Sports betting is enjoyed worldwide, particularly when it comes to national teams representing their country in high-profile events like the Olympics or World and Regional Championships. Placing bets that a particular team will win leads to punters becoming more invested in the game which makes it far more fun and entertaining. Whilst soccer, horse racing, tennis and baseball are the most popular sports that people bet on around the world, there is an entire market open to rare sports that offer wagering opportunities. 

Rare sports are those that the majority may never have heard of that are played in only a few places in the world. These are sports will be found on only a few betting sites but you can always request the best odds from any sportsbook and sign up with more than one to compare the odds and choose the best in your favour. Here are some rare sports betting events to consider betting on.

Mountain Unicycling

The extreme sport of mountain unicycling requires riders to remain totally focused throughout the race. The sport is full of people with an adventurous spirit, taking out their unicycles to experience the landscape at a pace fast enough to cover some distance. The search for trails in remote areas has seen the sport connect local mountain biking schemes to create a growing sport. There are mountain unicycling events in the US, the UK, Australia and Switzerland. Initially, unicyclists competed against mountain bikers in events like the Polaris Challenge in the UK which saw some mountain bikers beaten by the unicyclists, thus raising the profile of the sport. 

Sumo Wrestling

Sumo is a full-contact sport that originated in Japan. The sports sees one large wrestler attempting to force his opponent out of the ring or onto the floor to win the match. Still popular in Japan where it is a professional sport, betting on sumo wrestling is possible at many sportsbooks in Europe and the US as well as Japan. Betting is usually limited to matches between the best sumo wrestlers who compete at big tournaments including the Hatsu Basho which takes place in January, the Haru Basho in March and the Natsu Basho in May. The main events calendar is completed in the Nagoya Basho which takes place in July, followed by the Aki Basho in September and the Fukuoka Basho in November. 

Roshambo (Rock, Paper, Scissors) 

Few would list Rock, Paper, Scissors as a sport to bet on, but some poker players have used game theory to draw connections between the thought processes involved with roshambo, most popularly known as rock-paper-scissors, and the business of reading one’s opponent and making decisions in poker. In roshambo, two players count to three, then simultaneously hold out a flat hand (paper), two fingers (scissors), or a fist (rock), with rock beating scissors, scissors beating paper, and paper beating rock. 

Roshambo players can now place bets and start an online game with a random opponent. The player that starts the game can determine the duration, stake and winning scoreline. One point is awarded for each winning move. There are also roshambo leagues and tournaments around the world, including North America and the UK where spectators can bet on the list of potential champions.

eSports

eSports is a market that has grown massively since the 2020 lockdowns worldwide and is much larger than most people assume.  Cash betting on eSports is common but so is skin betting, where the skins are virtual items in games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO). Players can change the cosmetic appearance of a player’s in-game avatar, weapons, or equipment. CS:GO skins can be transferred between players, acting similar to a casino chip, via a skin betting site. 

Sports betting is the most popular eSport and is identical to betting on traditional sports. Whilst this is an unusual sport the betting follow some of the usual strategies used in Forex trading. Fantasy eSports follow the same fantasy sports rules with various contests on the most competitive video games that include Call of Duty, Dota 2 and Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.

Reindeer Racing

It’s not just horses or greyhounds that are animals raced in sport. Reindeer racing is a popular and highly competitive sport in parts of Norway, Finland, and Russia, where reindeers pull sledges or skiers over the snow. In Alaska, reindeer racing is more extreme, being a competition of survival for man and beast. The most popular race to bet on is held in the city of Tromso, Norway in February as part of Sami National Day, the Sami people being indigenous to Norway and for whom the reindeer is a source of fur, transportation, meat, and cultural pride.