65% of all bets on the market have backed Trump to win the U.S. presidential election
Donald Trump’s odds to win the U.S. presidential election may not match that of bookmaker’s favorite Hillary Clinton, but a late surge of bets have been placed on the Republican candidate ahead of the final presidential debate on Wednesday.
British-based bookmakers William Hill have launched their list of bets for the final debate, with Clinton placed at 1-3 to win the final televised showdown and Trump at 9-4. Overall, Clinton remains the hot favorite to win the presidency, whereas Trump now has a 20% chance of winning compared with 15% before the weekend.
However, the Trump campaign doesn’t seem to have dissuaded bettors looking for a last-minute gamble, as William Hill’s latest figures show that 65% of bets on the market have been placed on Trump with the remaining 35% placed on Clinton. As to why punters might be backing Trump at this stage, Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said, “It may be because the race has reached a level now where people thought it might be worth taking a chance, or just as with the E.U. referendum, people just don’t believe the opinion polls.”
Bookmakers have responded by cutting the odds on Trump to win in a betting pattern reminiscent of the run-up to the E.U. referendum in Britain earlier this year. “It was the case that consistently throughout the E.U. referendum campaign, some two-thirds of the money gambled was for Remain, but in terms of individual bets, it was around two-thirds for Leave,” said Sharpe. “In straight bookmaking terms we have to be big Trump supporters as he currently represents a six-figure loss in our overall market.” In terms of stakes, Hall’s figures said 71% of the total money bet on the U.S. election has been placed on a Clinton win, including a record-breaking bet of over $610,000 placed on the Democratic candidate earlier this month.