‘Big Brother’ Season 20 Betting Odds Episode 1

–The long running ‘Big Brother’ reality show for a 19th and 20th season.

–’Big Brother’ is a spin-off of a Dutch TV series of the same name.

–The Season 20 premiere of ‘Big Brother’ airs Wednesday, June 27 on CBS TV.

We cover reality TV extensively here at Sports Betting Experts and they all share a similar refrain in terms of their popularity. Their viewership is down significantly since their ‘glory days’ but they remain a staple of the analog era legacy broadcast networks due to their ability to due what few programs can–aggregate a decent sized viewing audience on a weekly basis. Such is the case with the CBS TV summer staple ‘Big Brother’, now in it’s 20th season. It’s a dependable audience aggregator that can be counted on to bring in 5+ million viewers several times a week. In the TV landscape as it is in 2018 that’s huge.

The format and rules of ‘Big Brother’ are typical of the genre. A group of contestants live together in a house isolated from the outside world. Contestants get kicked out for violating a list of rules, they can leave at any time of their own volition (and one has already done so this season) but the general idea is that they keep getting voted off the island…er…out of the house until one remains and claims a prize of a cool $500 grand. There’s also an audience voting component and a few hidden idol-esque power ups to keep it interesting.

SAME TYPECAST HOUSEGUESTS, DIFFERENT SEASON

It always takes me a while to warm up to the ‘Big Brother’ cast and I think that CBS ‘casting by the numbers’ strategy for finding houseguests is a big reason for that . I get that it’s hugely popular and critiquing a reality show for seeming ‘contrived’ is a bit ridiculous since–spoiler alert: they’re all contrived. That being said, most at least try to maintain a veneer of spontaneity and individuality. ‘Survivor’, for example, usually presents an interesting twist or two. They also have greater diversity among their cast. I’m not using that in racial/cultural context (though they *do* have a wider range of ethnic backgrounds represented)–I mean that the cast at least comes off as more interesting than a lot of reality shows. They also come off as real people and not ‘types’.

‘Big Brother’ doesn’t go in much for ‘diversity’ or any sort of nuance for that matter. They presumably put out an annual casting call for tatted up dudes (plus one cowboy guy or similar ‘unique gimmick’) and chicks that look good in swimsuits (since they apparently wear them 24/7) and call it a day. I know that these shows aren’t cast for me (in which case they’d have a house full of Austrian economists, cosplay girls and Japanese professional wrestlers) but some variety would be nice. The cast isn’t the ‘lowest common denominator’ but they’re definitely selected in an attempt to appeal to the last remaining broadcast TV demographic. There’s one houseguest of Middle Eastern decent this year who may fill the ‘cowboy hat guy’ unique gimmick slot for this season and that’s a welcome bit of casting variety.

EARLY SEASON ODDSMAKING MADE EASY

One upside to the CBS casting strategy–at least for me is that it simplifies the oddsmaking process in the early going. I’m able to set odds on ‘types’ of characters rather than individual characteristics. That’s why the three guys at the top of the odds table are there and why the two contestants at the bottom are where they are. Here’s some serious advice for aspiring reality show contestants: you can’t ‘self gloss’ yourself. Any nicknames have to be obtained spontaneously on the air. That’s why the two ‘self glossed’ contestants ‘Rockstar’ and ‘Swaggy C’ aren’t expected to go far this season.

A final note on the opening odds–there has reportedly been a ‘leak’ on the HOH winner for Episode 1 which is why the odds market for that looks a bit out of whack. Hopefully, leaks will not be a problem going forward as it takes all of the fun out of setting odds on these shows:

‘BIG BROTHER’ SEASON 20 PROPOSITION BETTING ODDS

TO WIN ‘BIG BROTHER’ SEASON 20

Tyler Crispen: +400
Winston Hines: +450
Brett Robinson: +500
Angela Rummens: +750
Faysal Shafaat: +1000
Scottie Salton: +1000
Haleigh Broucher: +1500
Bayleigh Dayton: +1500
Kaycee Clark: +2100
Sam Bledsoe: +2100
Steve Arienta: +2100
JC Monduix: +2500
Rachel Swindler: +2500
Kaitlyn Herman: +2500
Chris Swaggy C Williams: +5000
Angie Rockstar Lantry: +5000

‘BIG BROTHER’ SEASON 20 EPISODE 1 PROPOSITION BETTING ODDS

WHO WILL BE EVICTED LIVE ON AIR IN EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

No One Evicted: +350
Chris Swaggy C Williams: +600
Angie Rockstar Lantry: +600
Steve Arienta: +900
Scottie Salton: +1000
Kaitlyn Herman: +1000
JC Monduix: +1000
Rachel Swindler: +1500
Kaycee Clark: +1500
Sam Bledsoe: +2500
Faysal Shafaat: +2500
Haleigh Broucher: +3000
Bayleigh Dayton: +3000
Winston Hines: +3000
Brett Robinson: +3500
Angela Rummens: +3500
Tyler Crispen: +3500

WHO WILL BE NAMED ‘HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD’ LIVE ON AIR IN EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

Tyler Crispen: +225
No One Named HOH: +600
Faysal Shafaat: +600
Winston Hines: +850
Brett Robinson: +850
Angela Rummens: +850
Kaycee Clark: +1500
Scottie Salton: +1500
Haleigh Broucher: +1500
Bayleigh Dayton: +2000
Sam Bledsoe: +2000
Steve Arienta: +3000
JC Monduix: +3000
Rachel Swindler: +3000
Kaitlyn Herman: +3000
Chris Swaggy C Williams: +5000
Angie Rockstar Lantry: +5000

WILL THE LIVE ELIMINATION VOTE IN EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’ BE UNANIMOUS?

Yes: +300
No: -350

WILL ANYONE KISS LIVE ON AIR DURING IN EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

Yes: -450
No: +300

WILL ANYONE SAY ‘FRIENDSHIP’ LIVE ON AIR DURING EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

Yes: -250
No: +210

WILL ANYONE SAY ‘YOUR BOY’ LIVE ON AIR DURING EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

Yes: -250
No: +210

WILL ANYONE SWEAR OR BE ‘BLEEPED’ LIVE ON AIR DURING EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

Yes: +210
No: -250

WILL ANY MALE CONTESTANT WEAR A SLEEVELESS T-SHIRT LIVE ON AIR IN EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

Yes: +300
No: -350

WILL TWO OR MORE CONTESTANTS GET INTO A FISTFIGHT LIVE ON AIR DURING EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

Yes: +300
No: -350

WILL ANY CONTESTANT(S) BE BOOED BY THE AUDIENCE LIVE ON AIR DURING EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

Yes: +370
No: -450

NUMBER OF TIMES JULIE CHEN SAYS ‘BUT FIRST’ LIVE ON AIR DURING THE EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

Over 2.5: -250
Under 2.5: +210

EXACT NUMBER OF TIMES JULIE CHEN SAYS ‘BUT FIRST’ LIVE ON AIR DURING EPISODE 1 OF ‘BIG BROTHER’?

0: +1750
1: +600
2: +100
3: +350
4 or more:+200

EPISODE 1 KEY DEMO (18-49) RATINGS

Over 1.65: -150
Under 1.65: +130

EPISODE 1 KEY DEMO (18-49) SHARE

7 or higher: -250
Under 7: +210

EPISODE 1 TOTAL VIEWERS

Over 5.75 million: -180
Under 5.75 million: +150

About the Author: Jim Murphy

For more than 25 years, Jim Murphy has written extensively on sports betting as well as handicapping theory and practice. Jim Murphy has been quoted in media from the Wall Street Journal to REASON Magazine. Murphy worked as a radio and podcasting host broadcasting to an international audience that depended on his expertise and advice. Murphy is an odds making consultant for sports and 'non-sport novelty bets' focused on the entertainment business, politics, technology, financial markets and more.