Bettors give McCain bid increasingly long odds (1-10)

[Nambe]

Source: Politico

Futures traders and sports books are setting overwhelming odds that the Illinois Democrat will win the presidency on Nov. 4.

Ladbrokes, a massive online sports book based in the United Kingdom, puts the odds of an Obama win at 1-10, meaning a bettor must risk $10 to win one more. John McCain, meanwhile, is an 11-2 shot, so a dollar posted on him would pay out an additional $5.50. The site now pays out less for a bet on Obama winning in a 370-plus electoral landslide than it does for a McCain victory of any margin.

Other books give the Arizona senator more favorable odds—Sportsbook.com has McCain at 4-to-1—but across the board a bet for the Republican now pays off more than it has at any point during the general election, as bettors have soured on his prospects.

Paddy Power, Ireland's largest bookmaker, no longer gives McCain any chance at all, having called the election for Obama on Oct. 15 and paid out over a million pounds on bets for the Democrat, whose line had moved from 50-1 in May of 2005 to 1-9 when the book closed. ...

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14943.html

[Gillian]

1. The old gray mare ain´t what he used to be.

Wow, 50-1 to 1-9 for Obama. It would be interesting to know the type of person that put money on Barack back in May ´05. There must be another Nostradamus lurking about in Ireland.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. They said Kerry was the favorite also...

http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/forums/lofiversi...

[jrockford]

3. I wonder if Paddy Power is taking into account

the attempt and success of a "fix".