Sportsbet’s whacky markets – race on for Assange & Avery

TIRED of betting on the same old sporting events and the monotony of horse racing?

If so, why not try a Sportsbet novelty bet?

These bets are great if you fancy a punt on the politics, a wager on a television or movie performance or even a flutter on the possibility of alien life…

We have compiled the best, most bizarre markets for punters to bet on over at Sportsbet.

Is the truth really out there?

Are you a believer in extra-terrestrial life? If so, Sportsbet has you covered.

First country to find alien life

Will it be the Russians at ($6.00) who makes first contact? Or, will the favoured USA ($3.00) capitalise on the (alleged) Roswell incident and announce that we are not alone?

Other countries in the market are China and Australia ($7.50), Germany ($11.00) and even our neighbours over the Tasman New Zealand have their price ($41.00).

A winning bet will be awarded to any punter who selects the first country to have contact with an extra-terrestrial being confirmed by their head of government and NASA before June 2016.

First planet to have confirmed alien life

Are we alone in our own solar system?

The Mars explorer seems to have uncovered signs of potential life, so Sportsbet have chosen to install the red planet as $2.00 favourites to be a home to extra-terrestrial life.

All planets in our solar system have a market on whether or not they will be shown to have life housed on their surface, even the dwarf planet Pluto is in the frame, at the unlikely price of $41.00.

Applies to the first to planet in our solar system have the existence of extra-terrestrial beings confirmed by NASA before June 2016.

Assange set to walk from the embassy?

Is the man who set up WikiLeaks ready to finally leave the Ecuadorian embassy?

Julian Assange has been in Ecuador’s London embassy since July of 2012, and despite the Swedish government’s best efforts to have him extradited to face sexual assault charges, the Australian still remains ‘free’ inside the walls of the embassy.

Sportsbet have set up a market on when Assange will leave the embassy.

The time period of July the first through to the end of the year is the favourite at $2.28, while the unlikelihood that Assange leaves the embassy by the end of February is the longest at $13.00.

In our humble opinion, the $4.50 for Assange to extend his stay beyond 2016 is the best option.

Avery or Assange – who will walk free first?

After the popularity of Netflix documentary ‘Making a Murderer’, Steven Avery has been the subject of exoneration calls.

Ken Kratz, the original former prosecutor in the case said Avery is ‘exactly where he needs to be’ but that has not stopped Sportsbet from setting a market on whether or not Steve Avery will be released before Julian Assange.

Julian Assange is $1.03 favourite to walk out of the Ecuadorian embassy before Steven Avery ($11.00) walks free from prison.

Has Leo’s time finally come?

After missing out so many times on getting the Oscar that the world has deemed that Leonardo DiCaprio has deserved since his breakout performance in What’s eating Gilbert Grape, will 2016 be his year?

After winning the best actor Golden Globe for his role in the Revenant, Leo has had his odds slashed to replicate the feat at the Oscars.

DiCaprio is $1.02 to win his first ever Oscar at the 2016 Academy Award ceremony – the only man of the five nominees to be in single figures.

Next best is Englishman Eddie Redmayne, who would have to become just the sixth person in the history of the award to win back-to-back Oscars after his 2015 nod for his portrayal of Steven Hawking in the Theory of Everything.

Redmayne is at $15.00 with Sportsbet to win an Oscar for a second time.

And on the opposite end of the spectrum?

If the Oscar is the most coveted acting award in the industry today, then the Razzie would have to be its polar opposite.

A man who is typically associated with the Oscars, Johnny Depp, has the dubious honour of being the $2.70 favourite to take home the worst actor Razzie for his role in David Koepp’s flop Mortdecai.

Comedy king Adam Sandler – a man who has previously ‘won’ the award on three occasions – is the second favourite to take home his fourth Razzie for his performance in Pixels ($3.40).