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2020 Presidential Election Results Update (11-4-20): The 2020 Presidential election is almost over as the last few swing states finalize their ballot tabulations. You can still bet on those outcomes by putting money on the swing state electoral odds at the best USA sports betting sites, and you can also continue to bet on the eventual winner of the election. However, that betting will be closed within the next few days. Going forward, there are sure to be plenty of legal challenges, recounts, and other political issues you will be able to bet on, as the election betting market is taking off bigly worldwide.

• The most common are futures bets for presidential elections. Sportsbooks will post political betting odds for the incumbent and a variety of potential nominees for the opposing party and set lines for them all. You pick who you believe will become the next president, and the bet is resolved on election night.
• The history of Presidential Elections in the United States has shown that upsets can happen, and underdog candidates can net bettors major money. The final stretch of the Presidential Election has arrived as campaigns on both sides of the political spectrum have ramped up their efforts to gain support for their candidate.
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• 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.

In America, people love to bet on sports – and there’s arguably no greater, more pervasive “sport” than politics. As such, it only makes sense that best online USA sportsbooks would offer US politics betting odds. Of course, you can only bet on political races at offshore bookmakers, as no domestic state-regulated sportsbooks currently offer election or candidate betting lines.

Fortunately, there are plenty of top-quality election betting options out there, and we’ve picked out the most reputable books that accept US bettors. Whether you’re looking for general political lines, midterm election betting odds, 2020 election odds, or if you just want to bet on Trump winning election number two, you can lay your money down legally and safely at the books we recommend.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Due to the COVID-19 global outbreak, the political betting boards have been all over the place. Right now is a great opportunity to bet on the lines as soon as you see favorable odds. Trump has been featured as an underdog at several election betting sites lately, for example, while other political prop markets are also experiencing significant flux. Remember to check back for the best odds every day and to shop lines at multiple USA political betting sites!

Bovada is the most popular election wagering website in America, with millions of bettors participating in election betting at the offshore bookmaker. Because the site operates from overseas, US players are allowed to wager on politics at Bovada, and they can feel safe doing so, as the site operates under the international license of the renowned Bodog brand.

Best of all, since Bovada consider politics to be a “game,” new members can get a $250 Sports Welcome Bonus – or a $750 Bitcoin Welcome Bonus – to put towards their bankroll. So if you’re looking for where to bet on election action in the United States, Bovada offers the best ballot on the Internet!

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Are Political Betting Markets Legal?

Political betting laws are basically nonexistent at domestic US venues and state-licensed sportsbooks. However, political wagering is frowned upon by all state gaming commissions, and it is not available at local betting lounges or state-regulated online betting sites. In the future, that might change, but for now, politicians seem reticent to “belittle” their office by letting the citizenry vote with their wallets.

Fortunately, US election betting is legal under current sports betting laws if you use an offshore betting site. To find the best election betting market for your needs, you can browse the boards at the reputable online sportsbooks featured here. Each will have different odds for every candidate, so you’ll definitely want to shop lines to find the best values on 2020 Presidential candidate odds.

Note: Residents of Washington and Connecticut are technically barred from all forms of online gambling. However, because those laws seem unenforced and we’ve never heard of anyone being fined or arrested for wagering on political action in these states, you can feel safe if you sign up and bet. Of course, you do so at your own risk, and we recommend following all local laws in your area.

How To Bet On Election Results

If you’re wondering how to bet on presidential election odds or other major US political races, it’s pretty easy: Simply find a top-rated online sportsbook, sign up, deposit, and bet. Remember, election wagering is only available at online betting sites, as domestic books don’t offer political betting.

We recommend only using the sites listed here, as they’re each established in the industry and have solid reputations for fair lines, excellent customer service, and guaranteed payouts. Read our lips: No new sportsbooks! Stick with the tried and true, or you’ll be black and blue (and in the red).

Current 2020 Election Betting Odds

The 2020 candidates have come and gone seemingly en masse, with the field ballooning to nearly 30 DNC hopefuls before shrinking down to where it is now. Today, there are only two official candidates remaining in the race: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, with Biden being the clear favorite. Naturally, betting has been brisk over the past few months on most of them (as well as on some celebrities who aren’t even running, like Oprah Winfrey and George Clooney).

Because the incumbent President is a Republican, there are more Democratic candidate odds than GOP candidate odds. As a result, the Democratic Presidential candidates are getting a lot more attention on the betting boards. Trump is largely a foregone conclusion as the next Republican candidate according to the GOP nomination odds, so there’s less betting interest on that side of the aisle.

Odds provided byBovada

• Joe Biden -200
• Donald Trump +160
• Mike Pence +5000
• Kamala Harris +6600
• Hillary Clinton +10000

Odds provided byBovada

US Presidential Election 2020 - Winning Party

• Democratic Party -210
• Republican Party +155

Which Party Will Win The Popular Vote In The 2020 Presidential Election?

• Democrats -550
• Republicans +350

How Many Yea Votes Will Amy Coney Barrett Receive In Her Confirmation Vote?

• 51 -120
• 52 +250
• 49 Or Fewer +900
• 53 +1000
• 50 +1200
• 55 +1500
• 54 +2000

Next Supreme Court Justice Confirmation Date

• Before November 4th, 2020 -3000
• After November 4th, 2020 +900

Presidential Election Betting

If you want to bet on POTUS election odds, you have a number of sites to choose from, the best of which are listed on this page. To put your money where your morals and ethics are, simply sign up at any of these sites, make a deposit, and submit your vote!

The best Presidential election betting sites are all safe, secure, and legal to use for US players, and you can be confident that your selections will be honored and your payouts guaranteed. If only we could have so much faith in our politicians!

Congressional Election Betting

All the top sites also offer Congressional betting odds, though you are unlikely to find comprehensive coverage of all races, as there are simply too many of them to include the full menu. Nevertheless, you will get several House and Senate lines during each cycle.

US House Of Representatives Odds

You can expect to find House odds for 15-30 races during a given general election cycle or midterm election, even though there are usually hundreds of races taking place.

The House incumbent retention rate is over 90%, making most races a foregone conclusion for bettors and books alike. The remaining interesting or close races will usually have lines posted.

US Senate Odds

There are far fewer Senate races than House races during most election cycles, as the upper chamber is smaller than the lower.

That said, you’ll still only find 5-10 contested races that are popular enough for inclusion at offshore betting sites, as the incumbent retention rate in the Senate mirrors that of the House at over 90%.

Gubernatorial (Governor) Betting

Betting on governorships in the US is commonplace, though as with Congressional election odds, there are typically only a few races close enough to merit inclusion on the boards. However, whenever a gubernatorial race is contentious or scandalous or just plain close enough, you’ll be able to bet on it online.

Types Of Political Bets You Can Find Online

There are several political betting types you can find at online sportsbooks, and most of these will be familiar to anyone who’s bet on sports in the past. Generally speaking, most political bets are futures bets – that is, you’re picking a winner a long way out from the election in question.

Of course, there are also tons of political props to chose from, and you can put money on things like which candidate will win the most electoral votes, which one will win the popular vote, which candidate will win each state, and so on. Political prop bets are also available for events such as debates, scandals, and fundraisers.

Additionally, you can sometimes make “political point spread” bets where you can wager on a given candidate’s margin of victory. Each sportsbook will have a unique selection of government betting lines, so you should definitely shop around to find the best ones.

Political Betting Strategies

If you’re looking for how to bet on politics, we’ve already shown you the best Internet betting sites to do so. However, there are other factors you need to consider if you want to make the best bets possible, and these are a few pointers to help you pick a winner:

• Know the House majority – Often, the executive branch of government will diverge from the House majority. A Presidential administration rarely controls both chambers of Congress, and the House flips between Democratic and Republican majorities more often than the Senate. If a President is elected and loses the House, this can indicate a tougher path to re-election.
• Know the Senate majority – As with the house, the Senate flips from Dem to Rep control occasionally. Historically, a party majority in the Senate bodes well for a Presidential incumbent of the same party, but this is not always the rule.
• Understand the electoral college – America is a democratic republic, not a pure democracy. The popular vote does not determine who wins the Presidential election – only the electoral college does. (That said, the popular vote does determine who wins other federal and in-state elections.)
• Research state political makeup – A state’s political makeup – that is, the Dem and GOP numbers in its statehouse and governors’ office – often determines how the general population is going to vote in a national or Presidential election. In particular, whatever party a state’s current governor represents usually indicates which party they’ll vote for in the Presidential race.
• Weigh the incumbent – Incumbents almost always win their races. In the US House of Representatives and US Senate, incumbents win their seats over 90% of the time. For Presidential elections, the rate is slightly lower, though it is historically over 80%. In the last 100 years, only five Presidents have lost their re-election bids.
• Ignore Twitter – This is self-explanatory, but for the uninitiated, heed the warning: While Twitter has become an important political tool for politicians in the US, it is largely an echo chamber. If you lean left, Twitter will make you think Democrats will win every election in a landslide. If you lean right, Twitter will make you think Republicans are in full control.

USA Political Betting FAQs

Why don’t the Democratic candidate polls and betting odds match up?

This isn’t just true on the Democrat side, but since they have the largest field for 2020, most bettors will focus in on the fact that the odds boards and the nationwide media polls don’t seem to be in agreement. This is especially true for non-frontrunners, though you’ll notice it across the spectrum. As for why this happens, polls can be misleading or biased in both their administration and their responses.

Betting boards, on the other hand, show you exactly where “respondents” are spending their money. As political betting becomes more mainstream going forward, you should expect these odds to have far more influence on how candidate polling is established.

Can I bet on political events other than elections?

Yes! While it is most common for gamblers to bet on political races, there are also tons of other kinds of political betting odds to choose from. During major election cycles, you can wager on all the following – and more! – at most top betting sites:

• Democrat primary odds
• Republican primary odds
• Democratic debate odds
• Republican debate odds
• Presidential impeachment odds
• Presidential resignation odds
• Vice President selection odds
• Supreme Court appointee odds
• Legislative bill odds

Can I bet on local government and state elections?

Usually, sportsbooks will only cover the federal election betting market (with the exception of tight governor’s races). This is because there is far more bettor familiarity with US Presidency, House, and Senate races than there is with local elections and the tens of thousands of politicians that populate them.

In the future, when local domestic sportsbooks are widespread in the US and political betting is allowed at such venues, you will likely see state congress, mayoral, and city council races represented, at least in larger cities.

Where can I find Las Vegas odds on Democratic Presidential candidates?

You can’t actually find Las Vegas odds on presidential candidates for either party, as Nevada doesn’t allow political betting. That means that anything advertised as Vegas odds on 2020 election action (or any other election) is actually gleaned from “hypothetical” lines or offshore betting sites. Remember, if you live in the US, you can only wager on elections and politics via overseas sportsbook operators.

Are the odds Trump gets re-elected the same as his actual chances to win the 2020 election?

When you search for Trump election odds, you will come across two different metrics to consider: betting odds and polling numbers. Betting odds do not reflect Trump’s chances to with the Presidency in 2020. Instead, these odds simply reflect what the betting public thinks will happen.

Polling data purports to show Trump’s actual statistical chances to win, though that is also an imperfect assessment, and many voters and analysts believe that betting odds are a better overall way to gauge any candidate’s real winning potential. Smart campaigns are now using political betting markets to plan their campaign and advertising strategies.

What can previous election odds tell us about the current races?

There is much to be gained from studying history, and bettors would do well to heed recent elections (and their implied historical trends) when wagering on political races. The 2018 election betting odds, for example, were affected at the House and Senate levels due to Trump’s win in 2016.

Meanwhile, the GOP 2016 odds were informative in their own right, as new factors emerged that allowed a popular outsider candidate to win the most powerful political seat in the world. Thus, the rules for 2020 might be different than ever before, though lessons from these recent campaigns are a good watermark for what to expect in the current cycle.

Can you bet on the Presidential election during non-election years?

In the US, the Presidency almost always attracts betting odds. For example, from the moment Donald Trump was elected President in 2016, most online sportsbooks offered futures odds for his chances of re-election in 2020. As with all sports futures, Presidential election odds are usually available year-round, whether it’s an election year, a midterm year, or any time in between.

Can I bet on Canadian politics or other countries’ elections?

Yes! While these are less popular markets for US gamblers, you can often wager on Canadian election odds and participate in European politics betting. UK betting odds, Australian politics betting, and even more obscure markets like India political betting are commonly available at most top sites during certain popular election cycles, too.

Do USA sportsbook sites offer live betting on politics and election results?

Live betting is geared toward mobile sports betting and would be difficult for most books to implement for politics. To date, no reputable sportsbook has attempted to do so. However, when you bet on 2020 election results during the actual election itself, sportsbooks may offer live lines as states’ polls close and the electoral votes and winners in each region are announced. In the future, live betting during elections should become a desirable feature for US bettors.

See All Guides

Betting on politics is a subject nearly as complex as politics themselves. No doubt, interest in political betting is sharply on the rise as politics increasingly dominate both the broader media landscape and everyday conversations.

These days, election odds and the way people bet on key races is even used by political scientists and pundits in their attempts to predict the outcome of key races and elections.

This guide covers everything you need to know about betting on politics and elections.

Is Betting on Politics Legal in the United States?

Many sportsbooks licensed around the globe offer the opportunity to wager on election outcomes. However, no legal sportsbooks licensed in the United States are currently allowed to offer odds on politics. When it comes to the American market, the election odds you see on SportsBettingDime.com are for entertainment purposes only.

The regulation of all betting-related matters in the US is left up to individual states. In theory, any state could eventually authorize betting on election outcomes or other political developments. That said, it seems unlikely that state regulators will embrace political betting outright. There’s simply no appetite for anything that could call the integrity of elections into question, and antiquated perceptions of gambling are never far from the mind of a certain subsection of politicians and rule-makers.

Political prediction markets work a bit differently than traditional sportsbooks, but they do offer a legal option for Americans wondering how they can bet on politics. Luckily, would-be political bettors in many other countries around the globe are free to wager on the next President or other major political developments directly at their online sportsbook.

Types of Political Betting

There are two main ways to bet on politics: prediction markets and online sportsbooks. Learn more about each of them below.

1. Try Prediction Markets

Prediction markets pose “yes” or “no” questions to traders, such as:

• Will Donald Trump run for President of the United States in 2024?
• Will Tucker Carlson announce his candidacy for President?
• Will Michelle Obama become the first female president in 2024?

Traders buy “yes” or “no” shares related to each proposition. Just like the stock market, the value of these shares shifts with supply and demand. If your predicted outcome happens, the futures market will pay 100 cents on the dollar, and zero if it does not.

Prediction markets have long been allowed in the US, in part for the valuable insights they provide to social scientists. As traders buy and sell shares, researchers gain insight into public perception of candidates and the events surrounding them. People buy shares according to their expectation of what will actually occur, not just what they want to happen. As a result, prediction markets provide real-time insight into how campaigns are performing over time.

2. Betting on Politics at Your Online Sportsbook

Many bettors outside the United States have the option of wagering directly on election outcomes and other political events at their sportsbook of choice.

Political props at the sportsbook look much the same as other props you’ll see related to sports and entertainment.

Here are some common political prop bets you can expect to see:

Odds to Win the 2024 Republican/Democratic Presidential Primary

This prop asks you to select the eventual nominees for either the Republican or Democratic ticket for the 2024 presidential election. It can be advantageous to put your bets in early on this prop, as more options in the field lead to longer odds and a potentially higher payout if you make the right call. Whenever you place your bets, remember that the money you wager will be tied up until the outcome is decided.

Odds to Win the 2024 Presidential Election

As the name suggests, this prop concerns the overall winner of the 2024 election. Most sportsbooks list individual candidates, but may also have spin-off props like:

• Which party will win the 2024 Presidential Election?
• Will a man or woman win the 2024 Presidential Election?

Odds to Win the Popular Vote

Betting lines on the popular vote typically appear one or two months out from Election Day. Though the popular vote does not determine the actual results of US presidential elections, there is generally a lot of talk surrounding who wins.

Odds to Win a Specific State

The truth of American elections is that some states are far more important than others. Expect to see betting lines as to who will win key swing states start surfacing early on in electoral races. Winning a swing state can make or break a campaign for candidates, so this type of line can be a particularly exciting one to bet on.

Odds on Candidate Antics

Many sportsbooks also offer props on candidates doing certain things; this past cycle, you could find odds on how many times Donald Trump would say certain phrases during the debates.

Get Started with Political Betting

If you’ve never placed a bet before, our betting guides are a great place to get started.

The process is not nearly as intimidating as all the numbers and symbols make it appear, and political betting can be an exciting (and potentially lucrative) way to put your knowledge to the test. Of course, you’ll need to limit yourself to betting at political prediction markets if you live in the United States.

Betting On Political Candidates 2019

Of course, you’ll want to perform enough research to make an informed wager whenever you put money on the line. There’s no shortage of punditry and opinion out there when it comes to predicting election outcomes, so take the time to carefully filter information and try to cut through the noise.

Naturally, it pays to keep your own political leanings out of things when betting on politics. Bet with your head, not with your heart!

Betting On Political Candidates Results