Betting on weird things and the issues related

[alani123]

We've seen betting on all sorts of things lately. I remember seeing entire sites dedicated to betting on the weather, betting on traffic, betting on movements of a certain commodity by the seconds difference...

When new forms of betting are created though some issues arise.

My issue with this is that traffic cameras are not necessarily independently verifiable by a third party observer unless they have physical presence or a camera of their own. At least with the weather you have multiple independent sources verifying the data. Satellite imagery from multiple states or organisations and local weather station data by national organisations provide a pretty impartial result.

For a road intersection, I guess you could go there to see if the camera is true to the livestream while you're betting. But what difference does it make when you're just gambling from home for an intersection? For all I know it could be an imaginary place or a fake livestream. In any case the stupider the betting becomes the harder the verified is also.

Some people might think they can have the upper hand this way but it's to no avail. The gambljng trends keep squeezing more and more out of the player. Higher house edge is now the standard even for sports betting. I can imagine betting on traffic has abysmally bad odds.

And another thing, betting on something provides a financial incentive to alter the results if possible. With prediction markets betting on anything becomes easier than ever. So for instance bets on the weather are created on a whim now. It was recently reported then that someone tried to mess with a weather station to win a bet, essentially forcing it to report false results by increasing the surrounding temperature. This puts regular use cases for the weather station in a disadvantaged position just to provide a financial reward to an individual which can even be harmful with other things.

[ryzaadit]

I'm one of the players who have experience betting on some things you mentioned.

The road game you mentioned, the name of that game is CCTV Game - Rush Hour. I want to share with you my history game to proof it, but there is no history at all. Regarding the game verifiable stuff mostly people like me or other who are playing these game are already aware.

We are mostly just want to test our luck. That's all.


Anyway, Slots is also can't be check by verifiable especially third party observer. I think, if you already aware about mostly like fairness of the game you will always check the game first before playing.

I still don't mind playing the games like these, but will never advertiser to everyone else.

[OsaiEmma]

My issue with this is that traffic cameras are not necessarily independently verifiable by a third party observer unless they have physical presence or a camera of their own.

Actually, there are 3rd parties which provide live feed from traffic intersections. So, those feeds can be verified if you actually know the location. 3rd party apps like liveearthmap, trafficvision, alltrafficcams etc, can provide you a global  real time live feed on traffic intersections. Meanwhile, there are local live streams too for a specific country/region—it's just a Google search away. And besides, you are not the only one participating in such gambling, someone in an area they're live streaming can also take their time to go verify and make sure they're provably fair; and if not, they'll certainly report their cheating.

But being there physically can give bettors some advantage because there's usually a 10 - 20 seconds delay with live feed and real life events.

Some people might think they can have the upper hand this way but it's to no avail. The gambljng trends keep squeezing more and more out of the player. Higher house edge is now the standard even for sports betting. I can imagine betting on traffic has abysmally bad odds.

It has been reported that the gambling market is huge and booming, especially with the advent of online betting which has made gambling very easy, accessible and less stressful to play. You don't even need to go to a casino, and you'll still feel like you're in one. Slo I'm not surprised seeing a lot of people doing all they can to get into the market .

It was recently reported then that someone tried to mess with a weather station to win a bet, essentially forcing it to report false results by increasing the surrounding temperature. This puts regular use cases for the weather station in a disadvantaged position just to provide a financial reward to an individual which can even be harmful with other things.

Is this even possible? Weather forecast is not dedicated to a singular station, there are other sources too. Well, I guess people do crazy things just to get the bag

[jeremypwr]

I've bet on some pretty random sporting events especially if there isn't much to bet on
Admitting, it usually only happens when I have some extra free bets on deck

[Cointxz]

It was recently reported then that someone tried to mess with a weather station to win a bet, essentially forcing it to report false results by increasing the surrounding temperature. This puts regular use cases for the weather station in a disadvantaged position just to provide a financial reward to an individual which can even be harmful with other things.

Is this even possible? Weather forecast is not dedicated to a singular station, there are other sources too. Well, I guess people do crazy things just to get the bag

I remember this news being shared here before. There are many weird bet that bettor usually over extend their participation just to win their bet just like the guy who won his prop bet for running on super boal wearing a pink leotard.

https://foxsportsradio.iheart.com/content/2021-02-10-super-bowl-streaker-explains-how-he-won-370k-prop-bet-for-running-on-field/

I believe many other bets happened like this as long as human can manipulate the result.

[TedMosby]

Yeah, that prediction market player/trader/gambler who manipulated a weather sensor was in the news a few months ago https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/trader-manipulates-city-weather-sensor-165804921.html, and it became a serious concern because airline dispatchers, grid operators, farmers, etc. make decisions based on weather forecasts, like what was posted by MIT here https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/07/17/1140622/weather-data-sabotage.



And again, a quote from someone who operates a casino.

[...]
The casino games are here to entertain you, not to give you money. Imagine if the core business would be giving money, how much sense would that make? Grin As soon as you switch your mindset and you're completely aware that the core business of that slot game is to entertain you, not to make you rich, you will stop caring about these things.
[...]

Like @ryzaadit said, gamblers may be aware of the game being verifiable and stuff, but sometimes gamblers just want to play to get entertained and test their luck in a simple way. How many times have you played provably fair games, and how many times have you verified the results? Maybe it doesn't matter anymore after you have played in online casinos for some years. You know it's rigged, you just don't know how to prove it, you still keep playing, and hoping you get a share from people who get rigged by the system.

People bet on everything, especially after prediction market platforms like Polymarket exist. For me, it's okay, because it also means more ways to get entertained for people who see gambling as entertainment. More ways to make money for people who know the edges. More ways to lose money for people who only rely on luck to get more money.

But there's one market I don't like on prediction markets. It is a bet on wars that happen in specific countries, like "[Country A] attacks [Country B] before [date]." I mean, it's still legal, but come on, you are betting on humanity. You try to make money from the deaths of innocent people? Please, just don't do that.

[SatoPrincess]

My experience outside sports betting was the US elections where I saw bets on who would be the next president, then there was the bet on who the next pope would be. And I thought those were the craziest bets ever until this thread lol. I think these kinds of bets have a certain appeal to people than regular betting, imo the odds are much better than slot games.

[Betwrong]

~My issue with this is that traffic cameras are not necessarily independently verifiable by a third party observer unless they have physical presence or a camera of their own. At least with the weather you have multiple independent sources verifying the data. Satellite imagery from multiple states or organisations and local weather station data by national organisations provide a pretty impartial result. ~

Mate, of course, you are absolutely right. You can't verify something like traffic cameras(unless you are a cop) and you can't verify many other weird things people are betting on. What’s important here is that nobody is forcing people to put their money on those weird things — they’re doing it voluntarily. It's their fun, so, let them do it the way they want.

[Ruttoshi]

Betting on weather is a little bit of skill because you get information from weather forecast and other related information on the weather. It's like sportbet and people are happy betting on it

CCTV game is just like slot. You accept whatever, is the outcome even though, there's no one to verify it. One thing that I have come to understand about gambling is when you don't take it personal and do it for fun.

[Royal Cap]

For all I know it could be an imaginary place or a fake livestream. In any case the stupider the betting becomes the harder the verified is also.

But I think, no one would bet on traffic on an unfamiliar road. People will bet on these places, where there is more human interaction and popular. That is, where there is more traffic.

It was recently reported then that someone tried to mess with a weather station to win a bet, essentially forcing it to report false results by increasing the surrounding temperature. This puts regular use cases for the weather station in a disadvantaged position just to provide a financial reward to an individual which can even be harmful with other things.

Honestly, I've never heard of such a thing before. How can one person raise the temperature of an entire area? And that too just to win a bet. This seemed very unrealistic to me.

[YOSHIE]

Betting on weird things and the issues related

Winning the current betting market looks strange, why don they facilitate bets on various phenomena that don make sense and are not common in general, but I also suspect that behind the strange nature of bets made by bettors that seem funny or trivial, Many gamblers often experience systemic problems, I sure behind all of that there is a game from the gambling mafia.

I think there is a shrimp behind a rock, regarding this strange phenomenon betting that is held on various prediction betting sites, there is a big possibility for you to manipulate or place margins that are high profits, because they know betting data is difficult to analyze, as the OP mentioned, traffic cameras, weather, intersections and so on.

I sure the bookie deliberately places strange bets, so that it looks attractive to bettors, where usually people bet on sports, the curiosity of gamblers who make strange bets is more bettors, such as bets on losing war, climate, elections and so on, this is clearly thereintentional elements.

[viljy]

It’s hard to find events whose outcomes are either impossible to manipulate or extremely difficult to manipulate. Perhaps some astronomical events, such as the appearance of sunspots and their number. Or the number of “shooting stars” within a certain period (meteorites burning up in the atmosphere).

Moreover, the latter can, in principle, also be manipulated if satellites are diverted from low orbit to fall to Earth (for example, as a result of hacker actions or being shot down by laser weapons). So, this is an inevitable problem. However, there is a simple solution: avoid placing bets on events that carry a high risk of manipulation.

[Marvelockg]

It was recently reported then that someone tried to mess with a weather station to win a bet, essentially forcing it to report false results by increasing the surrounding temperature. This puts regular use cases for the weather station in a disadvantaged position just to provide a financial reward to an individual which can even be harmful with other things.

At the end, it all balls down to the fact that it is all game and nothing more. Everyone thinks that they are smart enough to beat the people that include some of these betting option but it is never possible to do that. you might distort conventional system just so you can get what you want in terms of having an higher chance of winning but overall, you can not be too smart to outsmart a system that is designed and that is regularly worked on to outsmart you as a means of getting more profit.

It is better to only bet on things that you know that can not be easily manipulated and that is actually regulated and not a wired stuff just because of it weirdness. except you are just gambling with the intent of letting the money go and then we can just understand taht you are completely gambling for fun and not for the sake of money.

[bitbollo]

Did you trust the casino offering the games? This means you are also trusting the games they are offering!
These kinds of bets should be taken... without any kind of expectation. However in some cases the insider trading and other intrinsic risk are high compared standard bets on sport. 

Likewise the motto "no cry in the casino" here I would see another similar situation.
If you play for "fun" this could be an interesting way to spend your money otherwise I would just give up and avoid to waste my time.