What Are the Best Bets in Bookies New Year Special Markets?

by Roy Brindley, 5 January 2026

Trump, Starmer and a Chinese player are among our betting expert’s 2026 Special Bet fancies.

3/1 are the odds about Donald Trump taking to the stage at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony at the end of 2026 to collect the award he believes he deserves. © Getty

Key Facts:

• Is 4/1 about a footballer winning Sports Personality of the Year 2026 value?
• China having another World Snooker Championship finalist is a tasty 7/4 shot.
• Starmer and Trump are expected to land the bet on the duo lasting until the World Cup.
• F1 rule changes make Verstappen’s odds on six or fewer wins a standout bet.

If you are not tempted by the 6/1 about England winning the 2026 World Cup, how about the 4/1 available about any footballer winning Sports Personality of the Year 2026? Or even-money that Thomas Tuchel leaves his England Manager role in 2026?

These are just some of the 2026 Special Bets UK bookmakers have issued during the opening days of the year. The specials lists are as broad as they are wide, with odds available on long-term outcomes involving sports as diverse as golf, snooker, horse racing, TV shows and awards.

No longer are New Year specials designed to generate newspaper headlines – by offering odds on absurdities such as the likelihood of the Pope being appointed as the next manager of Glasgow Rangers.

New Year Specials are now a serious business and offer serious punters a genuine opportunity to find betting value and consolidate other betting positions. Here, our resident sports betting expert, Roy Brindley, casts his eye over the mountain of betting opportunities and highlights his idea of punting value.

A Chinese Player to Reach Snooker’s World Final?

In 2025, Zhao Xintong trounced nine rivals to claim the World Snooker Championship. In doing so, he became the first Asian player to win the sport’s biggest prize. The Chinese player is 6/1 to retain his title in 2026.

That price may or may not represent value. However, the 3/1 odds about any Chinese player winning the competition, and 7/4 on any Chinese player reaching the World Snooker final, do stand out.

This season, Xintong and four other Chinese players have reached a major final. There are more Chinese players on the tour than ever before – 28 this season compared to 24 in 2024/25. Furthermore, the World Championship may feature more Chinese players than ever before, with 10 or more players from China in the 32-player field.

The draw is vital, but should two Chinese players make it to the semi-final stage, the 7/4 bet will be a winner. With 11 individual players taking 2025/26’s 11 ranking tournaments, the new wave of Chinese snooker talent may make their mark on this year’s Crucible classic.

Trump and Starmer’s World Cup Goal

US President Donald Trump is not due to leave office until January 2029, and Keir Starmer must call the UK’s next general election no later than mid-2029. The prospect of the duo remaining in control for three more years is a very real possibility.

Trump did not want to leave the White House after losing the 2020 election, so he is unlikely to walk away from power when he is in the hot seat. Starmer’s tenure may be a little more precarious with a small number of Labour MPs and union figures calling for his resignation.

However, Starmer has not faced a formal resignation motion in Parliament, nor has he announced any intention to step down. Senior figures in his party publicly discourage leadership challenges.

Resultantly, the 10/11 odds offered on both Donald Trump and Keir Starmer to be in office on the day of the FIFA World Cup Final (July 19) cannot be considered a bad bet.

A Nobel Peace Prize to Massage Trump’s Ego

Trump has long had his eye on the Nobel Peace Prize. His ego received a firm stroke when FIFA devised and awarded him their new version of a Peace Prize in December, and he maintains that he has been responsible for ending eight wars. A statement widely disputed by fact-checkers.

Can Trump collect the award in 2026? The end of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine can only serve to improve his chances. After all, Trump is sure to claim the end of hostilities was entirely a result of his work.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee shocked the world when it awarded President Barack Obama the Prize in 2009. At the time, he was leading a country embroiled in two wars, while maintaining that instruments of war have a role in preserving peace.

The US‑brokered October 2025 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is a gold star on Trump’s report card. Still, to his dismay, it came too late for Trump to earn a nomination, as the nomination period ends on January 31 each year.

Trump will surely have his name on the 2026 shortlist for 2025 events, and so the 3/1 odds offered about the US Commander-In-Chief collecting the accolade he so desperately craves rates an interesting proposition.

No Six Max for Red Bull’s Verstappen in 2026 F1

Formula 1’s 2026 regulations are being widely described as the biggest shake-up of F1’s rules in over a decade. The history books show that such a rule book rewrite normally leads to a single team dominating the season.

This was the case for Red Bull, Mercedes and even McLaren back in the late 1990s. There are 11 teams on the grid in 2026, and while success for Haas, Cadillac or Racing Bulls is unlikely, eight teams have a genuine chance of finding a loophole in the rules and developing a superior race car.

With genius engineer and aerodynamicist Adrian Newey responsible for designing the Aston Martin, many believe his team could be the one to beat in 2026. If that is the case or otherwise, 5/6 odds about Max Verstappen winning six or fewer races in the year must be considered a good investment with all factors considered.