How Offshore Oddsmakers Made a Killing off Gullible Trump Supporters

[swag]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/12/trump-betting-markets-sportsbooks-offshore-2020-election-gambling.html

By ALEX KIRSHNER


Excerpts:

. . . Throughout the year at Bovada, Morrow says, the money coming in was around 2-to-1 for Trump. At BetOnline, around 60 percent of bettors were on Trump, though the total money was closer to 50-50, meaning Biden backers placed some large bets.

For most of the year, Trump’s short odds to win (requiring bettors to risk more money for smaller winnings) were not a reflection of inside political knowledge, or of the oddsmakers being MAGA guys. Bookmakers were taking on so many Trump bets that they consistently tried to discourage people from betting on him.

“The Trump guys were just out in full force,” Mason says. “According to the true odds, they probably could’ve got a better price, but us and probably every other book kept it lower than it should, just because we were all so exposed on it.”

Time and again, the effort to get Trump bettors to chill out failed.

. . .

“If you watched OANN [around or after the election], you’re watching something that you and I would never recognize,” Sherwin says. “It’s just a whole completely different world out there. And there is enough money amongst old, rich, white people that live in that bubble that take advantage of this betting opportunity for two reasons. One, what they feel and what they believe, but two, it’s also a way to kind of stick it to the ‘lamestream media.’ You know what I mean? I think they can be like, Oh, you guys don’t know what you’re talking about, and I think I can profit off of this because you don’t understand the Real America.”

. . . more

[Prex2400]

1. Lol

I was always wondering why Trump’s election odds were so high in betting markets.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Betting 'odds' are always based the book trying to get even money on both sides of the contest ...

What you're seeing in the odds of anything really is a reflection not of some 'expert opinion' on the part of the 'odds makers', but rather the people out there in the world, and how they're betting.

The bookies are out to profit by collecting the 'vig', i.e. the % fee for placing the bets ... without 'exposure' caused by an excess of money on one side or the other. Doesn't matter which side, they don't care. Its bad for them, they try to avoid it.

[mobeau69]

5. The juice.

[mr_lebowski]

6. Indeed ... that's another word for it ...

Vigorish (also known as juice, under-juice, the cut, the take, the margin, the house edge or simply the vig) is the fee charged by a bookmaker (or bookie) for accepting a gambler's wager.

[comradebillyboy]

3. How unfortunate for the Trump bettors. I will

sip my evening Scotch and bask in the warm glow of schadenfreude.

[CaptainTruth]

9. You are truly a considerate person.

[mobeau69]

4. Morons. LOL

[underpants]

7. Fantastic read.

Thanks. They couldn’t stop them from throwing their money at him.

They are absolutely right, Trumpees have been 110% certain of a landslide for a long time. They didn’t see the virus as having any effect at all. None. Pure and simple a landslide. Had to be.

[Irish_Dem]

8. A fool and his money are soon parted. nt