What about a market that the Tories could win?

What about a market that the Tories could win?

Would handicap betting make the General Election more interesting? A common practice whenever an event seems a foregone conclusion is to introduce a “handicap” element to make the betting on the second or third favourite an attractive proposition. With most of the polls showing Labour 4-5% ahead it’s very hard to see what Michael Howard will be able to take out of the General Election for the Tories. Even allowing for the pollsters’ proven tendency to always over-state the Labour…

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WANTED – A betting outcome every month

WANTED – A betting outcome every month

A proposal for a new monthly betting market With almost all the main betting markets linked to the General Election we have been looking at how something could be created to bet on that would produce an outcome every month – where punters could test their judgement on the changing political mood. The idea would be to have regular monthly markets linked to the different party shares on the main opinion polls. Thus for November, say, with the focus on…

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Meanwhile back in the UK….

Meanwhile back in the UK….

After the excitement of the White House race it all looks a bit tame from the UK political gambling point of view. Having not really given a serious examination to the markets for weeks there do not seem to be many good bets. Labour look pretty good to get most seats at the General Election but is the 1/6 best price worth the risk? Tony Blair’s party is very likely to do but you want a better return than £10…

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Three betting lessons from the White House Race

Three betting lessons from the White House Race

1. Be aware of the dangers of wishful thinking The race for the Presidency was something that many punters, including me, cared passionately about and with that mind-set it is very easy to get carried away with wishful thinking. The only evidence you see is that which supports your desired outcome. So when the the exit poll leaks started I felt a sense of excitement and was one of those who backed Kerry strongly on the betting exchanges. The news…

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And now the 2008 White House Race

And now the 2008 White House Race

Hilary the favourite for next time For political punters who cannot get enough of US elections William Hill have opened a market on who will win in four years time. The 6/1 favourite is Hilary Clinton, the Senator from New York and spouse of former President Bill Clinton. Behind her in the betting is former New York mayor, Rudolph Giuliani at 7/1. Hills also offer: 10/1 John Edwards; Tom Ridge; Bill Richardson; 12/1 Bill Frist; 14/1 Jeb Bush; 25/1 Barack…

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The Kerry Trend Continues UPDATED 11.15pm GMT

The Kerry Trend Continues UPDATED 11.15pm GMT

It does now look like Kerry The leaked exit polls have caused big changes on the betting markets which, if correct, mean that George Bush will follow his father in becoming a one-term president. The latest betting numbers:- Betfair: Bush 3.75 Kerry 1.35 Tradesports: Bush 29 Kerry 71 Iowa Exchange: Bush 21 Kerry 79 These are the figures from Wonkette – make of them what you will. If Kerry is winning in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania then the election is…

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The White House – nearly there

The White House – nearly there

Kerry now favourite on Iowa, Tradesports and Betfair The last half hour has seen a big move to Kerry on both the Iowa Electronic “Political Futures Exchange” and the Betfair exchange in the UK. Kerry is a strong favourite in Iowa and, as of time of posting, it is 2 – 1.9 on Betfair. Tradesports has it Kerry 50.5 to Bush 49.5. It is not clear whether this move is on the basis of hard information or whether one market…

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First exit poll information by about 10 pm GMT

First exit poll information by about 10 pm GMT

It looks as though the first hard information from the exit polls will start emerging by about 5pm EST or 10 pm GMT and this should start to affect the betting fairly quickly. This appeared on Slate an hour or so ago and gives a good guide to what is likely to happen. As this item posts, the first raw exit poll data are streaming from the National Election Pool consortium owned by the Associated Press and the five television…

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