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If you’re looking to spice up your non-sports-related screen time, then entertainment betting might be the perfect alternative to sports gambling. Entertainment betting involves wagers based on awards programs, reality TV shows, movies, and politics. It is among the fastest-growing markets in the online gambling realm for a good reason.
What is Reality TV?
The term “reality television” or reality TV has only been around for roughly two decades, but the genre is as old as television broadcasting itself. Over the last 20 years, entertainment betting and these programs, especially those that are broadcast live, have become popular events to bet on. Reality TV includes several sub-genres:
- Sports
- Hoaxes
- Immunity
- Job search
- Renovation
- Investments
- Court shows
- Game shows
- Hidden cameras
- Outdoor survival
- Social experiment
- Talent competitions
- Business improvement
- Dating-based competition
- Special living environment
- Self-improvement or makeover
- Supernatural and paranormal
But not all of these reality TV shows are fodder for betting. For instance, court shows are often taped months in advance in front of a live audience. The verdict of the cases are already known publicly before the broadcast. Therefore, a bookmaker wouldn’t take any action on such kind of program.
The same goes for a renovation program. Shows complete the renovations months before they air, and many community members are part of the process. Hence, the outcome is well known. Moreover, you don’t have much to wager on in a renovation show besides the likelihood of the program deciding the building is beyond repair and has to be demolished and rebuilt.
What Reality TV Shows Can I Bet On?
Besides revolutionizing the “small screen,” reality TV competitions have also been a welcome addition to entertainment betting. Below are some of the most popular reality TV shows you can bet on.
Talent Competitions
Talent competitions are among the earliest shows on TV. Participants sing, dance, act, lip-sync, play an instrument, perform martial arts, comedy, poetry, or other activities to showcase their talent. One of the more popular reality show/singing competition is The Voice, which airs in multiple countries worldwide, including Cambodia. It has become such an enormous success that sportsbooks now accept wagers. You may bet on week-to-week results as well as the eventual winners for the entire season.
What’s great about The Voice is the rotating chairs. During the audition phase or “Blind Auditions,” the four coaches—consisting of celebrated artists—face away from the contestant. That is to ensure their decisions on who will progress to the next round depend solely on the singing voice. In the battle and knockout rounds, coaches decide which of the acts on their teams will make it to the live finale.
Since The Voice consists of several different rounds with varying rules, you have various wagering options. Most entertainment markets used to only set lines for things like the eventual champion. But that is no longer the case, so you may expect different wagering styles for every round. These include money line odds, futures bets, and proposition wagers.
Game Shows
There are plenty of betting on reality TV game shows, but not the ones you would usually imagine. For instance, you can’t wager on a game show like Wheel of Fortune. That is because the winners are known way before its broadcast. Real game show action is typically for those in prime-time. You make the wagers online in real-time.
Several networks tried primetime game shows, but none had the excitement of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or simply “Millionaire.” This international TV game show franchise of British origin has multiple international variations, including Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Cambodia. Besides the prize money, the audience enjoys the trivia. Questions range from relatively easy to very difficult. Millionaire allows you to wager on how far a contestant would go.
Immunity Shows
The torchbearer for the immunity shows category would probably be Survivor. This reality competition has numerous versions all over the world, including Cambodia. The show places 16 strangers in an exotic place far away from civilization. The contestants must use survival skills to provide for themselves. They need to build shelter, fish, hunt, and forage. Winners of challenges will get immunity from elimination. Each contestant has the power to vote whom they want to eliminate.
When it comes to selecting Survivor winners, you can’t get a piece of one-size-fits-all advice. Each season is different as the location changes and new contestants join. Plenty of variables and personalities are at play. So to give your bets a better chance, you must do your homework. Read up on previous winning strategies and study personalities among the present set of contestants.
Betting sites usually offer futures odds and prop wagers for Survivor. You can bet on the week’s upcoming eliminations, the eventual winner of the season, and even propositions covering things like how long certain players will last or potential alliances.
Major Awards Shows
Awards shows go hand-in-hand with reality TV betting. Perhaps you have spent a lot of time arguing with others who should win the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, or Best New Artist at major awards shows like the Grammys, Oscars, and Golden Globes. You can now find bookies that let you wager on those results.
Perhaps the most precious gift reality TV betting brings is a better viewer experience for events that would otherwise seem uneventful or boring. Watching the movie industry celebrate while handing out little trophies is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, many individuals love some competition, especially if they can win cash. Awards show betting sites let you have more fun watching the Academy Awards. Placing several bets on different categories and prop wagers will hold your attention in a manner the people around you will appreciate.
Except for some European regions, entertainment betting is only available online. All the leading awards show betting sites are offshore gaming platforms. That is great since these international operators include several of the best in the industry. The best reality TV betting sites offer competitive lines, ease of use, bonuses, high-quality customer service, a broad range of banking options, mobile compatibility, and security.
Can I Bet on Non-Reality TV Shows?
Of course! While reality TV shows make sense as a betting option since it’s “unscripted,” you may also wager on scripted TV programs and movies. A massively popular TV betting option is the acclaimed HBO series Game of Thrones.
Before the final episode aired in 2019, Game of Thrones was among the most wagered TV shows. That comes as no surprise since it was an incredibly popular show. On the flip side, Game of Thrones producers did an excellent job in preventing leaks, hence creating a fair wagering platform. Nobody had any idea which character would die ahead of an episode release.
After Game of Thrones, bookies differ on which shows they support. Some prefer long-running series, while others offer betting markets for trending shows. Moreover, TV predictions are just part of their offerings. Therefore, you can also access online casinos and traditional sports betting in these gambling sites.
What Types of Entertainment Bets Can I Make?
The betting options available depend on the reality TV program in question. Practically all entertainment wagers fall under the props or futures categories. More often than not, you’ll be betting on possible outcomes, especially when it comes to reality TV and films. Wagering on which actor will be the next Mr so-and-so is a futures bet. Meanwhile, wagering on whether an acceptance speech will last over or under two minutes is a prop bet.
Other wagering options include straight bet and spread bet. In straight betting, you will bet that a certain outcome will happen, e.g. who will win an Oscar. On the other hand, spread betting might be appropriate for a reality TV show like American Idol. Sportsbooks will list the spread or difference between votes of the eventual winner/loser. You can wager on whether or not the champion will win by at least that number of votes.
Betting Regulations in Cambodia
Cambodians love gambling, and wagering happens in virtually every competitive event. Cockfighting, kickboxing, and boat racing attract bets regularly. Unfortunately, most forms of gambling in Cambodia are illegal under the Kram legislation. But despite the laws prohibiting locals from betting, several government-regulated casinos are open to foreigners.
The Cambodian government wanted to capitalize on the fact that most of its neighboring countries have no legal gambling industries. Therefore, it built casinos in popular resort areas and border towns to lure foreign gamblers. Still, it is illegal for Cambodian citizens. Poipet, Bavet, and O Smach have casino strips between border checkpoints. Tourists are free to gamble and leave without crossing the Cambodian checkpoint. That eradicates the need for tourist visas. Casinos in Koh Kong and Sihanoukville resort areas are also open for foreign passport holders.
Individuals and companies in Cambodia can run gambling centers so long as they hold necessary gambling licenses. However, their betting and casino services shouldn’t be available to locals. That said, several major Asian bookmakers cater to clients residing in Cambodia. These include 188BET, Dafabet, and several others.
