White Christmas Bets Lead UK Festive Gambling Trends

_{New survey data reveals that White Christmas wagers are the UK’s most popular festive bet, with snowfall odds outperforming Christmas number one and TV special predictions. (Image: FrankxFell)}

New research from  reveals that White Christmas wagers ranked as the UK’s most popular festive bet, beating the likes of number one song predictions and TV special outcomes. 

In a survey of 1,000+ UK adults, more than a third of novelty bettors (35.1%) said they’re most drawn to novelty bets related to Christmas snowfall, making it the clear number one market for festive betting. 

Betting Habits Over Christmas in the UK

We asked 1,000 people in the UK about their betting habits over the Christmas period, which returned some intriguing results. 67% of Brits said they gambled last Christmas, over half (54%) of which said gambling was part of their wider festive entertainment. 
 
But what do people in UK like to bet on during the festive season? Our survey suggests that the leaders with 47% of the votes is sports, whilst a further 39% of Brits bet on the Lottery, and 38% bet on Scratch cards.  

Brits were asked: Which types of gambling did you engage in during the festive season? 

The UK’s Most Popular Novelty Bets Revealed

When asked which novelty bets they’ve placed or would consider placing during the Christmas holidays, Brits chose snowfall odds (35%) as their number one market, outscoring guessing the Christmas number one single (23%). Wishful thinking? Or are Brits confident that this year might be the one to see a white Christmas.

Brits were asked: If you placed novelty bets, which types appealed most?

In addition to this, we asked Brits which festive events they’d most like to see bookmakers offer odds on, and the results did not disappoint. The highest proportion of responses went to the market of “someone falling asleep by 3pm,” securing a quarter of all votes. Clearly, the post-Christmas-dinner nap is a scenario many respondents found relatable. 

This was followed by the “number of replays of Love Actually” - a market supported by a fifth of respondents, proving that no matter how many times it airs, Brits are still tuning in. Close behind was the “how many pigs in blankets you’ll eat” market, reflecting the popularity of the festive food staple.

Brits were asked: Which festive event would you MOST like to see bookmakers offer odds on?

When asked which Christmas tradition is most likely to spark the most chaos at home, Brits delivered some very relatable answers. Topping the list were the board games, with over a quarter admitting that competitiveness would get the better of them. Cooking in general followed closely at 22%, and ‘the relatives’ at 20%. 

Meanwhile, the gift wrap mess earned 17% of the vote, and 13% of respondents went for “all of the above” acknowledging that Christmas Chaos rarely comes from just one source. 

Brits were asked: If you had to bet on it… which Christmas tradition is most likely to cause chaos in your household?

The Survey 

Survey was conducted via SurveyMonkey, where 1,000+ Brits were quizzed on their Christmas betting habits. The survey included an equal gender split, and a variety of all ages of people over 18 in the UK. The full results are available upon request at [email protected]. 

Gambling should always be done responsibly and for entertainment only. If you are concerned about your gambling or someone else’s, support is available from BeGambleAware.org. Gambling is for adults aged 18+.