The Worlds Craziest Sports That You Can Bet on

Fancy a punt on Cheese Rolling, or Bog Snorkelling? If not, maybe racing is more your thing, so let’s try Cockroaches or Pigs perhaps? We cannot say otherwise, across the whole world, there are some very peculiar activities taking place.

You may have come across a few of them, especially if you like your social media and in all seriousness, there are online bookies taking bets on the majority of them.

Here’s a brief look at just a few of them:

Irish Special: Wife Carrying

Very much the forte of the Irish, this event involves carrying your wife over a 253 metre obstacle course; with the couple who achieve the fastest time being the winners. Modern rule adaptations state that you do not need to be married, potentially creating considerable demand for slim, well-balanced females!

Quite a thing in Ireland we understand. So much so, we couldn’t resist adding this quote from Paddy Power:

Unexpectedly Popular: Rock, Paper, Scissors

We probably all know adults who indulge in a game of rock, paper, scissors either for fun, or occasionally to settle a dispute. But who would have guessed that this simple game not only has numerous fans, some earnest players and a world championship event?

Usually referred to by ‘professionals’ as RPS, betting at events is expected. To the extent where the World RPS Society issues members with ‘fake’ money to gamble. RPS attracts celebrity attention too, with Michael Jordan being rumoured to have wagered a ‘six-figure sum’ on one contest.

Lowest Technology: Cornhole

Despite being a centre of technology, one of Hong Kong’s oddest sports is an amazingly simple one. Usually played as a pair, or sometimes as a team of four, the object of the game is to reach 21 points by attempting to throw or slide bags of corn kernels through a hole in a specifically-made wooden board.

Although it may seem implausible, this sport has leagues and championships going on and a rigorous set of rules! The only light-hearted thing about it is the process of team-naming, which seems to be all about modern culture. Some top-ranking teams are named ‘We So Corny’, ‘Breaking Bags’ and ‘Game of Throws’.

Only in America: Cow Chip Tossing

In fairness, we doubt you will find too many online bookies giving odds on this, but we just had to tell you about it. Yes, this weird and wonderful event involves throwing cowpats. Not just any old cowpat either, size (minimum 6”) and consistency (dry thankfully) is all-important! Each ‘tosser’ throws two ‘chips’ per round, with the furthest distance counting.

Believe it or not, Cow Chip Tossing attracts numerous participants in America’s Midwest and is usually a big attraction at country fairs and the like; it does have annual events going on too. Spectators can indulge in the form of Bingo-style betting, based on the location the chip lands on a marked pitch.

Something Really Unreal: Quidditch

We couldn’t finish this post without mentioning Quidditch. Even if you are not a Harry Potter fan, you are almost sure to have heard of this game, officially known as ‘Muggle Quidditch’. Players, who are known as ‘muggles’ obviously cannot fly, but they do run around a pitch ‘riding’ brooms.

There are four ‘balls’ kept in play, a ‘Quaffle’, two ‘Bludgers’ and the ‘Golden Snitch’. If that already sounds complicated, a human ‘snitch’ is involved as well, whose job it is to disrupt the teams and sometimes the crowd too. There is a huge betting market for Quidditch, with the number of bettors increasing every year since it began in 2011.

The world of betting is somewhat crazy at times, as you have seen with this glimpse into a few of the world’s weirder sporting events. If you enjoyed this blog post, let us know, we can certainly do a Part 2 (or 3) if you like!

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