X Factor Betting
Betting on TV has seen a surge in recent years, you can bet on anything from Strictly Come Dancing to who the next James Bond will be. Betting is especially popular for reality TV shows and the X Factor is no exception. The X Factor is a British television music show featuring contestants, solo artists and groups, competing for the prize of a recording contract. It first appeared on our screens back in September 2004 as a follow on from the hugely successful Pop Idol. The original judging panel consisted of Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell the show's creator. Simon Cowell instantly took up the role of the "bad guy" on the show with his acerbic comments and put-downs. Over the years there have been many different judges including Danni Minogue, Brian Friedman, Cheryl, Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland, Tulisa, Nicole Scherzinger, Mel B, Nick Grimshaw, Rita Ora, Ayda Field, Louis Tomlinson and Robbie Williams. Simon Cowell though has continued to thrive in his "nasty" persona although has mellowed a bit over the years. The show has also spawned spin-off shows that accompany the contestants' journeys along the way such as The Xtra Factor. Since 2004 there have been a total of 41 number one singles directly resulting from artists from the show, many of which were Christmas number ones given the timing of the final. The show attracts huge media attention and viewing figures with a peak of 19.7 million UK viewers tuning in for the 2009 final. The 2009 single was one that didn't hit number one for Christmas however, it fell victim to a public campaign to prevent the X Factor single winning and instead resulted in Rage Against The Machine and "Killing In The Name Of" becoming a very unlikely festive hit!
The bookies are more than happy to get involved in all the fun and offer markets on:
X Factor Overall Winner: A bet on the overall winner of the series.
Winning Mentor: Each contestant/group have a celebrity mentor in the form of one of the show's judges. With this market, you can bet on which mentor will oversee the winner.
Next Elimination: As the competition involves a number of elimination stages you can bet on the contestants/groups that you will feel will be the next to get voted off the show.
As well as these “standard” style markets you will also see some novelty bets popping up from certain bookies that you can bet on.
How To Pick The Winner Of X Factor
Within the show there is normally a front runner who becomes the bookie favourite from the start, but should you take the plunge on them or go for an outsider? Take a look at some stats below which may give you a better idea of where to place your money.
There have been 16 series since the X Factor replaced Pop Idol, let’s see where the winners come from:
Winner History
2018
Winner: Dalton Harris
Category: Boys
Mentor: Louis Tomlinson
2017
Winner: Rak-Su
Category: Groups
Mentor: Simon Cowell
2016
Winner: Matt Terry
Category: Boys
Mentor: Nicole Scherzinger
2015
Winner: Louisa Johnson
Category: Girls
Mentor: Rita Ora
2014
Winner: Ben Haenow
Category: Over 25s
Mentor: Simon Cowell
2013
Winner: Sam Bailey
Category: Over 25s
Mentor: Sharon Osbourne
2012
Winner: James Arthur
Category: Boys
Mentor: Nicole Scherzinger
2011
Winner: Little Mix
Category: Groups
Mentor: Tulisa Contostavlos
2010
Winner: Matt Cardle
Category: Boys
Mentor: Danni Minogue
2009
Winner: Joe McElderry
Category: Boys
Mentor: Cheryl Cole
2008
Winner: Alexandra Burke
Category: Girls
Mentor: Cheryl Cole
2007
Winner: Leon Jackson
Category: Boys
Mentor: Danni Minogue
2006
Winner: Leona Lewis
Category: Girls Mentor: Simon Cowell
2005
Winner: Shayne Ward
Category: Boys
Mentor: Louis Walsh
2004
Winner: Steve Brookstein
Category: Over 25s
Mentor: Simon Cowell
Best Performing Categories
Boys: 7 winners
Girls: 3 winners
Over 25s: 3 winners
Groups: 2 winners
With this breakdown, you can see that the “Boys” category has been far and away the most successful, in terms of wins, so far in the series. The remaining category wins are distributed evenly between the “Girls” and “Over 25s” with “Groups” the least successful so far. Now we could breakdown the mentors' results as well however, due to the fact that they tend to change it would not be a fair representation.
Betting On The Winner
If you are looking for a winner then, going by previous results, you would be sorely tempted to go for someone from the boys' section. Pre-show favourites have also fared pretty well over the years. The bookies aren’t often that wrong and around 50% of bookie favourites have gone on to win the X Factor.
When it comes to betting there is always an element of chance as, generally speaking, there can only be one winner. There is a way though to take long term value from betting and that is through a technique called Matched Betting, which you can do with us here at Profit Accumulator.
What is Matched Betting?
Matched Betting is a way of taking advantage of the hundreds of free bet offers dished out by bookies. Although it has betting in the name there is no real gambling involved as, unlike normal betting, we cover all possible outcomes of an event. This means regardless of the result we can make profit and turn those free bets into real cash!
Keen to Get Involved?
The great news is you don’t need to be a sports fan or betting fanatic to sign up and use Profit Accumulator. Many of our members are not sports fans and had never placed a bet in their lives but that doesn’t stop them from making some tax-free cash.
Sign up here to our 14 day trial for just £1 (usually £17.99) and you could earn over £45 or more. Be sure to check out our £300 and £1000 per month threads.
For more info on what matched betting is, check out these articles: