How Harris-Trump presidential debate impacted election betting odds
The betting favorite to win the election flipped again after Tuesday’s first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump entered the debate as a slight favorite over Harris to be elected president. Harris emerged from the debate as a slight favorite over Trump.
Harris is the -120 favorite at BetOnline over Trump, who is now the +100 underdog.
“We took a lot of money on Harris from outset, and that has continued today,” BetOnline.ag political oddsmaker Paul Krishnamurty told the Review-Journal on Wednesday.
The offshore sportsbook, which isn’t regulated in the U.S., tweeted (@BetOnline_ag) minutes before the debate that 50.9 percent of the money wagered on the election was on Harris and 49.1 percent was on Trump.
After the debate, 54.4 percent of the money wagered on the election was on Harris, according to the book.
Betting on politics isn’t permitted at U.S. sportsbooks.
The favorite also flipped at electionbettingodds.com, which averages live odds from FTX.com, Betfair.com, PredictIt.org, Smarkets.com and Polymarket.com.
Harris has a 51.3 percent chance, which equates to the -105 favorite, according to the site. Trump has a 47.6 percent chance, or +102.
A negative number represents how much a bettor must wager to win $100. At the current odds at BetOnline, a bettor would have to wager $120 to win $100 on Harris to be elected.
A positive number represents how much a bettor would win on a $100 wager. At the current odds at BetOnline, a bettor would win $100 on a $100 wager on Trump to win the election.
Harris was a -250 favorite at BetOnline to win the debate.
“Our rules are ‘ABC-affiliated poll … if not YouGov/Ipsos,’” Krishnamurty said. “As it stands, we only have YouGov (Harris wins), but awaiting confirmation of no ABC poll.”
BetOnline brand manager Dave Mason (@DaveMasonBOL) posted on X that the handshake prop on the debate was the book’s biggest loser. ‘Yes’ was the underdog.
After reporting that the book took an $11,000 bet on Harris -110, he later posted that a “$10,113 bomb comes in on Trump at even money (+100). We needed that!”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.