Most Unusual Events for Betting

Publication date: 6 January 2026

The world of sports has long transcended the boundaries of football, tennis, and basketball. More and more bettors are not only looking for odds but also seeking emotions, atmosphere, and stories. Beyond familiar leagues lies an entire parallel universe of tournaments that you’d want to watch… and bet on purely for pleasure.

On 3S.INFO, we will explore the most exotic championships on the planet that can transform a betting line into a sea of impressions and a collection of beautiful memories.

Top 12 Interesting Betting Events in 2026: From Imaginary Guitars to Laziness Championship

Air Guitar World Championships: Rock Without a Guitar

When: August 26–29, 2026
Where: Oulu, Finland

The Air Guitar World Championships is a fusion of rock concert, theater and stand-up comedy. Musicians without instruments take the stage and “play” along with tracks, air-strumming riffs, jumping, dropping knees, and making signature faces.

The festival format includes:

Airientation Day: Warm-up and introductions.
Dark Horses Qualification: A chance for unknown heroes.
Finals: Two days of showmanship, costumes and wild performances.

If bookmakers ever widely embrace this tournament, bets could be placed on artistry, music choice, audience support, and charisma. Essentially, it’s figure skating in the rock ‘n’ roll world where impression and show matter most.

Swamp Football: Football Where the Field Is a Swamp

When: July 10–11, 2026
Where: Hyrynsalmi, Finland

Swamp football is a dream come true for those who always thought that “field conditions” were underrated. Players step onto a squelching, marshy field where every sprint becomes a strength workout and a two-meter pass turns into a micro-feat of heroism.

Teams from all over the world fight less against each other than against the swamp itself. In the classical sense, tactics and ball control almost disappear here. The key factors are physics, endurance and balance.

For betting, it would be a tournament about distance and power rather than fine technique: “total number of falls,” “number of goals scored knee-deep in mud,” and “will the favorite survive in this quagmire.”

Highlander Challenge: Modern Highland Games

When: July 2026
Where: Glenarm Castle, Northern Ireland

The Highlander Challenge World Championships combines Scottish Highland games with strongman competitions. Contestants lift massive stones, hurl caber logs and spears, and engage in strength duels — all against the backdrop of a castle, steeped in Scottish tradition and an almost historical atmosphere.

Here, strength, technique, and psychology determine success: one awkward move, and the log flies anywhere but in the right direction. For a hypothetical betting line, this event would focus on results measured in kilograms and meters, questioning “who will rewrite traditions” and become the new hero of highland legends.

World Aunt Sally: English Classic with Sticks

When: Last Saturday of June
Where: Charlbury, Oxfordshire, England (Charlbury Beer Festival)

Aunt Sally is a traditional English game where participants throw wooden battens at a target known as the “old woman’s head,” mounted on a pedestal. The format is a single knockout tournament, with the winner receiving the title and having their name engraved on the Finings Cup Trophy.

In 2025, a record-breaking 91 players participated, including foreign competitors. This makes it an ideal tournament for “long shots”: your underdog hero might emerge victorious from deep within the qualification rounds. Precision, nerves, and the ability to handle pressure from pub audiences and festival noise are crucial.

Cooper’s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake: Chase After Double Gloucester

When: Last Monday of May
Where: Cooper’s Hill, Gloucestershire, England

A wheel of Double Gloucester cheese is launched from the top of a very steep hill. Following it are dozens or even hundreds of participants who essentially fly downhill, tumbling and rolling more than running. The cheese reaches impressive speeds, and the finish often resembles a battlefield rather than a sporting arena.

The prize is surprisingly simple: the cheese itself and eternal glory as the best “cheese runner.” From a betting perspective, this is chaos: the leader may fall just seconds before the finish, while an “outsider” might suddenly roll across first. Risk-takers will certainly appreciate such a format.

Toe Wrestling Championship: Battle of Big Toes

When: July/August end
Where: Fenny Bentley, Derbyshire, England

In the 1970s, the idea of “let’s wrestle using our toes” in a pub became reality and later evolved into a world championship. Competitors lock big toes on a special “toedium” wall and attempt to pin their opponent’s foot to the surface.

There are men’s and women’s categories, titles like World Toe Wrestling Champion, and prizes. The tournament is accompanied by a fair and strong audience support. For betting enthusiasts, this discipline is about endurance, pain threshold, and sheer stubbornness. At this level, toes aren’t anatomy anymore, they’re character traits.

Kırkpınar: 650 Years of Oil Wrestling

When: Late June – Early July
Where: Edirne, Turkey

Kırkpınar Oil Wrestling is one of the world’s oldest continuous tournaments (over 650 years old). Pehlivans rub themselves with olive oil, wear leather “kispet” shorts, and enter the wrestling lawn. The main goal is to bring down opponents and win the title of chief pahlavan and the “Golden Belt.” For more information on this sport, see the review titled “iGaming in Turkey.”

This isn’t merely a sport, it’s a cultural celebration featuring music, traditional ceremonies, and thousands of spectators. In terms of betting, the tournament echoes wrestling with significant historical context: experience, school tradition, favorite status, and influence of Turkish public pressure play important roles.

World Gravy Wrestling: Combat in Gravy

When: Last weekend of August
Where: Lancashire, England

Participants enter a pool filled with thick brown concoction resembling gravy: water, starch, caramel. They grapple, slip, fall, and rise again. But what matters isn’t just strength and technique. Costume, showmanship, and the insanity of one’s persona count too.

Often held for charity, part of the proceeds goes to local projects. For a hypothetical betting line, this is perfect ground for markets like “best imported legend,” “most insane costume,” and “winner by audience applause.”

World Gurning Championships: Face as a Sport

When: Third Saturday of September
Where: Cumbria, England

Gurning is the art of contorting one’s face. Participants stick their heads through a horse collar and display the most grotesque, funny, and shocking facial expressions. There are categories for men, women, and juniors, with winners earning the title of World Gurning Champion and local prizes.

This contest is included in one of Britain’s oldest fairs (dating back to the 13th century) and attracts media attention annually. Hypothetically speaking, the key factors for betting here are charisma and skill in facial expression. Sometimes, the winner isn’t necessarily the scariest, but the one who stands out the most memorably.

World Snail Racing: Slow Show with Fast Finish

When: Usually in July
Where: Congham (Grimston Cricket Club), Norfolk, UK

Garden snails are placed on a wet circular track approximately 33 cm in diameter. The first one to cross the perimeter wins. It’s incredibly slow yet charmingly simple: spectators cheer on their favorites, and the start signal is “Ready…steady…slow!”

The winner receives a mug and salad for the champion snail. It’s one of the most good-natured and longest-standing “exotic” championships. From a betting standpoint, it exemplifies absolute unpredictability: the condition of the snail, humidity, trajectory — everything influences the outcome. Predicting outcomes here feels more like fortune-telling than scientific calculation.

World Wok Racing: Bobsleigh on Skillets

When: First world tournaments — 2003–2004, format occasionally returns.
Where: Bobsled/skeleton tracks in Germany and Austria (e.g., Winterberg)

Participants sit in modified woks and race down bobsled tracks. Speeds are real, risks genuine. Controlling these improvised “vehicles” requires courage, balance, and composure.

Sometimes celebrities join in, turning the event into a media sensation. In betting lines, such a tournament would blend motorsports with extreme entertainment. Victory hinges on maintaining calm and composure despite racing down treacherous slopes in improvised vehicles made from kitchen utensils.

Laziness Championship: Who Lays Longer

When: Annually, late September
Where: Ethno-village Brezna, near Nikšić, Montenegro

The aim of the Laziness Championship is straightforward: lie down for as long as possible. Standing up or sitting are forbidden, but eating, drinking, reading, and browsing the internet is allowed. Every eight hours, there’s a short break for bathroom use (10–15 minutes). The winner is whoever lasts the longest.

In recent years, the main prize has been around €2,000 and reportedly once even a Subaru car. This is the ultimate competition for anyone who’s been told “You’re too lazy” their whole life. Here, laziness transforms into a professional quality.

From a betting perspective, it’s perhaps the most paradoxical tournament. The longer the event lasts, the more nervous the spectators become, while the participants simply continue lying down. It’s almost anti-sport, offering emotional excitement comparable to a Champions League final.

Why Do We Want to Bet on Such Tournaments?

What unites all these events is their ability to deliver emotions, stories and an atmosphere rarely found on the regular sporting calendar. These events focus less on dry numbers and statistics, instead celebrating human spontaneity, improvisation, and cultural heritage.

For betting enthusiasts, these championships serve as reminders that sports aren’t solely about titles and records but also about playfulness, self-irony and enjoyment. Sometimes, the true value lies not in the odds, but in the memorable tales you’ll share afterwards: “Remember when we cheered for that snail and the laziness champion?”

We remind you that all “classic” sports types (football, tennis, hockey) and game schedules can be found in the 3S.INFO Sporting Events Calendar.