A lot has happened since InsideSources checked last month with bookies in Ireland and the United Kingdom on the odds given the individual American presidential candidates. But despite Ted Cruz’s stunning win in the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses and Hillary Clinton’s big loss Tuesday in New Hampshire, the odds haven’t budged much.
Donald Trump’s New Hampshire win on Tuesday improved the GOP front-runner’s status as the odds-on presidential favorite among the Republicans — from 10-to-3 last month to 7-to-2 on Wednesday. The New York billionaire was a 33-to-1 long-shot when the campaign began last year, but even with his impressive victory Tuesday in New Hampshire, he’s still not the odds-on favorite to win it all.
That candidate to beat, according to the bookmakers at William Hill, remains Hillary Clinton, who saw her odds improve slightly — despite losing big on Tuesday to Sanders. On Wednesday she was a 4-to-5 favorite to win it all, up from 8-to-11 on Jan. 21.
But while Clinton has the best odds, gamblers are putting the most money on Trump, a William Hill spokesman told InsideSources Wednesday.
“Trumpmania has broken out amongst political punters and he is by some distance the best-backed candidate in the race,” spokesman Graham Sharpe said.
After Clinton and Trump, William Hill sets the odds for the field at 7-to-1 for Sanders, 8-to-1 for Marco Rubio, 14-to-1 for Cruz, 16-to-1 for Jeb Bush, 20-to-1 for former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (mulling a late entry into the race), 33-to-1 for John Kasich, 50-to-1 for Joe Biden and 200-to-1 for Ben Carson. Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, is a 500-to-1 long-shot.
Clinton also remains the leader on the Irish betting site PaddyPower, where she’s improved from 5-to-6 to 10-to-11.
Trump is second, holding steady at 7 to 2, followed by Sanders at 7-to-1.
American casinos don’t take bets on U.S. presidential elections, but gambling operations in the U.K., Canada and around the globe traditionally handicap the race.
