USA Election Betting Heats Up at PartyBets

Its not really a sport per say, but the pastime of betting on politics has well and truly taken off. It's hard to say why it has captured the heart of punters, but there are huge sums of money being laid on the outcome of big elections. Some bleeding heart liberals might think that this is a dangerous thing, but what could be more democratic than being able to bet on a democratically elected election.

The most important election in the world takes place in the USA every four years. There are 3 candidates left who are desperately trying to move their gear into the White House, and PartyBets has got a pretty interesting market. They have Barack Obama as favourite at $2.00, John McCain at $2.75 and Hilary Clinton at $4.00.

This is one of the most exciting campaigns ever run and the gloves are well and truly off, even before the Democrats and Republicans sit down to battle it out proper. If the Americans elect a Democrat President then there will be a first. It will either be the first Black American or the first Woman to take control of the country. I am a little dubious if the average American is open to that much change when it actually comes to voting day. For that reason I think McCain at the $2.75 is pretty good value. Even though he is old enough to be a great grandfather, he could easily win the election that appeared to be an impossibility not long ago under a Bush led Republican presidency.

PartyBets is also offering a book on who will be the next mayor of London. Now I can hear all of you people outside of London saying "well who cares". Well apparently Boris Johnson is the favourite at $1.73 and you'll care if you have a flutter on him and he gets up.

They are also betting on the UK General election with both the Conservative and Labour parties very close in betting at $1.72 and $2.00 respectively. This is a tough market to predict but if you think you have some early mail on what the voters of the UK might be thinking then now would be a good time to load up before everyone gets on board.

• 
• 
• Email to a friend
• Print