Las Vegas oddsmaker makes line on 2020 presidential election
When Joe Biden said in March that he will pick a woman as his running mate if he’s the Democratic nominee for president, South Point oddsmaker Jimmy Vaccaro naturally started making odds.
“That just spurs us old timers,” said Vaccaro, 74. “If I’m having lunch with (William Hill sportsbook director) Nicky Bogdanovich or (longtime Las Vegas oddsmaker) Richie Baccellieri, we’ll say, ‘what would you make that?’”
Nevada sportsbooks aren’t allowed to take bets on the U.S. presidential election. But with the sports world shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Vaccaro announced odds for entertainment purposes only on the 2020 presidential election and the 2020 vice presidential candidate for Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
“Me and (South Point sportsbook director) Chris (Andrews) know this is the worst time in our country’s history. We did it just to have people talk about it and have a little bit of fun,” Vaccaro said. “For maybe a half hour out of your day, you can get away from this insanity and talk about it.”
Vaccaro made the presidential election a pick’em between Biden and President Donald Trump, listing each man at even money to win.
He made Kamala Harris the +140 favorite to earn the Democratic vice presidential nomination and Amy Klobuchar the 3-1 second choice. Gretchen Whitmer is the 8-1 third pick, followed by Stacey Abrams (15-1), Elizabeth Warren (16-1), Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (20-1) and Michelle Obama (25-1). The field (anyone else) is 10-1.
The colorful Vaccaro said it wasn’t difficult to make the odds.
“If me and Chris make a huge mistake, it doesn’t matter. We can’t lose nothing,” he said. “On the other side, if it’s a real good number, we can’t win nothing. It’s for entertainment purposes.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
