For the last couple of weeks, you had to bet $150 to win $100 on Obama. And if you bet $100 on McCain you'd win $110.
I went to sportsbook.com last night and they had suspended the betting process which is a common practice on "exotic" bets. They do that during the voting nights on American Idol for instance. So, I checked again and lo and behold, it's now $190 to win $100 on Obama and $100 on McCain gets you $145.
This is a dramatic shift. These are post Democratic convention numbers. After the republican convention, the numbers sunk, just like they did on 538.com. Even though the numbers shrunk for Obama post RNC, he was still the clear favorite. On 538.com, Obama was actually losing the race for a few days. They quoted Intrade and Iowa Electronic Markets last night, but I haven't seen them use sportsbook before. However, I started monitoring 538 only a couple of months ago.
So, the gamblers in the world are betting on Obama to win andit went up after the debate. Some say that talk is cheap, even though the pundits on both sides make so much money yapping and predicting. There is no spin in betting numbers, it is a real time assessment of the race. Follow the money
I'm not advocating sportsbook or gambling, it's just the easiest way I have to track the odds. If anyone lives in Vegas or Atlantic City and can post the odds at the local sports books, I'd appreciate it.
What were the odds in the beginning of all this, that Obama would beat Hilary and looks like he'll beat McCain. Two of the oldest and most identifiable politicians might get beat by the new kid, this speaks volumes about how sick and tried people are of how thing have been going the last 20+ years.