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Donald Trump’s odds to beat Joe Biden improve dramatically

Updated October 19, 2020 - 7:29 pm

President Donald Trump’s odds of winning re-election have improved dramatically a week after they were at their longest since February.

Trump improved from a +225 underdog to Democratic nominee Joe Biden to +150 at London’s Betfair Exchange. This means that a bettor who wagers $100 on Trump at +150 odds would win $150 if he wins re-election. Trump’s odds improved from +180 to +130 at William Hill sportsbook in the United Kingdom.

Biden has moved from a -225 favorite to -150 at Betfair and from -220 to -162 at William Hill UK. This means that a bettor who wagers on Biden at -150 would have to bet $150 to win $100 (betting favorites are expressed with a minus sign while underdogs are expressed with a plus sign).

“The Donald Trump effect is really starting to take hold now with his odds to win re-election (improving) from last week and therefore the chance of him causing an upset, as he did in 2016, an even bigger possibility,” Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom said.

Betfair said Trump gained more support after a week of campaigning in key swing states and becoming a slight favorite over Biden to win Florida, -110 to -105.

“The president becoming favorite in Florida, arguably the most important state for his campaign, could be a big turning point,” Rosbottom said.

Offshore book Bovada also recently made a big line move on the election, dropping Biden from -200 to -160.

“The reason behind this move is that we have been seeing some of our sharper political bettors back Trump in the last few days,” Bovada head oddsmaker Pat Morrow said in an email Monday morning. “If we continue to see sharp money on Trump, we would consider moving the line even further.”

Biden soared back to a -197 favorite Monday afternoon at offshore book Pinnacle, where Trump is a +170 underdog.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.

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