Presidential Odds: Political Futures & Election Betting Lines

What Is A Political Futures Bet?

If you are familiar with sports betting, you have become accustomed to looking at a daily betting line that may include the moneyline, point spread or the OVER/UNDER. Well, in politics, there aren’t many head-to-head daily matchups, but rather a broader question of who will be the Democratic presidential nominee or who will win the presidential election.

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This type of wager is referred to as a futures bet, where you place a bet on an event that takes place sometime in the future. This isn’t unique only to politics as you can place a wager on who will win the next Super Bowl, World Series, NBA championship, etc.

In politics, a slip-up in a speech or a strong showing in a time of need can greatly impact the betting odds that can swing largely week to week. This is referred to as line movement, which can sometimes tell us who is more likely to win the event.

Additionally, different sportsbooks provide different betting odds so it is always good to research the various places before making your wager – consider it line shopping much like you may go to different grocery stores to get the best price for milk.

Reading Political Futures Betting Odds

At any political sportsbooks, you’ll find U.S presidential election futures odds that look something like this:

In the above example, Donald Trump has a minus sign (-) associated with his odds which indicate that he is the betting favorite. Now, the favorite doesn’t always have a minus sign, but the option that has the lowest number is considered the favorite. For example, in this instance, if Trump had odds of +110 he would remain the favorite.

The difference in the odds directly correlates to the potential winnings, therefore the higher the positive (+) odds the higher the payout, but the greater the risk. If you use the odds above, a $100 wager on the betting favorite, Donald Trump, would give you a payout of $183.33 – your original $100 plus $83.33 in winnings. If you wagered $100 on Democratic nominee favorite Joe Biden at +120, your return would be $220 – your $100 back plus $120 in winnings.

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You would make $36.67 more per $100 if Biden won rather than Trump. Lastly, Andrew Cuomo, who isn’t officially in the race, has odds of +3300, meaning a $100 wager would pay out $3,400, though it would be a risky bet if he’s not on the election ballot.

To see how much you’d win based on the odds and bet amount, check out our odds calculator.

Political Prop Betting

Although the most popular betting market for you to wager on when it comes to politics is the presidential election, most online sportsbooks provide prop markets to expand your betting experience. A prop bet doesn’t necessarily have to do with the presidential election directly, although in most cases they do. Common prop markets are: