Barack Obama's speech on race this week perked up a lot of folks. But did it change his odds at all? Well, maybe a little. betUS has updated their odds on who is going to be the next president of this little country of ours. Hillary Clinton
is at +350, John McCain is at +135, and Barack Obama is in the lead with +115. The next big showdown for the Democrats is in Pennsylvania, which is still about a month away, and that could end up being the big deciding factor for the Dems. Could John McCain slip through and take the White House? The odds say no for now.

Labels: Barack Obama, BetUS, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, presidential election

posted by Kari at 1:22 PM

Hillary doesn't want to be Barack's VP, and Barack doesn't want to be Hillary's VP. But will it happen either way? betUS has a little prop on which way the ticket might go, depending on who gets the Democratic nomination.

For Obama to run with Clinton as VP, it's at +300, and for Clinton to run with Obama as VP, it's at +500, so neither one looks all that appealing, but Barack with Hillary as a running mate looks more plausible according to the numbers. That's probably because Barack's more of the favorite to win the election outright, but things could change-- just ask Hillary after Texas and Ohio.

Labels: Barack Obama, BetUS, Hillary Clinton, presidential election, veeps

posted by Kari at 11:42 AM

Barack Obama won big in Hawaii's caucus and Wisconsin's primaries on Tuesday, swinging the odds for the presidental race over to him. Some of the pundits are saying it may be likely that Obama will take the March 4th primaries in Ohio and Texas.

What does that mean for the odds? Well, if you'd already bet on Barack, you might be able to get a little cash, and if you haven't bet on Hilary and still think she's going to win, there's a little cash for you there, too (if she wins).

Even though Mike Huckabee hasn't officially dropped out of the race yet, he doesn't have any odds up for winning the presidency at betUS. They have Hillary Clinton at +600, John McCain at +150, and Barack Obama at -160. With those odds, it's a John McCain/Barack Obama race.

But the March 4th primaries are looking like they'll be the deciding factor. The odds could swing back to Hilary's favor if she takes Ohio and Texas.

Labels: Barack Obama, BetUS, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, presidential election

posted by Kari at 12:40 PM

It's a big day tomorrow for all the presidential candidates-- Super Tuesday, when a slew of states will he holding their primaries. Some pundits are saying tomorrow is when we'll see the real candidates come through. The fields have whittled down, so the contest is tight.

Bodog has the rundown on the odds of the candidates to win the majority of the primaries for both parties tomorrow:

Democrats: Hillary Clinton is at -130 and Barack Obama is at -110, so looking at the odds, Hillary has a slight edge, but Obama's close.

Republicans: John McCain is at 1/22, Mitt Romney is at 2/1, Mike Huckabee is at 25/1, and Ron Paul is at 60/1. It's clear from the odds that McCain has the advantage here (so much so that you wouldn't be making much money if you bet on him).

Isn't this country great? You can vote and bet on the president. Awesome.

Labels: Bodog, democrats, presidential election, primaries, republicans, Super Tuesday

posted by Kari at 1:44 PM

After the Dems' debate earlier this week-- and seeing the back-and-forth of Hillary and Barack-- it'll be interesting to see how tomorrow's primary in South Carolina goes. McCain won there last weekend, which helped to boost his overall election odds on the Republican side.

betUS has the numbers on who's left, now that Kucinich is out as of today, and the odds are... weird. Hillary's at +900, Barack is at -2000, and John Edwards is at +2500, so in all actuality, even though Barack has the minus odds, it's such a huge number, and Hillary's odds, even for being on the plus side, are pretty big. In that sense, it's almost a toss-up, with or without the punditry. One thing is for sure, though: John Edwards is saying he's in it for the long haul, but his odds are indicating that that might not be the most prudent idea.

(I just said prudent... man, that is so 1992.)

Labels: Barack Obama, BetUS, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain, presidential election, primaries

posted by Kari at 1:20 PM

Whatever your political affiliations are (or if you even have any!), you can still make a little dough on all the caucuses and primaries happening right now in the U.S. With every new week brings a new winner, so the odds are changing all the time. It's almost too much to keep up with.

Anyway, the big deal down here in Vegas are the Nevada caucuses happening tomorrow the 19th. Almost all of the candidates have rolled through town in the past couple of weeks, and the Democrats had a debate earlier in the week. You can't turn on the TV without seeing a political ad. It's crazy.

betUS has the odds on this weekend's caucus here in Nevada, for both parties:

Republican Candidate: Mitt Romney (-500), Mick Huckabee (+1500), John McCain (+600), Rudy Guiliani (+1400), Ron Paul (+1400), Fred Thompson (+2500): Romney's got the edge for the Republicans because he's Mormon, and there's a big Mormon base here in southern Nevada-- Las Vegas, despite its present form, was actually founded by Mormons, you know. They love him, and he didn't really have to come down here to represent his campaign.

Democratic Candidate: Hillary Clinton (-160), Barack Obama (+120), John Edwards (+1000): Though Hillary's got the edge, Barack's got the backing of the Culinary Union here in Vegas, which is huge for him. Not to mention there's been controversy with some of the caucus sites being in Strip casinos, which some of the other candidates were not happy about. It'll make this close, but Hillary may just eek it out.

Labels: BetUS, caucuses, Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, politics, presidential election

posted by Kari at 12:32 PM

Wow. I have to say it. I wasn't expecting Hilary to pull it out in New Hampshire. Nobody was. Most people thought that Barack would ride the popularity wave from his surprise Iowa win through the next three or four primaries.

Maybe it was Hilary's more personalized appeal. That's what a lot of people think. Her teary-eyed plea for sure made her more personable. But I think it's more like a public betting trend than that. I think that people really did consider Barack and underdog and a fairy tale. And that means people will want to vote for him because people like the underdog, they like the prince charming who needs a little boost. But then Iowa was a wake up call, and people realized that maybe the underdog could win. And there are some issues with the idea of Barack as President. I mean, there are issues with Hillary as President of the United States, too. But at least we KNOW what those issues are. With Barack, I'm not entirely sure we'd know what we're getting.

What a crazy primary already! Huckabee! Huckabee for goodness sake!

My little brother wants to point out that New Hampshire has never picked a winner. Take that to the bank with you.

Click here to see the most recent odds update on all the candidates.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, politics, presidential election

posted by pregamejocelyn at 2:19 PM

So, I'm perusing the Bodog lines on who will be the official candidate for the Democratic party for U.S. President in 2008. There's a lot to talk about, but here was the thing that was most surprising.

There are odds up for Al Gore. The odds are posted at 5 to 1, which is actually better than John Edwards' odds at 8 to 1.

Al Gore's said over and over and over again that he's not running for office. I know that public opinion tide is that he'll enter at the last minute. Odds seem to suggest that even those in Vegas believe that he'll enter last minute, too. Those are great odds. Great odds. I may even place a small bet on that. $20 would win me $100 if he actually entered the race, and if he entered the race he'd be a sure fire candidate.

I'm just saying. I don't think he'd stab Hillary in the back like that, but then again, some people would argue that he stabbed Bill Clinton in the back during Al Gore's run for the White House previously. Who knows?
Here, if you're wondering, are the current lines of potential Democratic presidential candidates:
Hillary Clinton at 1 to 6
Barack Obama at 12 to 5
Al Gore at 5 to 1
John Edwards at 8 to 1
Dennis Kucinich at 20 to 1
Joseph Biden at 30 to 1
Chris Dodd at 40 to 1
Mike Gravel at 40 to 1
Bill Richardson at 40 to 1
Remainder of the Field at 50 to 1

Labels: al gore, bill clinton, Hillary Clinton, politics, presidential election

posted by pregamejocelyn at 11:38 AM

With all the debates happening and all the different sound bites going around with who saying what, it's changing up the presidential election props big time.

A roundup of all our presidential props are here on our political props page.

Sportbet has Hilary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani both at 200 to win the presidency, with the Democrats winning with a -175 over the Republicans. With those odds it definitely looks like Hilary has the advantage. Will she be able to keep that advantage? We'll see in the upcoming months with more debates and cacuses.





betUS has Hilary at +150, with Rudy and Barack Obama both at +400.

Both books say Hilary's going to take it all. Are you putting your money down on her, too?

Labels: Barack Obama, democrats, Hillary Clinton, presidential election, republicans, Rudy Giuliani

posted by Kari at 2:13 PM

We've been so busy with everything else this week, we forgot to let you in on Hillary Clinton's odds to take the White House!

Last weekend she posted a video on her website declaring that she was forming an Exploratory Committee to create a campaign for the 2008 presidential election. She said she's "In it to win" the White House in 2008, vying to become the first female president of the United States.

A full listing of all the possible contenders, both Republican and Democrat, are currently at Sportbet. They have Hillary at 250 over their current Republican front runner John McCain at 350. Right now, the books are clearly in her favor. Do you think she's going to win? Then bet on her now so you can make some cash later down the road!

The books are divided (or indecisive) about either party's chances of taking the White House, no matter who they choose as their candidate. (Remember, Barack Obama is still thinking about making a bid! And Rudy Guiliani may still throw his hat in!) Sportbet has the Dems and Repubs both at -125, which is an even race for now. Over at betED, though, it's a different story. They have the Dems winning with the better odds of -150. They have the under, which means with the Republicans at +200, that means they like the Democrats winning it all outright.

You can see all the odds from all our books on our Political Props/'08 Presidential Election page!

For betED's props: Click on a prop, then click "Sportsbook," then on the left side of the page, click "Props/TV/Awards," under "Proposition."
For Sportbet's props: (Click on a prop, then click "Live Lines," then scroll to the bottom of the page TO "Other Sports Events and Odds."

Labels: Hillary Clinton, politics, presidential election

posted by Kari at 1:53 PM

I probably won't be up at 5:30 in the morning for the Oscar nominations, but make sure you check back for your complete betting guide to the Oscars, happening as soon as odds are up!

In the meantime, it's a busy week! Week 2 of American Idol, Hilary's "In it to win," and David Beckham are gonna be making appearances this week.

Get ready to make some real cocktail cash in the next month, it's gonna be crazy!

Labels: American Idol, David Beckham, Oscars, politics, presidential election

posted by Kari at 4:20 PM

There are so many people officially throwing their hat into the ring for the '08 presidential election, it's hard to keep track of it all. The news this week is that the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, will be making a bid for the White House by the end of January. And, of course, we have your odds on how he might fare.

Sportbet has his odds of winning the whole shebang at +1800, which aren't the best odds in the world, but you never know. Being from New Mexico and being of Hispanic decent, his opinions on immigration could up or lower his chances for winning.

He's a Democrat, and betED has the Democratic Party winning the presidency at -150, which are good odds. Even if Richardson doesn't win, this would be your hedge bet for the next year and a half.

A couple of options, but if you're feeling lucky, get your cash in now before the odds change drastically!

Labels: betED, politics, presidential election, Sportbet

posted by Kari at 3:09 PM

I swear I will return to breaking down the odds on the 08 Presidential election soon, soon, soon. But in the meantime, I thought you might want to know that if you are a BELIEVER that Hilary and Condi could be the two tickets in 08, you can bet it at Sports Interaction at an odds price of 11.00. Let's review. 11.00. What this means is that the lines makers at Sports Interaction believe it's a reasonably good chance that this can actually happen. As comparison:

Rudolph Guiliani is the Sports Interaction favorite to be the Republican nominee. And his odds are 3.2. So Sports Interaction essentially is saying it's only 4x more unlikely than Rudolph Guiliani getting his all-but-already-promised Republican nomination that Hilary and Condi will be the ticket.

I think it's about 100x less likely. And I'm a person who'd like to see them both be on the ticket.

To see all the political betting odds at Sports Interaction, open the drop-down menu in the upper left corner and scroll to the "Specials" section at the very end. "Politics" is the second to the last one.

It could happen. I guess.

Labels: politics, presidential election

posted by pregamejocelyn at 2:08 PM

Sports Interaction has the early jump on the US Presidential election for 2008, and while it's a slow and tedious process, for the next two plus years, we'll periodically check in and see who's got the odds and who's got your vote, at least in betting dollars.

Let's start with the top five odds getters for the Republican presidential nominee. Why Republican? They're at the bottom of the page and I want to work my way up. But be sure to come back later because 14 potential candidates are posting odds right now, and I can't cover them all at once!

The Favorite: Rudolph Guiliani at 3.20
Oh, it's true, of all of the Republicans, he's the most presidential. He's got great pedigree and the nations LOVES him. He's definitely a likely nominee. But is he really the favorite? Will the Republicans really want to nominate somebody who is so associated with the September 11th attack, especially when the response to that attack has become a black mark on their current administration? Guiliani doesn't have federal government experience, though the argument is obviously that New York is like its own country! At 3.20 odds, he's running as the favorite at SIA, and probably still a safe bet. If you get on board now with your betting dollar, you could be smiling later. And not just because he seems like an upstanding guy who might have a shot at being president.

The TV Favorite: John McCain at 4.00
Is this guy even a Republican though? I watched him on The View, yes, The View, and while he's got admirable politics and balls the size of New Hampshire, would the Republicans really nominate somebody whose daily political thoughts and words don't represent much of the party core? I'm kind of suprised McCain is posting as a favorite. He's doing all the right things....lots of pre-election media, lots of sitting in the middle. Good things if you want to get elected president, but maybe not if you're trying to get your party's nomination.

Hilary- Light: Condoleezza Rice at 6.00
I know, I know, there are a lot of you who think she's more Hilary than Hilary. How is this woman posting as a favorite? First, to get nominated she'd have to be the first woman in the Republican party to get nominated in a presidential election of any kind, ever. Then she's got the war in the Middle East written all over her resume. THEN everybody thinks she's a George puppet. Not where my money is going, but maybe you know something I don't.

Jocelyn's Pick for Value: Tom Ridge at 8:00
I think Tom Ridge could get the nomination. He's competent but not super highlighted. He's participated in national security but kept enough distance not to get burned by it. He comes from a key state for electoral votes. He looks like what we expect our candidates to look like. I put $10 down on him now. Who knows? A year from now I may get that back. But honestly, how many other Republicans can really be a viable candidate?

Who is this guy? Bill First at 9.00
Bill First is actually the Sentate Majority Leader from Tennessee. The first thing that comes up when you Google him is "More Ethics Concerns for Senate Majority Leader Bill First." I wouldn't put money on him.

Anybody sound like a likely Rebulican nominee for President in 2008? Get your money in now before they start dropping like flies (or politicians when the media gets a hold of them) and the odds change. Or come back to HollyWagers later to see our analysis of the other nine likely Republican nominees, there may be more value with the longshots!

Labels: presidential election

posted by pregamejocelyn at 11:37 AM