US Elections Have Generated More Than $1 Billion, Bookies Say

The US presidential election has generated more than $1 billion in bets around the world, experts estimate. This is twice the amount bet on the 2016 elections.

Biden Still Leads The Race

Democrat candidate Joe Biden is the favorite of multiple sports betting and gambling companies, including William Hill and GVC Holdings‘ gaming brands Ladbrokes, Coral, and BWin, while once again Donald Trump is the outsider in the election race.

The market is bigger than ever and beats the soccer betting market, the Head of Political Betting at GVC’s Ladbrokes, Matthew Shaddick, said. It is also “pro-Trump” and its estimates do not reflect the current polls and media.

Leading Australian bookmakers Sportsbet and Ladbrokes said they will lose around $10 million each in the case of a Republican victory.

70% of This Week’s Bets Are in Trump’s Favor

However, despite the polls giving him a 10% chance of winning, 70% of bets placed this week are in favor of Mr. Trump. Betting markets and polling forecasts usually share different results, Mr. Shaddick said, as bookmakers give Donald Trump a 35 to 45% chance to win.

William Hill international spokesman Rupert Adams said Mr. Trump‘s “colorful” personality drove more people to bet on the election, both for or against him.

Sportsbet chief executive Barni Evans has confirmed that 92% of the company’s wagers on the election were placed on Mr. Trump.

People who bet on Mr. Trump winning the election “rely on a social media bubble”, Mr. Shaddick said, and they do not care about the polls and won’t trust the media. Bookies also tend to overrate the chances of populist candidates worldwide, he added. Mr. Trump‘s supporters believe he will win despite the numbers.

Mr. Biden is still the bookmakers’ favourite with about a 65% chance to win, but liberals do not want to risk their money after Donald Trump beat the odds and won against Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Trump May Win Texas and Florida

According to Ladbrokes, Joe Biden currently has odds of 1/2 of becoming the next US president, against his competitor’s odds of 13/8. However, Donald Trump could still win in Texas and Florida, two crucial states for the Republicans, as the betting suggests.

The “swing state” of Pennsylvania seems to be in favour of Joe Biden’s victory, with odds of 2/5. Michigan and Arizona are already set to support the Democrat.