Special Bets Rules

"Specials" is our description for bets on, normally, non-sporting events such as politics, current affairs or financial matters.

Bets on "Special" markets are available as singles and multiples where the events are not considered related. For example, a bet on snow falling in one area cannot be combined in a multiple with a bet on snow falling in another area, and if accepted in error, will be settled in line with our rules on Related Bets.

Specific rules and conditions relating to each individual "Specials" market will be displayed on the site as these markets become available online.

The maximum pay-out on any bet which includes a selection, or selections, from a "Specials" market is £10,000, unless otherwise stated for a particular event. This maximum applies to the payout to any one customer, in any one day.

Poker Tournaments

Tournament Winner - Bets are accepted 'all in, play or not'.

To Make The Final Table - Bets are accepted 'all in, play or not'. The market will be settled on which players reach the official Final Table, as determined by the Tournament organisers.

Winning Hand - The best five-card poker hand from the final hand of the winner of the tournament.

Last Flop/Turn/River Card - Refers to the final hand of the tournament which determines the tournament winner. If the tournament is cancelled, or shortened for any reason, with a winner being determined without them having won all of the chips in play (e.g. other remaining player(s) being disqualified), this market will be void.

Leadership Elections

When betting is offered on Next Party Leaders/Next Prime Minister/Next President or similar, odds are offered on the basis of "all in, run or not" unless otherwise stated. No stakes will be refunded for reasons of ineligibility, failure to stand, withdrawal, or any other eventuality.

"Temporary" or "caretaker" leaders installed in advance of any scheduled leadership contest or official selection process will not count. Irrespective, the winner of any such election or process will count as the "Next Leader".

"Next Prime Minister" will always be settled as whoever takes up the office, even in advance of a party leadership contest. Anyone invited to form a UK government by the Monarch will count as Prime Minister for these purposes.

Results will be settled on the officially declared result and not on any subsequent legal challenge.

UK Politics

General Election

  • Voter Turnout: Will be settled on UK-wide turnout on polling day. Any subsequent delayed votes or re-runs will not count.
  • Most Seats Betting: In the event of a tie, dead heat rules will apply to any affected markets. Unless specified, The Speaker does not count and Northern Ireland seats do not count.
  • Vote Share Betting: Will apply to Great British seats only (i.e. excluding Northern Ireland), unless otherwise specified.
  • Postponed/Re-run Seats: Any seat which requires a re-run for legal or other reasons: The original declared result will stand for betting purposes. This also applies to by-elections. Any seat which requires a postponement of the vote to a later date, and is not held on general election day, will still count for purposes of seat totals or majority betting. We may delay settlement of any relevant markets until the result of any affected seats are known.

Majority Betting

For a party to win an overall majority, they are required to win over half of the UK constituencies contested (i.e. if 650 seats are contested, 326 are required for a majority).

The Speaker will not count for any party totals. Any seats won in Northern Ireland will not count for either Labour, Conservatives or Lib Dem party totals. Candidates running under Labour Co-Op or similar affiliations will count for the respective parties.

If the next general election is run under a significantly different electoral system (e.g. not single member FPTP constituencies) seat total bets, majority bets and individual constituency markets will be void. Most Seats markets will stand.

Constituency Markets

  • All markets are for the next General Election, unless otherwise stated.
  • Other runners may be added at any time as they declare, or on request.
  • Bets on parties or candidates who do not stand will lose.
  • Constituency betting is available as singles only.
  • Bets placed in advance of any boundary changes implemented will be void.

Local Elections

  • Unless stated otherwise, markets will be settled based on which party has overall control of the Council after the latest round of local elections.
  • Any party that holds over 50% of seats after the latest round of elections will be classed as winning a majority.
  • If no party holds over 50% of seats after the latest round of elections, No Overall Control will be settled as the winner. Any party holding exactly 50% of seats will not be classed as having a majority and No Overall Control will be settled as the winner.

Next Cabinet Member to Leave Markets

Requires the cabinet member to leave the cabinet. Moving to another cabinet position does not count as leaving.

Dead Heat rules will apply if more than one person leaves the cabinet on the same day, irrespective of the time of announcement.

Post Election Government Betting

A coalition is defined as any arrangement which results in representatives of all of the named parties having cabinet seats in the first reformed cabinet after the election (and no other parties having cabinet representation).

A minority government is defined as the named party having less than 326 seats, but having all cabinet seats in the first reformed cabinet after the election.

A majority government is defined as the named party having over 325 seats and all of the cabinet seats in the first reformed cabinet after the election.

Debate Betting

Unless otherwise stated, the "winner" of any UK debate will be determined by the first YouGov poll on the debate winner (or similar). If YouGov do not release a poll within 24 hours, we will settle the winner as declared by a majority of any polls released by companies who are members of the British Polling Council within 24 hours of the debate. We will settle on the headline, rounded percentages, and dead heat rules may apply.

US Presidential Markets

Next President

  • This will be settled on the winner as declared after the General Election for President, allowing for any relevant legal or constitutional challenges. In cases where there is any ambiguity relating to the result, Ladbrokes reserves the right to wait for the outcome of the subsequent electoral college and, if necessary, congressional votes. If a different individual is inaugurated as President, that will not count for settlement purposes.
  • Electoral College vote shares will be settled on the results declared by individual states rather than the votes cast by electors at the subsequent college.
  • If a Presidential election is delayed for any reason, all bets will stand as long as an election is held within six months of the original scheduled polling day.

Party nominees & vice-presidential nominees

These will be settled on the nominees as declared at the Party Conventions in election year or any equivalent process should the standard convention not take place.

Primaries & caucuses

All markets will be settled on vote share, unless otherwise specified. Results as declared by the individual state parties. Subsequent corrections or alterations will not be taken into account.

US Presidential State Betting

Will be settled on state-wide vote share, allowing for any relevant recounts or legal challenges. Singles only.

Reality TV Shows

This section explains the main rules and conditions for bets placed on TV shows including, but not limited to: Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing On Ice, X-Factor, Big Brother, Britain's Got Talent and I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

Bets will be settled on the official results declared by the television broadcaster.

Evictees, Eliminations, Disqualifications and Walk-outs will be considered losing selections in the Outright betting markets.

If a reality TV betting event is cancelled or withdrawn, without results being declared, then outstanding bets on any market, without an official result, will be considered void.

If an act/group changes their name, bets stand.

Unless an "Any Other" (contestant) selection is offered as an option, all reality TV events will be offered on the basis of "others on request". We will try to add new contestants to the market as soon as possible after they are known.

Evictions/Eliminations

We reserve the right to void all bets placed on an Eviction Market should the eviction method, or initial line up for eviction be changed. Others may be added to the market at any time.

Bets on Next Eviction/Elimination stand regardless of how the public have voted (e.g. whether the public were voting to save the contestant, or for them to be evicted/eliminated).

If two or more contestants are evicted/eliminated in a specific eviction/elimination market, and the order of the eviction/elimination is clear, bets will be settled accordingly. Bets on the next elimination will be settled according to the first person announced as having been eliminated from the show. This rule will apply even where results are announced in no particular order (e.g. a double eviction).

Bets on Next Eviction/Elimination markets will be settled on the first named contestant to be evicted/eliminated in a specified week/show, regardless of how many occur that week/show. Where one or more listed participants do not take part then a Rule 4 deduction may apply.

Other Markets

Match Betting - The contestant progressing furthest in the competition is deemed the winner. In the event that two or more contestants are evicted/eliminated in the same week/show, the first named contestant will be deemed the loser.

Bottom 3/Bottom 2 - The specified number of contestants must be named in a given week/show for bets to stand. Contestants named in the bottom 3 or 2 (depending on the market offered) for a specific week/show are deemed winners. In the event of the bottom 3 or 2 not being clear, bets will be void.

First Act Announced Safe - Bets are settled on the first contestant announced as safe in a specified week/show. If it is unclear which act is declared safe first, bets will be void. Bets on contestants not performing will be void, and any contestant not performing will not be considered in the market.

Top 3 Finish (Outright) - Settlement is based on results of the whole series/competition. Contestants placed in the top three of the competition are deemed winners. If the top three results are unclear, dead heat rules may apply.

Specific Programme Rules

Big Brother

Bets will be settled on the official results.

Evictees, and those leaving the house of their own accord, will be settled as losing selections in the Outright market. Should any such contestant be re-admitted at a later date, they will be considered an original contestant, and existing bets on them in the Outright market will stand.

If a contestant leaves by means other than an eviction prior to a declaration of those up for eviction, they will be considered a non-runner in that week's Eviction market and a Rule 4 may apply. Additional contestants may be added to the market at any time.

Fake evictions will not be considered as winners, the housemate must leave the house on a permanent basis. If two or more housemates are evicted and the order of eviction is clear then this will be used for settlement purposes. If the order is unclear then dead-heat rules apply.

Should the relevant broadcaster not confirm which housemates are nominated or are up for eviction, a market may still be formed. Bets on this market will stand 'all-in'. Additional housemates may be added to the market at any time.

X Factor

Where a contestant enters the competition as a solo artist, and that artist subsequently joins a group, bets on the original solo artist will be settled as losing selections. Where a group of contestants entered into the competition entirely disband and form individual solo acts or other named groups, bets on the original group will be settled as losing selections. If a group changes its members, or alters the number of members, bets stand on the original named group.

Deadlock - The market is determined as 'Yes There Will be Deadlock' between judges/'No There Will Not be Deadlock' between judges in a specified week/show.

Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing on Ice

If a celebrity is unable to perform on a particular week, or unable to continue with the competition due to injury, bets on that celebrity will stand.

Bets are placed on the celebrity regardless of whether their professional dance partner changes.

Gender of Winner - Settlement is based on the celebrities' gender.

Eurovision Song Contest

  • Bets on countries that subsequently withdraw from the competition will be deemed as losing selections.
  • Bets on Eurovision markets cannot be combined into multiples, except between the two semi-finals, or otherwise specified.
  • Match bets or group bets will be settled only according to the total points achieved by the listed competing nations, and dead heat rules may apply. If any listed country does not take part, bets on that match will be void.
  • For clarification, if you place a bet before the semi-finals for a country to win the competition outright and they fail to qualify from the semi finals then the bet will lose.

BBC Sports Personality of the Year

No stakes will be returned for reasons of ineligibility, failure to be nominated or any other reason. Other contenders can be added on request.

Weather Bets

No stakes will be returned for reasons of ineligibility, failure to be nominated or any other reason. Other contenders can be added on request.
In the event of a tie, dead heat rules will apply.

British weather settlement will be based upon official statistics from the British Weather Service, unless otherwise stated in the individual market's terms and conditions.

Rest of the world settlement based on the temperature data presented on https://www.meteoblue.com

Christmas Snow

For a bet of a white Christmas each year, a snowflake, sleet or a snow grain (together "Snow") must be officially recorded as having fallen between 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on 25 December ("Christmas Day") for the stated year. For these purposes:

  • Will it snow at the precise, specified locations at any time on Christmas Day?
  • Settlement will be determined by the Met Office, irrespective of any other reports.
  • Singles only, any multiples accepted in error will be settled in line with our rules on Related Bets.

EU Parliamentary Elections

Country – Most Seats

Markets will be settled based on which Party/Alliance wins the most seats. Where possible, we will include which European political group the Party/Alliance is affiliated with, although in certain cases this can be subject to change and it is up to the customer to be aware of this. We will settle this market strictly on which Party/Alliance wins the most seats, regardless of which political group they are officially affiliated with at the time of the elections.