You can bet on anything. If you can think of it, Vegas has a line on it. Some of the most popular wagers on the board don’t have anything to do with sports either. There are props, futures, or straight odds on every event, broadcast, or public happening. The Oscars is a popular gambling night.
As are the Golden Globes, but not as big as the Oscars, obviously. Celebrity baby names, Royal Wedding dates, or reality television winners. How’s Game of Thrones going to end? Did you see the end of Breaking Bad coming? Seriously, anything you can think of, there’s a wager to be made. So, of course, why would our great democracy’s most important process be excluded? That’s right, you can even make a few buck laying down on Election Night after checking the most recent election betting odds.
History of Election Betting Odds
You would think finding election betting odds would be a rather new invention. However, nothing could be further from the truth. There is evidence of election betting going back to the 1600’s in Italy. And the Italians didn’t stop there. Wagers on the next Pope were popular bets as well.
So, it’s pretty easy to say, election betting has been around for some time. Only recently has it made a comeback and it has everything to do with the internet. All kinds of wagers, and just gambling in general, is available to many more people these day thanks to the endless reach of the interweb. And that’s what it takes to make a wager happen, you need players and a way to market to them.
Election Betting Props
The big enabler for the very existence of election betting odds is the Super Bowl. Obviously, betting the Super Bowl has always been there, however, as the years have gone by, the prop bet has become more popular than ever. And, you have to admit, they are just as much fun as they are creative. Who wins the coin toss? Is the coin toss Heads or Tails? Does the winner of the coin toss kick? Or do they receive? And this is all just the coin toss.
Well, one thing led to another here and as the number of prop players grew, so did the props. Soon, the props themselves didn’t need the Super Bowl anymore or even sports, for that matter. Having election betting odds was simply a natural progression because just like the Super Bowl, there is plenty of interest mixed with plenty of passion.
Odds for More Than the General Election
Election betting odds can get rather specific, like any good prop bet. It goes well past who will win the General Election. There are, of course, Senate races, House races, and governorships but you can also find House Control election betting odds. Supreme Court futures. Bills passed Over/Unders. The Parliament in the UK? Them too. Depending on the sportsbook, you can find all the odds you need.
Where Are the Election Betting Odds?
There are plenty of online sports gambling sites these days as you probably know. Many carry more than just sports, though, and, with a little digging around the site, you can find their election betting odds. “Specialty Wagers,” or “Unique Bets” or a category such as these are usually where you’ll find them. Bovada, Sportbook, Betonline, GTBets, and Sportsbetting will all offer their own wagers specific election wagers.
However, Betfair is probably the leading site in election betting. If you have access, Betfair will give you the best election betting odds via their website or app. And if you want the most up-to-date and specific odds, check out PredictIt. Not exactly a sportsbook, it’s sold as a real money political prediction market. A stock market for politics.
Win Big Betting on the Election
It probably doesn’t need to be pointed out, but the 2016 Presidential Election was one of the biggest paydays any election betting has ever since. It’s estimated that there was three times as much riding on it as there was in the 2012, which was about $50 million. Donald Trump was a huge underdog and all of the polls had Hillary Clinton way ahead and winning easily.
We, of course, know now that this was not the case. In fact, if you had Trump as a winner, you probably saw a good chunk of change. He was +2000 as late as October 2016 to win the presidency. +500 were his election day odds. Playing the underdog can pay, even outside of sports.
Gambling is here to stay and there’s a buck to be made at every turn. People are always looking for new wagers to make and angles to play. Betting odds for the election were just the next logical step. Politically speaking, it’s a polarized world and this type of passion runs deep.
Duke-Carolina, Yankees-Red Sox, Steelers-Ravens. These are great rivalries but they’ve got nothing on Left versus Right, and you can find the election betting odds to prove it.
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