While wagering on elections isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think about online betting, it’s among the latest sectors in leading betting sites. Unfortunately, if you want to bet on politics in the US, you’ll need to use offshore betting sites that are licensed. Here is a quick guide for betting on politics.
What’s Election Betting?
Almost every democratic country around the world hosts some type of election after a specified number of years. That’s where voters elect their leaders and put certain parties in power. That’s because it’s the voters’ responsibility to make this major decision, whether it’s in a country, state, or region.
Betting on elections lets you place real money wagers on different outcomes from the election. For instance, when the presidential election is underway in the US, you can wager on who will become the country’s president-elect. However, the United States gambling laws prohibit betting sites in the US from offering odds on the elections.
Is Election Betting Legal in the US?
As earlier mentioned, it’s illegal for US betting sites to offer the citizens odds on the elections. However, you can still wager on the US election legally using bookies located outside the US. These betting sites are known as offshore betting sites, located all over the globe.
Understanding Election Betting Odds
There’s no doubt that betting on politics is a great source of entertainment. However, to understand the odds, you need to decide the type of political bet you want to make. Here are different elections & political bets that you can choose from.
Outright Election Winner Bets
The main reason why most people are interested in odds on politics is to choose the candidate that will be the outright winner of the electoral post they’re wagering on. However, the elections available for betting highly depend on the bookies’ location, although online casinos offer odds on elections from different countries like the US, Portugal, Australia, and Sweden.
Outright election winner bets are easy to understand since you only need to pick the candidate that will win the election listed by the bookie. Every candidate has moneyline odds indicated next to their names, which shows the payout that you’ll get when you bet on the candidate.
If the moneyline odds indicated next to a candidate’s name are negative, then that candidate is a favorite for winning the election. Positive moneyline odds on the other hand indicate that a candidate is an underdog in the election.
When there are a large number of candidates in the election, most candidates will have positive moneyline odds since most of them are underdogs. That’s because candidates with high odds usually have very small chances of winning.
Spread Bets in Politics
Spread bets are another fun way to wager on politics. These bets focus on who will win the election and how large their victory margin will be. The spread is determined by the number of votes received by each candidate or like in the United States presidential election, the electoral college votes.
Party Bets in Politics
If you’re not in the mood to start figuring out the candidate that will win the election, you can wager on the political party you believe will take power. That means if any candidate from the party wins the election, you’ll win your party bet.
In countries like the US where there are only two parties, it’s recommended to also wager on the outright bet for the presidential candidate. Some online bookies will also let you bet on the independent candidate in different posts. However, betting on an independent candidate isn’t always a good idea as such candidates have minimal chance of winning because of their poor popularity.
When there are only two candidates involved, it’s always better to bet on an individual candidate instead of a party. That’s because the odds for an individual candidate are usually far much better than wagering on a whole party.
Prop Bets In Politics
Prop bets usually focus on unorthodox aspects of the elections instead of betting on the winner. Like other betting markets online, prop bets are fun and generally have a low cap set on the amount of money you can bet on each candidate. As such, you can bet on everything from who will be a person’s running mate to the party that will win the popular vote.
Bottom Line
While election betting is among the most underrated markets, it can be very entertaining and rewarding for people who like betting and politics. Most bookies offer a wide range of markets and the odds can be very impressive compared to wagering on traditional sports events. Thankfully, there are several reputable sites online that allow you to wager on politics from different countries including France, Australia, and others.
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