
Author:
Edward Champion
Last Updated:
18/06/2022
Experiences:
Seasoned veteran in the world of gambling writing
Experiences:
Seasoned veteran in the world of gambling writing
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As little as ten years ago, almost nobody placed a wager on any political event. Now, betting on the outcomes of elections is far more popular, and as a result, you might be looking for the best politics odds.
Even if it’s the first time you’ve bet on politics, you’re going to want to do it at the best politics odds possible. You could visit each operator looking for the latest political betting odds, or you could instead visit a site that points you in the right direction as they have already done all of the legwork for you.
If you are one of the many people dipping your toe into political betting odds for the first time and have never looked that deeply into how it all works, you might be asking yourself why you should be comparing the best politics odds at all?
In reality, the odds on every event in both the political and sporting arena will vary from operator to operator, and change according to so many factors, something that will be covered in greater depth later on. Any betting odds comparison will give you a list of results that will change as the election draws closer and the news coverage casts a stronger spotlight on the candidates involved. Because of these variations, you may be able to secure your preferred bet at a much better price than you may have done by simply placing your wager at the first operator you come across.
While checking out all of the political betting odds individually might not seem worth it for a single wager, having a source to point you in the direction of where the best odds can be found is far quicker and can boost your potential profits for the sake of a few clicks.
If you are new to political betting or have not placed a bet online before because sports aren’t your thing, there are some important reasons why you should do this online rather than just walking into your local offline betting outlet.
First of all, due to legislation in your state, the offline betting outlet might not be that local and involve a trip that you wouldn’t normally make, taking up time you spend doing something else. Next, because it is only really one or two elections that catch the public imagination, that outlet might not be taking political bets at all, or at best will only have limited markets and political betting odds for you to bet on.
Taking the online option, however, presents plenty more opportunities. Many reliable ‘big name’ operators who will offer a range of bets and markets for the political arena, will have developed apps you can use on your Android or Apple device.
This can turn a long trip into just a few minutes on your phone, as well as having an overview of all the political betting odds across several different operators and the offers they make available to their customers.
A hundred years ago betting on outcomes of the Presidential election was one of the biggest gambling events in the country. It wasn’t just money that was wagered, with goods and forfeits that left losers quite literally ‘eating crow’.
Betting would take place at various places around the country. One famous example in 1916, in the closely contested race between Woodrow Wilson and Charles Evans Hughes, you could place bets at the bigger hotels or in the financial district.
As a result, the latest political betting odds were published daily in newspapers, giving a stronger indication of who would win rather than any of the political commentators of the day. Even back then, where the money was going (in that particular election the modern-day equivalent of over $200M) was a better predictive tool than what was being said.
In fact, between 1884 and 1940, when betting on major political events seemed to drop off the radar, the markets were right in 14 out of 15 Presidential elections.
Calculating the best politics odds is more difficult than the casual observer might think. As politics varies greatly from a sporting event – even though it is compared in some quarters to a boxing match, the way the latest political betting odds are calculated initially is different to others you might have seen before.
In a Presidential election, the favorite is normally the current President, as very few Presidents do not get elected for a second term or the President’s preferred successor. This will change if the administration has had a particularly bad run, or the President’s personal approval rating is very low.
However, in the run-up to election day, this can change due to the live TV debates that have been seen to sway public opinion overnight. This was particularly evident in the 2020 election, along with the frequent social media output which looked to many observers to polarize opinion.
With unpredictable events like this happening almost daily, the political betting odds for the next president in 2020 changed frequently. It is how different operators respond to these factors, or how quick they are on the uptake of a change, that causes the discrepancies in odds between different operators.
Although the exact circumstances around the 2020 campaigns are unlikely to be repeated, it did provide an example that unpredictable situations provide the opportunity to place a ‘value’ bet, where the political betting odds seem more favorable than are generally perceived by other operators.
Situations like this leaves the door open for a savvy bettor to ‘Arb’ the betting odds. Arbing (or arbitrage to use the correct term) takes advantage of the political betting odds discrepancies detailed above to place value bets on opposite outcomes of the same event, so that a small percentage profit is inevitable.
When you have a straight head-to-head contest like a presidential election, while arbitrage is possible, the margins involved are likely to be very small. Therefore, only those with a bigger bank will be able to make this strategy worthwhile, and this is probably not one for the novice bettor.
It is situations like this, then, were getting the best possible political betting odds for your preferred bet is crucial. Having a source where the operators with the best possible political betting odds can be seen quickly and accessed with the press of a button is key to making this happen, and why having the apps for recommended and reliable operators on your mobile device is a ‘must have’ requirement.
This also makes betting in the right market is key to making the most profit. With the margins in odds so small on who is likely to win, you might choose to look at other markets such as the margin of victory.
With presidential elections only taking place every four years, and many of the markets laying dormant for at least half of the intervening period, the exact markets for the next election are still an evolving factor. So, bets on the final Electoral College tally may be a market to explore if the latest political betting odds on the possible winner do not seem attractive enough.
Again, having a source where operators with the best odds in these markets are easy to see can increase your profits if your wager is successful. By thinking outside the box and using the resources available, there can be many alternatives to what might look from the outside to be a two-horse race.
As mentioned before, politics stands apart from sports wagering because of the amount of time between major elections and the number of worldwide factors that can influence the movement of the odds. Once you know this you will also know that finding the best odds is absolutely crucial.
Checking out each operator individually can take time. Firstly, they might not have any politics markets, something you may not discover before you’ve wasted time looking all around the site. Secondly, the odds and markets may vary across operators and by the time you find the best odds, the prices may have moved on. Last of all, having a roster of recommended operators from a reliable source means that you can make a wager confident in the fact that the operator will pay out if your candidate wins.