Learn how to legally bet on the Presidential Election and other Political events in the US.
Legally betting on politics is one of those intriguing niches within the gambling industry, and unbeknownst to many bettors, political wagers can end up yielding a nice hefty payout if you place your bets right.
As a larger range of people have become more politically aware and involved during the last two presidential elections, the bettor base has expanded exponentially. Based on this steady growth in legal politics betting, we decided to include this gambling platform as one of the topics covered in our guide.
The most common betting line for a point spread is -110. A -110 line on either side is like paying a tax or commission to the sportsbook. Bettors would pay 10 percent (aka juice) to the sportsbook, which is essentially a fee for brokering the wager. So, the -110 indicates that a bettor must risk $110 to win $100. United States Political Betting The world’s third-most populous nation happens to be the most popular political betting market on the web. The top political betting sites in the industry all offer an array of betting options when it comes to American politics.
The irony of betting on the elections and events associated with those politicians attempting to outlaw gambling is not lost on the American people. However, it is still prudent to make sure you understand the legalities surrounding political betting, and what legally sanctioned options should really be considered.
Legal Status For Betting On Politics In America
Many players just want a simple explanation as to whether or not it is legal to bet on politics in the United States. The short answer is yes, betting on political events online is legal in the US simply because there are no specific federal regulations that outlaw the act of offshore gambling.
The repeal of PASPA has made things even more simple and we are likely to see both domestic and offshore legal political betting gain momentum.
Bovada is our top recommended sportsbook for betting on politics. Their lines are always competitive and comparable to the Las Vegas sportsbooks. Because Bovada caters almost exclusively to USA players, they put a lot of thought and work into creating comprehensive betting lines and odds for those who enjoy betting on US politics. They also sometimes cover big elections in other countries.
In addition, Bovada is a full-service online sportsbook, poker site, and casino. They support Bitcoin and offer same day payouts for cryptocurrency funding, as well as a nice 50% match bonus up to $250 in their sportsbook.
Pros
Cons
The following is a list of the most reputable offshore betting sites in the industry. They pay out winnings just as fast if not faster than the US-regulated options and many of them offer some great ongoing promotions and bonuses for loyal players. The brands listed below offer futures, props, and betting lines for US politics along with a full-service sportsbook. Our sportsbook reviews page is intended to inform you of each sites pros and cons while offering an overall grade and detailing additional features.
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Yes, there are legal options for betting on politics in the US. Though state-regulated sports betting has expanded quite a bit across the country, there are no domestic sportsbooks offering political betting odds or lines at this time.
There are no US federal gambling laws prohibiting political betting at reputable, legitimate online sportsbooks operating legally outside of the United States or at domestic sportsbooks. Only two states restrict online betting at international political betting sites, CT and WA (though these restrictions remain unenforced).
A handful of states have already embraced state-regulated sports betting, while others are in the process of doing so. State-regulated sportsbooks are not interested in covering US politics at this time, and we don't expect that to change before the 2024 Presidential election, the senate and house elections, or the 2024 gubernatorial races.
It is perfectly legal to place bets on US or foreign politics through the trusted sites listed in this guide. Our ballot measures by state guide is a resource where you can track gambling bills to see what changes are being voted on for gambling reform in your area.
There are two states that prohibit online wagering of any kind regardless of the source, those being Washington state and Connecticut. While there is no evidence of enforcement of those restrictions, the fact remains that the laws are in place. We do not condone or encourage illegal gambling in any circumstance.
Even though the Presidential election sees a great deal of betting action every four years, political prop bets provide bettors a way to cash the odds of what a politician will or won’t do, and sportsbooks frequently post a variety of entertaining novelty prop bets during the lull in between election seasons. The following political prop bets can be found online at Bovada sportsbook.
The next US Presidential election will take place on November 3, 2024. As of now, there are no clear Presidential Candidates but online sportsbooks have odds for potential candidates.
Odds available at Bovada
As you might imagine, the big bet here boils down to the big office. Who will win the Presidency is always the biggest betting line. And you can often find more than just a winner-loser dichotomy; you can actually bet on:
You can also find betting lines on entire parties. For instance, the 2018 Midterm Elections had Republicans favored to take both houses of Congress. They kept the Senate but lost the House to the Democrats. The next midterms may be reversed or be a clean sweep for one of the two major parties.
From a local standpoint, gubernatorial and even council member races are always hot-button items on the betting circuit. You can find a range of different political events and elections on which to bet.
You can also find prop bets, which will include things like the gender of the winner, the party of the winner, a clean win vs. a run-off/recount, and even bets about legislation like health care or immigration. Prop bets also include events such as debates.
If it's part of politics, then there's undoubtedly a sportsbook out there with a betting line on it.
Odds for winning the 2024 Presidential Primary – This type of betting line will allow you to bet on who will win the nominations in the primary for each party. If you are participating early in the process and are placing a futures bet, your range of options may include individuals who have not yet announced their candidacy but that are active in the political landscape and are considered potential candidates.
The closer you get to the actual election, the more accurate your list of options may be. However, keep in mind that the futures bets can pay off big if you guess correctly.
Odds for Winning the 2024 US Presidential Election – Obviously, this type of betting line will concern the overall winner of the election. You will typically have a variety of associated lines, including the following:
Odds On Who Will Be Selected As The Vice President
In August of 2020, Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris to be his running mate and the nation's Vice President should he win the election. Most oddsmakers had Harris as the favorite to earn the spot for the majority of Biden's campaign.
Odds For Winning a Specific State – This type of betting line predicts the winner of influential swing states. For example, the Iowa Caucus odds start surfacing very early in the race. Other states are added closer to the actual election.
Winning the electoral votes in an influential state can make or break the election, hence these betting lines are particularly exciting and can determine the outcome of the election. The results of swing state Electoral College votes can be unpredictable, as we saw in 2012 when Obama took Florida despite the fact that Romney was the favored candidate to win the Sunshine State. We saw it again in a series of once-Democratic strongholds in the Midwest when Trump took states trending favorably for Hillary Clinton.
Odds For Winning the Popular Vote – Once the candidates have been selected, you will find more betting types added to the line up, such as betting on who will win the popular vote. Though it has no bearing on the overall election, political aficionados enjoy betting on who will win the popular vote.
There are times when the winner of the popular vote is not elected as President. The popular vote can be unpredictable, making it a very exciting wagering option. This type of option typically does not appear in the lines until about a month or two out from the actual election.
Electoral College Count - You will find that your range of wagering options for these lines increases after the candidates are selected and the election is approaching. This is when additional prop bets and specific options appear, such as over/under wagers for betting on the Electoral Vote count. In this type of political betting line you are predicting whether a candidate will receive more or less Electoral College votes than predicted.
Prop Bets - Some of the sportsbooks now offer some interesting prop bets for the upcoming election. You can wager on which candidates will win in hypothetical head-to-head matchups, what issues will be debated at a given townhall, and so on. Political props come and go on a near-weekly basis during the election cycle, so it's always good to pay attention to breaking news stories and how those might prompt new props or alter existing lines.
One of the most amazing things about President Barack Obama's election in 2008 was that no one had really heard of the man in 2007. A junior Senator with an iffy record of no-votes and voting 'present' on big issues, even those getting to know him didn't think he had the political chops. However, democracy proved what democracy is, in that experience counts for next to nothing when you're a popular, charismatic figure.
The people spoke, the people voted, and President Obama served two terms in office. Who actually saw that coming? Very, very few saw it coming. But for those who did, they may have cleaned up in the betting lines by betting on Obama for the win. When Trump ran in 2016, his odds were even longer, and now its possible he may win re-election to a second term.
The beautiful irony here is that it's actually politicians who seek to make gambling illegal across the nation, yet one of the most lucrative lines of betting is to wager on their elections and futures. Some may consider that to be very fitting, given the duplicitous, snake-like nature of many of these political buffoons.
But we're not out to play politics. Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, socialist or anarchist, it matters not. It's all about the gambling here, and we'll take a closer look at political betting for all interested parties.
Compartmentalization is a word you may often hear, but you may not really know what it means. Well, put it this way: You can absolutely loathe the political process, yet you may still find a way to make money by gambling on politicians. Don't worry; this isn't cognitive dissonance. This is simple math. Money spends better than hatred. Now, of course, there are plenty of reasons to despise politics.
People who aren't even as smart as you, yet they stand on a podium, lie to the masses, and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in salary and benefits. Heck, when a politician retires, they earn a pension package that's probably higher than your salary, and they could have been a horrible politician. It's no wonder Congress has such low approval ratings. The average person despises politics.
But keep in mind that a government is something you're stuck with. Death and taxes, they say, and a savvy politician will even tax your death! How's that for control? There's just no shaking government; it's a monolith that's always with us. So, as the old adage suggests, one must laugh to keep from crying. Betting on politicians' fates can actually lighten you on the subject. You can learn to love gambling while still hating the political process.
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The 2020 US Presidential Election Season is in the rear-view mirror and while it took more time than necessary for the dust to settle, Joe Biden finally officially made Donald Trump the 11th one-term President. Despite the lawsuits, the conspiracy theories and investigations, Donald Trump, who has yet to concede, and many of the 75 million that voted for him may still never accept the Election results.
The Electoral College has spoken, the swearing-in ceremonies are complete and the work to undo the damage that Donald Trump inflicted on his own Nation is underway.
Joe Biden can thank the African American turnout, the US Urban Centers, a huge number of mail-in votes and an unprecedented overall voter turnout for his big win. Trump predictably got a big swath of the vote from rural America. It remains unclear if those trends will follow us into the next Election Betting cycle or if the Donald Trump factor was a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.
Bettors were engaged in unprecedented fashion in 2020. Offshore sportsbooks reported a major uptick in US Election Betting from the 2016 campaign. One major British site saw a 150% increase in overall bets from 2016 with a few brave souls wagering $1 million plus on the outcome.
2016 set the standard as far as US Election popularity and 2020 blew that standard away. Now we look to the 2022 Mid-terms and the 2024 Presidential Campaign for our US Politics Betting fix. And it seems as though the Campaigns have started already.
As we look forward to the next Presidential Election cycle in 2024 – odds have already been set on who will be the Democratic and Republican Nominees. We will be there with all key political gambling markets to consider, the sites with the best and most varied betting odds on politics, betting strategies to help you succeed, and much more as we put a lid on this current Campaign and look toward the next one.
Betting on politics dates back hundreds of years. As King Edward VI of England lay dying in 1553, merchants in Antwerp were busy wagering on the disputed succession. Bookmakers in London were offering 4/1 (+400) on King George II dying on the battlefields of Dettingen after a foolhardy decision to wage war on the French in 1743. In the late 19th century, a thriving betting market on presidential elections sprung up on Wall Street.
Europe has always been the spiritual home of political betting, but it is now soaring in popularity in America. Each presidential election sets a new record in sportsbook handle, and there is serious money up for grabs if you can call it correctly.
Donald Trump was initially assigned odds of 500/1 (+50000) to win the 2016 election. That dropped to 25/1 (+2500) by the time he announced his campaign in August 2015. The odds on him emerging victorious continued to dwindle in the buildup to the election, but Hillary Clinton remained the heavy favorite, only for Trump to pull off a stunning upset. Some bettors won more than $1 million by betting on him.
On the other side of the Atlantic, bettors have recently made their fortunes by correctly predicting that Scotland would not leave the UK, Britain would leave the EU and the Conservatives would beat Labour in 2015. Betting on elections in countries like Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden is also popular.
The 2020 US presidential battle became the biggest political betting event in history. Donald Trump was perhaps the most polarizing figure ever to run for political office. His bombast and intense divisiveness were a benefit in 2016 but proved to be a detriment in 2020. We saw him start out as the favorite when the official 2020 campaign season kicked off but those odds dwindled as COVID-19 worsened and Democrats rallied to defeat the embattled President.
We now look forward to the 2024 US Election and oddsmakers have already stated compiling odds for who will be the combatants for what promises to be another political slugfest. Joe Biden, the current President will be 82 years old when that campaign comes around. There are questions about his ability and even desire to bid for another 4 years in office.
There will be more opportunities for bettors to weigh in on a host of topics, from the winner of the Presidency, to the winner of the Senate to the always-fun prop bets that became an enormous part of this political betting season. Sportsbooks will undoubtedly be covering races in other countries around the world as well.
Who will seize the opportunity will in 2024? Will there be any betting opportunities similar to the ones we saw in 2020 like President Donald Trump opening Area 51 to the public before his first term in office ends?
US Election Prop Bets continue to be a popular way for not only political junkies but pop-culture aficionados to get a little skin in the game.
The Presidential Debates were probably the highlight of the prop betting season. In true US Political fashion, Prop Betting season has dragged on past November 3 and is continuing even today. Prior to the 2020 vote, you could bet on Voter Turnout in the U.S Presidential Election, the percentage of Americans that would turn out and vote, Majority Control of the U.S. Senate, if Donald would get kicked off Twitter and whether or not Trump would lose every state he lost in 2016 – just to name a few.
Many sportsbooks offered odds on which candidate would carry each of the 50 states. For example, the Republicans were heavy favorites in Alabama, and the Democrats were heavy favorites in California, but it was tight in Wisconsin. You could also find prop bet options on all manner of weird and wonderful markets. There were Trump impeachment odds, and betting options on which Candidate would drop out first.
Nowadays you can bet on whether or not Joe Biden will be impeached, what year Kamala Harris will become President and whether Biden will complete his first term.
Election Prop Betting brought a little fun to what was an intense Election Season and will likely continue to be a big part of any Election campaign going forward.
Trump: +150 Biden-200
Trump: +150 Biden -180
Trump: +172 Biden -204
Control of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate became a huge part of the 2020 US Election season and will provide huge US Election Betting opportunities in less than two years. In 2020, Republicans actually picked up seats in the House but shockingly lost their long-established control of the Senate thanks to two defeats in ruby-red Georgia.
Elections have consequences and 2020’s were that Republicans’ loyalty to Donald Trump cost them control of all three branches of Government, giving Joe Biden and the Democrats a virtual rubber-stamp for any policy they want to pass.
For the Best odds on the presidential Election Visit 5Dimes.
If you want to bet on politics, you need to find a trustworthy, reputable betting site that will pay you any winnings promptly. SBR has reviewed more than 1,000 sportsbooks, allowing us to identify the very best in the business. Check out our list of top sportsbooks to browse the list of sports betting sites that have secured an A+ or A rating. You can wager at any of those sites with confidence. Most offer political betting, and that trend of growing opportunities will only increase thanks to the insanity that we have seen the last 8+ years.
The online sportsbooks cited on this page are all great options. They are well-known betting sites, trustworthy and renowned for paying out on time. They offer a range of compelling sports betting and political betting markets, and some attractive odds and bonuses too.
It helps to pay attention to what is happening in the world when betting on Elections. Donald Trump appeared to be on a path to victory at this time last year with the economy raging and everything seemingly on the upswing in the US. Political scientists have long pointed to the effects of economic performance upon major votes in countries across the globe. A failing economy is often disastrous for the incumbent.
Social unrest and COVID-19 completely changed the economic trajectory of the country and ultimately brought Donald Trump down thanks to his unwillingness or inability to deal with either. It wasn’t his bombast, his lies, or his divisive personality, it was outside factors that made him just one of 11 one-term Presidents.
That said, it seems as though political loyalties are baked into some people’s minds in the US, giving credence to the notion that it doesn’t matter to some what is going on in their country – “once a Republican, always a Republican”. If it were the case of outside forces being the sole determinant of an Election outcome, Mr. Trump would have been absolutely destroyed in November.
You should also never fear backing the underdog. Donald Trump was the underdog right up until the end in 2016 and won. In 2020 he was a huge dog and almost pulled it off.
The outsider often wins and you see headlines screaming that the bookmakers got it wrong. Yet bookmakers are not trying to predict the result of the vote. They are not pollsters. They are simply trying to make money. They will offer the most compelling odds on each candidate that they can muster, based on the volume of bets previously received on each man. Look at policies, ratings and the general mood of the country before looking at the odds. Do not be afraid of prop betting options either. Some are ridiculous, but others can be potential gold mines if you do your research.
You can bet on political developments taking place in a wide range of countries this year. There are key elections taking place in New Zealand, Poland, Serbia, Belize, Bolivia, Croatia, and many other countries. Sportsbooks are offering lines on the next country to leave the EU, the next country to hold a referendum on leaving the bloc, the next CDU leader in Germany, the year of the next Spanish general election, the next Pope, North and South Korea unifying as a single sovereign state, and much more. Some of these bets are designed for entertainment purposes, but you can make healthy profits if you successfully predict the outcome of political events in many countries.
Political betting is perfectly legal. Several US state laws now permit sports betting, and they make provisions for accepting wagers on politics and entertainment too. Betting on politics has been a prominent pursuit in Europe for hundreds of years, and it continues to grow in popularity in America. If you like betting, politics can be your savior amid the lack of sporting action currently on offer. Just make sure you find a safe, reliable sports betting site with a healthy political wagering section, and get involved in the action.