Posted on 1/22/2008 4:55:26 PM

Presidential Election Wagering - Wager on a Different Sort of Horse Race

By D.S. Williamson

I love the Presidential Election season. Why? Because there is absolutely no reason not to wager on one of the top three contenders with the sort of odds that BetUS is offering. I’ll get into that a bit later, but first I want to say that my suggestions that gamblers get down on one of the candidates in no way reflects my position that the Presidential Election is meaningless.

I believe that gamblers should be able to wager on anything. A sandwich maker at Subway makes sandwiches for a living. A gambler makes wagers on the outcome of events for a living. There will definitely be an outcome to the Presidential Election.

Believe it or not the odds on the favorite to win the Presidential Election are actually better than the odds on the Patriots to win the Super Bowl. It might be a better wager as well as the public at large doesn’t really understand presidential politics.

Understanding football is one thing, but trying to predict the winner of a race that involves thousands of different factors is another. Because of that I believe that it is my duty, my patriotic duty, to not only list the three top contenders to win the Presidential Election straight-up but also to analyze their actual odds versus the chances of them actually winning this thing…er, the presidency.

Here we go!

Hillary Clinton = I don’t care what anybody says. Hillary Clinton is hot. She’s second, after Oprah, on my list of top sugar mamas I’d try to get in good with should I ever get a divorce. Hillary has everything going for her now. First, she’s got Bill and Bill Clinton is a bad-ass on the campaign trail. Second, she’s got tons of money. Third, all of the other candidates appear like idiots next to her. This is absolutely true. I’m not saying that they are idiots. I’m just saying that they appear like idiots. George Bush won this thing with having half of the nation hate him. Why not a woman? California, New York, Ohio and Florida and Clinton wins it. The most likely winner with pretty good odds.

BetUS Odds: - 110

John McCain = There is no doubt that McCain is the only Republican in the field who can beat Hillary Clinton in a general election. Once it gets down to the two final contestants…er nominees…Clinton will beat all Republican’s save for McCain. McCain will be tough to defeat and, therefore, his BetUS odds are absolutely worth salivating over. He pretty much has the Republican nomination in the bag as Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have little chance of winning New York and California. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, actually is trailing McCain in the New York Primary. That means McCain gets to square-off against Clinton. I like McCain at his odds. I think he’s a nice to win wager with Hillary as the saver wager.

BetUS Odds: +300

Barack Obama = Barack has the money and the machine but lacks the temperament and experience to beat Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Once Super Tuesday comes around, I really think that Barack will be scratching his head wondering why even got into this thing. He’s appearing more and more tired every time he gets into one of those debates and Hillary is destroying him on the campaign trail. She’s got hubby Bill and James Carville on her team. Barack only has himself. There’s only so many times that you can say change in a speech, right? This guy is an overlay.

BetUS Odds: + 350

You can make a bet on any of these other contenders but each of them has a few knocks:

Mitt Romney – BetUS odds of + 850 = No chance in a general election. He’s a Mormon. I have nothing personal against Mormons, but a lot of folks do. Even if they won’t say it they do. Romney might put a commercial on during the Super Bowl. That would make me change my mind some, but not enough. The guy’s still a Mormon. So, don’t waste your hard-earned dollars on wagering on this guy.

John Edwards – BetUS odds of + 40000 = John Edwards wants to end poverty. Hey, John? Where there is a winner there has to be a loser! Not only does that count for gambling on sporting events, but it counts for gambling in the stock market as well. Somebody’s got to be poor before anybody can be rich. There’s no way the dudes with money elect you. No chance and, unfortunately, those are the guys that really vote!

Rudy Giuliani – BetUS odds of + 800 = Rudy had to cut staff. That means he’s losing money. That means he will be lucky to get to Super Tuesday. That means that if he gets to Super Tuesday he still will have to win in New York and California. That means Rudy is toast. Not even worth another peek on the board.

Mike Huckabee – BetUS odds of + 1400 = Huckabee has an outside, make that very outside, chance of winning a general election, but he’s cut his spending as well. That means that he doesn’t have a whole lot of money left. Also, he’s a bit too far on the right for most of the nation. Sure, having Chuck Norris in your corner is always a good thing, but it won’t be enough. Huck is sort of like Georgie-boy without the war. I don’t think gamblers should waste money on this guy either.

Until next week, good luck!

Bet on the US Presidential Elections Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found in the BetUS.com Sportsbook, in Futures/props, under Entertainment Props.