The US election is fast approaching – and as November 3 draws nearer, millions of eyes have turned to betting agencies for clues.
The US election is fast approaching – and as November 3 draws nearer, millions of eyes have turned to betting agencies for clues as to who will win.While bookmakers are always at the centre of attention in the lead up to elections and major sporting matches, speculation has reached a fever pitch this time after the polls sensationally tipped a landslide Hillary Clinton victory in 2016 – only for Donald Trump to ultimate claim the top job.In 2020, many are seeking an alternative way of predicting the possible outcome – so here’s everything you need to know about betting on the 2020 US election. WHAT ARE THE ODDS?At the moment,
Democratic hopeful Joe Biden is the clear favourite across the major betting sites.While his edge is narrowing, many believe betting odds offer a more accurate election prediction than polls, as people have invested their own hard-earned cash in the outcome.According to the 2020 Presidential Election Betting Odds Tracker at OddsShark, Donald Trump was the favourite back in July 2019 – but now, “Biden is a -185 favourite to win the 2020 US presidential election, with Trump coming back at +140”.These are the odds according to some of the major betting agencies, as of October 28.Basically, it means for every $1 you put on that candidate you would get the below in return if they won.TAB• Biden: $1.61• Trump: $2.35LADBROKES • Biden: $1.52• Trump: $2.63BETFAIR• Biden: $1.52• Trump: $2.94SPORTSBET• Biden: $1.48• Trump: $2.75NEDS• Biden: $1.52• Trump: $2.63
DIFFERENT BETS YOU CAN MAKEAll eyes are on the big one – whether it will be Joe Biden or Donald Trump in the White House for the next four years.But there are also a string of other bets on the table.For example, bets are also being taken on the number of electoral college votes each candidate will receive, who will win the popular vote, the state electoral college winner, the state margin, seat margin, US Senate winner and many more.For example, Mr Trump is paying $4.50 to win the popular vote compared to Mr Biden’s $1.18 (the candidate to get the most votes across America).In 2016, Ms Clinton won the popular vote but still lost the election.ODDS BEFORE 2016 ELECTIONWhen Donald Trump took on Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, it wasn’t just the pollsters that got the outcome disastrously wrong – the betting sites also incorrectly predicted a Clinton victory.In fact, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power failed so spectacularly it ended up with a £4 million ($A7,399,793) bill after prematurely paying out £800,000 $A1,479,958) to those who had backed Hillary Clinton ahead of Donald Trump’s shock win.According to OddsShark, Mr Trump’s odds to win the 2016 election were close to 5-to-1 on election day eve.
