Guide to Betting on Politics, Entertainment, Weather and Financials in Nigeria 2024

If you are looking to take a break from sports betting, there are various alternatives you can consider that are equally fun and rewarding. In this article, we will highlight our top recommended choices as well as tips to help you make informed bet decisions. These non-sport betting options include betting on weather, politics, entertainment, financials, esports, virtual sports, casino games, and lotto betting.

NG

Top Sportsbooks in Nigeria for Non-Sport Betting

#1	Wide range of non-sports events such as esports & politics Reasonable odds for non-sports events 100% match up bonus up to ₦ 36,000	Read Review Visit Site
#2	Offers a vast selection of non-sports markets Impressive odds on non-sports bets 100% match up bonus up to ₦ 50,000	Read Review Visit Site
#3	An impressive selection of non-sports events such as virtual sports, Competitive odds on non-sport bets 100% match up bonus up to ₦ 36,000	Read Review Visit Site

Betting on Politics

Politics is among the biggest non-sports betting markets. Ideally, any topic that is highly regarded by many often has divided opinions and is the reason why politics are a perfect betting opportunity for bookmakers. Politics betting is not a regular option since it only focuses on significant events, and most of the betting is focused on the American Presidential elections.

You will have two main ways to bet on politics; prediction markets or political props. For Prediction markets, they will pose questions to bettors in the form of “yes” or “no”. For example

In this case, you can choose either yes or no, and the prices are dependent on the supply and demand just like it is in the stock market.

On the other end, politics props are almost the same as the sports props. Here are some of the betting lines you can expect to see.

 

US Presidential Election-Next President

These types of betting lines allow you to pick who you think will win the elections. Betting early on these props gives you a variety of options in terms of candidates which also makes it hard to determine the right choice. But on the brighter side, this also means that the potential payout will also be massive. It is also worth mentioning that when you place your wager early, it means that your money will be tied up until the outcome of the event you wagered on.

 

Tips and Strategies for Betting on Politics

With the uncertainty of politics, betting in this market requires eagle-eyed and experienced punters who can identify excellent winning opportunities. Here are some tips that will help you get started and advance to making a significant amount of cash.

This may sound obvious, but with the overwhelming odds offered, it is easy for most punters to get carried away to betting on elections they don’t fully understand. For example, if you are planning to wager on the upcoming French election, it is crucial to know the type of government in that country. Are the polls for the President or the house of parliament? With this in mind, you will be able to analyze and compare the best odds. Ideally, the odds for general elections are usually not the most promising, which is the reason why most punters typically find themselves trapped in other betting options with incredible odds but very minimal chances of winning.

The same golden rule used in sports betting of not backing your favorite team also applies when betting on politics. For example, if you are a democrat, you most often than not read and follow news related to the Democratic Party. This then means that the pools you are looking at and the information you are using to make your decision could be one-sided. However, in any form of betting, it is essential to have all the needed information before making a decision. Thus, you should try to have as much information about the opponent as you would with your favorite party/leader.

When it comes to betting on politics, there are many betting markets, but picking the winning party/leader is not easy. You can focus on smaller parties since, if we are honest, the odds of the winning party in a general elections range from a price of 1.05 and 1.20. Placing such a bet will have no value. However, you can obtain value from bets on smaller parties, but you have to be ready to search deeper.

For example, during the European Parliament election, instead of betting on the winner; target to focus on the smallest parties and place a wager on whether they will be represented in parliament. It is, however, essential to keep in mind that with such bets, you need thorough research from reliable networks such as PoliticalBetting.com and not relying on social media platforms such as Twitter. (Or at least not rely on them exclusively.)

After identifying the small parties and have researched their history and actual potential, then you can start checking the lines offered by bookies since this is where the real value lies. Check the estimation provided by the bookies about the percentages of these small parties and determine if you will wager on them or against them.

In addition to wagering on small parties, you can also decide to bet on candidates of inter parties elections. The value of the odds on candidates are quite lucrative, and with excellent tips, you could win massive amounts.

Similar to sports betting, multi-option markets usually don’t offer reasonable value. The margins are generally pretty huge and not unless you are willing to gamble or wager just for fun, this is not recommended for bettors who are looking to get value for their stakes.

Politics betting markets have always been reliable as the exit polls. However, this has changed over the years, where we have seen several upsets. For example, during Brexit and the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections, the outcomes were different from what sportsbook had estimated. Nonetheless, in most cases, the bookies do not make mistakes in elections’ odds. Thus, if you find decent odds, you should hop on it. But if the odds don’t have any value, look for familiar markets that have value potential.

Betting on politics, especially during major elections or events have become very volatile all which can be attributed to populism. For example, during Brexit, the betting odds were in favor of the Brits voting to stay in E.U. But they didn’t! Populism has overtaken party loyalty, and it is evident that voters are not so loyal to their parties as they used to be. So what should you do in such fragile times when traditional parties are losing their influence on voters? Well, the primary strategy is to protect your bankroll and avoid placing random bets.

 

Betting on Entertainment

The rise in the popularity of reality shows has highly contributed to the growth of entertainment betting. Whenever there are competitions for huge prizes or stardom, you are more likely to find odds on such events. For example, during the Grammy’s or Oscars, some bookies offer odds on the main categories such as Best Actor and Best Actress. T.V. talent shows also provide a range of markets you can bet on including Britain’s Got Talent, Big Brother, The Voice, and The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Sportsbooks such as Interwetten.ng offer ongoing entertainment betting options such as Let’s Dance, The Masked Singer Germany, and DSDS among others.

Before deciding on which entertainment event to wager we would highly recommend you analyze previous entertainment betting records and also pay attention to controversy since most events are subjective and there is no algorithm used to determine who wins. The winners are all based on opinion.

 

Pros and Cons of Betting on Entertainment

Betting on T.V. shows, reality shows, awards, and movies have its advantages and disadvantages. These include;

Pros

Cons

 

Tips for Entertainment Betting

Unlike sports betting where bettors can manage to make a consistent profit, this is not the case with entertainment betting. Ideally, entertainment betting is like playing slots where your winning is mostly based on luck. However, you can always boost your chances of winning with these tips.

Compare odds offered by Multiple Betting Sites

Bookies set lines based on what they think is competitive and comparing the odds on various sites will help you spot the best opportunities.

Pay Attention to Record Sales

This tip is more applicable to music awards. Make sure you have an idea of what people are buying the most. For music awards, the music that receives the most praise does not outshine the music that sold the most. Thus, you should lean more on the song or record that has the most commercial success.

Identify Trends You can Base Your Analysis

Trends and patterns of previous years will help you make informed decisions. Here are some examples

Pay Attention to Controversy

Awards are determined by members of a committee who vote for what or who they perceive will receive a nomination or award. However, there is no algorithm to determine the winner, and it’s all based on opinions. Opinions that favor certain people then lead to controversy and this controversy can change committee member’s opinion.

Were There Deaths in the Previous Year?

If an artist dies before a major award shows, they are often awarded as a form of tribute. Take for example Heath Ledger was awarded the Best Supporting Actor, during the Oscars, for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Another example is Nipsey Hussle who won the Best Rap Performance for this song Racks in the Middle during the Grammys.

 

Betting on Weather

Enthusiastic bettors are willing to wager on just about anything and yes, even the weather. Although this is not as popular as politics and entertainment betting options, it is a great alternative to football betting since it allows you to explore things you didn’t think you needed to know about the weather.

So how does online weather betting work? Well, in most cases, bookies offer wagers in weather aspects such as rain, storms, snow, and temperatures. For example, bets on temperatures are mostly on extreme temperatures. During the summer months, most of the bets will be based on the highest temperature of the year. You will then be required to predict the general range of the highest temperature recorded that summer. Similar wagers are available during winter seasons where you are required to predict the lowest temperature.

Weather bets are quite self –explanatory. The currently available weather betting options at 1xBet and 22Bet are Weather in the Airports of the World. As evident in the image below, the idea behind these bets is to predict the weather in advance.

 

Hedging and Weather Futures

Predicting the highest or the lowest temperature can be an exciting betting experience, and there are many reasons why people wager on the weather. For some, it is just for fun, while other people bet on the weather as a hedge. For example, if you are farmer, having cooler to moderate climate will help your crops grow and produce a better harvest. However, high to extreme temperatures will adversely affect your yield. Thus, in this case, you could hedge your loss from poor harvest due to extreme temperatures by placing huge bets on the temperatures being higher than average.

In case the temperatures exceed the average and negatively impact your crops, your harvest will be less, but you will have another income from the winning weather bets. On the other end, if the weather remains moderate, you will earn huge from your harvest and lose on your bets.

Ideally, most people whose businesses rely on weather use weather betting to head against losses. Although you might end up losing money from your bets, the main idea of hedging is not to become rich but to prevent financial ruins.

Hedging is also used by large financial companies who have their own weather betting in the form of future contracts. Companies such as farming corporations and utility companies take out contracts in weather which hedge them from potential risks. Check out more information about weather futures as outlined by Mental Floss.

 

Tips on How to Bet on Weather

Use Weather Predictors and Reported Temperatures

The first step when looking to wager on weather markets is taking into consideration the average of reported temperatures and also gather information from various weather predictors. You also take into account the conditions themselves. For example, if it is predicted to be sunny, maybe you could consider leaning towards the Over. However, if there seems to be an overcast or precipitation on the horizon, it could only be wise to go the other way.

Take into Consideration Historical data

With the current extreme cases of climate change, relying on historical data has become harder. However, such data can sometimes come in handy in cases where the forecasted temperatures are way out of line with the historical average. In such cases, you can find a way to beat the forecaster.

Do Old Sayings (Proverbs) Matter?

Let’s take an example of the old saying “Clouds do not always mean rain, but smoke is a sure sign of fire”. This old saying suggests that it could be cloudy, but you cannot be sure that there will be rain as you would be assured of fire when you see smoke. Thus, if it is cloudy in the morning, placing an UNDER bet may not be the best choice since the weather could change by mid-day.

 

Betting on Financials

If there is a better time to pay attention to financial markets, is when the financial world is in panic mode, for example, the fear of the coronavirus, which has now become a pandemic. A look at the Dow Jones Industrial Average, in the last one month, it has recorded its worst since the 2008 financial crisis. This could be a sign that we are headed for another potential financial meltdown.

Now, let’s look at the U.S. markets.

Global stocks are on a free fall. From the image above, all stock indexes are down.

Again, let’s take another case where Crude oil is down from its high of $55 in February to its current position at $23.64.

Our last example, in this case, is the S.Treasury which is also cratering. Notice, from the image below, the interest rate on the 10-year bond is now at 0.86%. Why is this? Because investors are buying up this asset to profit from the coming storm.

If you are just starting off in financial betting, you might be wondering what this means. Well, it means that a crisis may be on the horizon, and although this is not good news to your pension or stock portfolio in the short term, you can still get to profit from it.

It is also worth mentioning that financial bets work differently to sports wagers. Here is an example:

Let’s take a case where things are still looking bad in the next coming weeks. Then you decide to bet against the Nigerian Naira. For advanced bettors who have a better understanding of the financial markets, you can also choose to wager on the stock market. In this case, you can bet against the UK FTSE 100 stock market if you believe it will continue with the downward trend.
Nonetheless, regardless of whether you decide to wager on local or international markets, you will notice that financial betting is not complicated. Also, you don’t always have to bet against the market as you can bet both ways. Thus, you can buy the market rather than selling it, where you earn as the market retraces back up.

The best thing about financial betting is that you really don’t have to learn about all the available stock markets since sportsbooks such as 1xBet offer random financial betting opportunities. Here you can wager on random “Bears” or random “Bulls”.

If you are looking to venture into financial betting, we would highly recommend starting off with a demo account before placing real money wagers. Also, in the section below, we have highlighted additional information that will help you get started in the financial markets.

 

The Primary Financial Betting Markets

The four primary financial betting markets include;

 

Tips for Betting on Financial Markets

Buy an Asset and Sell It Later

This is the main idea behind betting in financial assets where you buy an asset when the prices are low and sell it on a later date; it could be months or years when the prices are high. More so even if the prices of your asset plunge a day after buying it, it really doesn’t matter as long as you can hold on to your purchase until the prices retrace. However, the main disadvantage of this strategy is the fact that it is quite expensive to buy enough assets that will earn significant profits.

Bet at Online Bookies

As a beginner, it is always advisable to wager at online bookies since they pretty much work like sports betting. Numerous online bookies offer financial betting. These bets are also easy to understand since they are settled at the time you set. You can also limit the amount you wish to wager, which is great when working on a tight bankroll.

Spread Betting

This financial betting strategy is popular among financial bettors who can withstand the volatility of this market. With spread betting, you can win or lose a significant amount of money based on how the market behaves after placing your wager. For example, if you bet $1 for a stock index to go up, then it means you will earn $1 for every point it moves up and lose $1 for every point it moves down.

 

Is Financial Betting Better than Regular Investment?

Financial betting is not better than regular investment, but simply different and definitely much more fun. Thus, financial betting is something we would recommend to do for fun while for investment, the end target is to be profitable in the venture. You can’t invest in financial betting with the expectation of becoming rich. Nonetheless, financial betting has its advantages and disadvantages. These include;

Pros

Cons

 

Other Alternatives to Sports Betting

Apart from betting on politics, weather, and financials, there are other alternatives to sports betting that are equally rewarding and fun. The options include virtual sports betting, esports, casino gambling, and lotto betting.

 

Virtual Sports Betting

Even with the current cancellation of sports events, you can still wager on your favorite sports, thanks to virtual sports. Virtual sports exists on almost all popular sports, but the most common include Football (Soccer), Basketball, Horse Racing, Tennis, Greyhound Racing, and Motor Sports, among others.

Virtual soccer is the most popular and sportsbooks are always maximizing on this popularity to draw more players. For example, Bet9ja has re-invented virtual football to offer a better version known as zoom soccer. This soccer game is similar to virtual soccer, and the only difference is that zoom soccer provides a more close to real-life soccer games. Thus, you can expect to find real markets and leagues to real team names.

Betting on virtual sports is just like betting on real sporting events, and the only difference is that bookies regulate how long the virtual event takes and who is competing. More so, the results of the game are determined by a random number generator which means that with each competition, the results cannot be influenced in any way.

We have an extensive article about Virtual Sports here.

Some of the popular virtual sports betting markets include Forecast, Win, Tricast, Each Way, and handicap bets among others. The one factor that has managed to uphold the popularity of virtual sports is the fact that the action never stops. Ideally, unlike real events where you have to comply with the set schedules and in most cases, there will be nothing to bet on for weeks, with virtual sports, you have access to 24/7 events. You can place your wager at any time of day!

 

Esports Betting

In the past decade, eSports have gained popularity among games and are a great alternative to sports. Esports are electronic games that come in the form of competitive video gaming. There is a wide range of games and genres of eSports, but the most common genres include;

The most popular eSports games with regard to global audience are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (C.S.: G.O.), Dota 2, Fortnite, and League of Legends (LOL).

The wide range of games also provides different eSports betting options. Some of the wagers you can place include Moneyline, Handicap, Outright bets, Totals, and Specialist bets. As it is the case with any betting escapade, you should always analyze the team performances using online resources before placing real money wagers.

Read our guide to Esports Betting here.

 

Casino Games

Casino games are another gambling options that offer a wide range of options to wager on. There are various types of casino games which suit both beginners and expert players. These include video slots, table games, video poker and live casino poker. If you are just starting out in the casino gambling sphere, you can always start with video slots which are also available in numerous varieties including classic slots, fruit machines, progressive jackpot slots, and mobile slots among others. In the table games category, you can choose to play roulette, baccarat, blackjack, craps or three-card poker.

For video poker games, you have options such as jacks or better, deuces wilds, joker poker, or double bonus poker. On the other hand, in the live casino poker, you can play live casino poker variations such as live casino holde’m, 2 hand live casino hold’em, ultimate texas hold’em, and 3 card poker.

Read out article about how to win in the casino here. 

 

Lotto Betting

In Lotto betting, you are required to predict the results of a lottery draw and place a bet on the outcome. Thus, Lotto Betting  is by no means, similar to buying a ticket into the official draw. There are various lotto options to play at 1XBet, including Germany Lottery, French Lotto, and Euro Jackpot, among others.

There are multiple types of lotto games which include Lotto, Little Lottos, Raffles, Keno, and The Dailies. The most popular lotteries in Africa are based in South Africa. At the South African National Lottery, you can find some of the most awarding Lotto and Powerball games. Nigeria has three popular games which include the Green Lotto, Premier Lotto, and Give N Take-National Jackpot Lottery. Kenyan players, on the other hand, have the option of the Kenya Charity Sweepstakes.

To increase your chances of winning in lotto, the obvious strategy is to compare different lotteries and different odds among bookies. The main advantage of lotto betting is the ease of access as well as the simplicity of the payouts.

Click here to read our extensive guide to sports betting in Nigeria.

We have similar betting guide for Kenya and betting guide for South Africa.

 

Final Word

Whenever you are looking to take a break from sports betting, there are various live sports betting alternatives that you can consider. These include betting on weather, politics, financials, entertainment, virtual sports, esports, casino games, and lotto betting. However, whichever option you settle for, it is always advisable to get an idea of the gameplay before wagering with real money. Thus, always start with the demo or free play. Also, most online bookies and casinos offer bonuses to both new and existing players. This is a great way to play for free or have more bankroll to wager on, hence, never pass off such offers. Lastly, be sure to check the tips we have highlighted for each betting options to help you make informed decisions. Good Luck!