How many electoral college votes will he take?

With the actual outcome of next month’s US Presidential election now almost a forgone conclusion the big question for punters is where they should bet next – and there’s now better way of testing your skills than trying to guess how many electoral college votes the contenders will win.

There are lots of different markets including this one from Ladbrokes where you have to choose which segment Obama or McCain will fall into.

If you are tempted by spread-betting then this could be a good moment to start. As can be seen in the panel the current buy level on Obama ECVs is 342. If he ends up with 372 and you bet at, say, £25 a point, you would make [the difference between your contract and the actual] multiplied by your stake level. In this case you would get 30 times £25 = £750.

If it sounds complicated then can I recommend my book – “The Political Punter – how to make money betting on politics”. Sporting Index have agreed that anybody who opens an account with them through PB and places a bet before the US Election can have a free copy of the book.

Now there’s an offer you can’t refuse. I sell more books and whenever Sporting Index accounts are opened through the site we get a commission to help with our running costs.

The book provides a good guide to this and other forms of political betting particularly on understanding the down-side risk of everything you do.

Mike Smithson