different bet types. Because these bets aren’t confined to a specific sport or event, there’s a lot of variety available. The most popular novelty bets typically fall into one of these main categories:
Sports
Standard sports bets include spreads, over/under and handicaps. However, some sporting events also include novelty bets. These are similar to game props and player props in that they don’t necessarily have an impact on the game’s result. Sportsbooks might let you place wagers on the outcome of the coin toss or the colour of the Queen’s hat during the Royal Ascot horse race.
Politics
Politics is growing increasingly popular to bet on, particularly the US presidential race, which makes headlines all over the world. Typical novelty politics bets include betting on the outcome of an election, but it’s also possible to vote on how long a candidate will last in their new role, the winner of the Time Magazine Person of the Year award or Nobel Prize winners.
Entertainment
Entertainment betting lets you bet on upcoming awards shows, such as the Oscars or Grammy Awards. Sportsbooks often offer odds on the winners in popular categories such as Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Album and Best Song. Some sportsbooks even offer odds on the latest reality shows, meaning you can bet on the eventual winner or predict which contestant will be voted off next.
Which Sports & Events Offer Special Bets?
Special bets are typically reserved for the most popular sporting events. Sportsbooks use these novelty props as a way of making the game more exciting and drawing in the casual crowd who are likely to be watching. Some of the sporting events that typically feature special bets include:
Super Bowl – The Super Bowl is one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar, attracting a huge amount of attention from diehard and casual fans alike. Novelty bets include the length of the national anthem, which songs will be played during the halftime show and even the colour of Gatorade thrown over the winning coach. At Stake, there are loads of unique game props and novelty bets available on the Super Bowl, including whether or not the opening kickoff will be a touchback, the outcome of the coin toss, which team will win the coin toss and whether or not both teams will score on their first drive.
Royal Ascot – As one of the biggest and most prestigious horse races in the world, the Royal Ascot sees a huge volume of bets every year. Special bets on the event include betting on the colour of hats worn by members of the Royal family.
FIFA World Cup – Few events get bigger than the FIFA Soccer World Cup. Billions of people around the world tune in to watch the action, and a vast number of bets are placed throughout the tournament. One of the most famous examples of a novelty bet that paid out was placed on Luiz Suarez biting someone at the 2014 World Cup.
How do Novelty Bets Compare to Other Bet Types?
Novelty bets are a unique category of bet because they’re not typically available on regular matches. These bet types are only available on major events that are going to see a large volume of bets placed.
Sports novelty bets are wagers on outcomes that won’t affect the result of the game. This sets them apart from moneyline, totals and handicap wagers. However, this does mean that they’re similar to proposition bets. The main difference is how unique they are and the fact that they’re not usually related to sporting aspects of the game.
Futures or outright betting markets are bets placed on the eventual winner of a tournament or competition. For example, betting on the winner of the Super Bowl. Some novelty bet categories, such as entertainment and politics, focus on eventual winners, making them similar even if they’re not related to sports.
Tips for Novelty Betting
Novelty betting can be challenging because there’s often less data to analyse compared to regular sports betting markets. We’ve created these tips to help you choose your bets and get more out of them:
Check news and social media – While you may not be able to check stats for your novelty bets, you can learn a lot by checking the right news stories and social media. There could be clues online about what will happen during the halftime show or what people expect to see.
Assess the odds – Before you place your bet, make sure you’re getting the best odds possible. You can switch between reading different odds formats, including decimal, fractional and American, to make it easier to work out the implied probability and your potential payout.
Don’t get carried away – Novelty bets are meant to be a fun way to make an event more exciting. Avoid betting more than you can afford to lose, and follow our Stake Smart guidelines to ensure you’re staying safe and betting responsibly.
Why Should You Bet on Specials?
Special bets are a unique and fun way to place bets, giving you more variety and options. They allow even complete sports betting beginners to place bets on a sport without any prior knowledge of the game needed. Be sure to check out our prediction-market betting guide for more information about novelty specials betting in entertainment and political topics as well!
Sports Promotions, Stake VIP Club & Responsible Betting
When you sign up and bet at Stake, you can find lots of interesting novelty bets alongside all our regular sports betting markets. You’ll also benefit from the excellent sports betting promotions. Join the Stake VIP Club and level up your account to earn exclusive rewards, including rakeback, reloads and even your own VIP host. Remember to bet responsibly for the best betting experience. Follow our Stake Smart guidelines to have fun while staying safe.
