British Columbia gamblers tend to believe Republican candidate Donald Trump will win today's U.S. presidential election while Democrat Kamala Harris will carry the popular vote nationally, according to odds on the BC Lottery Corp.'s PlayNow website.
To win the U.S. election, a candidate must win 270 electoral college votes. States are provided with electoral votes based on population. In most states the candidate who wins at least a plurality of votes wins all of that state's electoral college votes. In Maine and Nebraska, votes are won for winning votes statewide as well as in districts.
The odds of Trump winning the election were 1.68-to-one after 2 p.m. today, while the odds of Harris winning were 2.1-to-one. When it came to winning the popular vote, however, Harris had a commanding lead of 1.2-to-one, versus Trump's 4.25-to-one.
Past performance and polling has deemed that there are seven swing states, or states that are close enough that they could go either way, depending on turnout.
In Georgia, which is the first swing state when polls close (4 p.m. Pacific Time), Trump is leading with odds being 1.4-to-one versus 2.85 for Harris.
In North Carolina polls close at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time. That state is also likely to go for Trump, according to B.C. bettors who put money on the line: 1.40-to-one to Harris' 2.85-to-one.
Pennsylvania is known as the big prize because it has more electoral college votes than any other swing state: 19. Trump is winning there too, with 1.68-to-one odds, compared with Harris' 2.1-to-one.
Harris is ahead in Michigan, which has 15 electoral college votes, with odds of 1.4-to-one, compared with Trump's 2.8-to-one odds. Polls in both Pennsylvania and Michigan close at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
Wisconsin is very close, according to B.C. bettors. Harris' odds are 1.83-to-one versus Trump's 1.9-to-one.
Trump is viewed as handily winning Arizona, which voted for Democrat and U.S. President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Trump's odds in the Grand Canyon State are 1.2-to-one versus Harris' 4.25-to-one. Polls in both Arizona and Wisconsin are set to close at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.
Nevada is the westernmost swing state, and its polls are set to close at 7 p.m. Pacific Time. Trump is the favourite there, with odds of 1.8-to-one, versus Harris' 1.95-to-one.
Bettors are also able to wager on Senate races, as there are many close races.
One of those tight races is in Ohio, where Republican Bernie Moreno is seen to be the favourite with 1.55-to-one odds, versus Democrat Sherrod Brown' 2.35-to-one odds.
One other proxy for gamblers who want to bet on the election has been to invest in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (Nasdaq:DJT). That money-losing company owns Trump's Truth Social social network and people investing in the company are likley to believe that Truth Social could become valuable if Trump wins the election and sends posts on its platform.
Shares in that company closed at US$33.94 today, down 1.16 per cent. On the week the shares are down 30.94 per cent. On the month, however, shares are up 74.36 per cent – returns that show the stock's volatility. The company released its third-quarter earnings after markets closed this afternoon and investors appeared impressed, pushing up the shares about 2.4 per cent.
