South Carolina Primaries: John McCain and Barack Obama big favorites

The odds on winning the South Carolina party primaries are favoring Barack Obama and John McCain.

South Carolina Primaries: John McCain and Barack Obama big favorites The Presidential Elections are heating up with every state primaries are being held and today we will look at the South Carolina primaries odds on both the Democrat and the Republican presidential candidates. But first a little foreword on the South Carolina primaries. The South Carolina Republican primary will be held on Saturday, January 19th, while the Democrats will hold their South Carolina primary a week later, on January 26th. Initially 47 GOP delegates were up for grabs, but similar to Michigan and the Democrats, the Republicans punished the state of South Carolina for breaking party rules when it moved its primary before February 5th, and the national party stripped 23 delegates from the state, leaving only 24 delegates at stake on Saturday. Meanwhile, 45 Democratic delegates will be available for the Democratic presidential hopefuls the next week.

Starting with the odds on the Republican presidential candidates, the odds makers prediction correspond well with the most polls taken from South Carolina. John McCain is listed at the betting firm Bookmaker as the favorite to win the South Carolina Republican Primary with odds of -115, but McCain is closely followed by Mike Huckabee, who holds odds of +120 to be the South Carolina GOP primaries winner. According to the AP, John McCain is the leader in most polls, followed by Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani. But unlike the polls, Rudy Giuliani is listed by the bookmakers as the underdog of the South Carolina Primaries with the whopping odds to win at +4600, this means that the bookie will pay out 4,600 on every 100 bet, compared to Huckabee, who will pay out only 120 on a 100 bet if the winner on Saturday.

According to the odds makers, the Michigan primary winner Mitt Romney is almost tied with Fred Thompson. The odds on Romney to win the SC primary on Saturday are sitting at +475 and the odds on Thompson to make some kind of comeback and win the GOP primary are posted at +500. Ron Paul continues to beat Rudy Giuliani not only in the primaries but with the bookmakers, as well. The odds on Ron Paul to be the South Carolina Republican primary winner are +3400. Odds on who will be chosen the Republican presidential nominee still favor John McCain at +165, followed by Mike Huckabee with odds +190, Rudy Giuliani with odds +350 beats No.4 Mitt Romney, who is sitting at +400. Fred Thompson holds odds of +2500 and Ron Paul is the underdog with odds +3500.

As the South Carolina Democratic primary is more than a week away and the odds are sure to change in this time period, we will only briefly look at what's being offered on the Blues. At Bookmaker currently Barack Obama is the undisputed favorite with odds to win the South Carolina Democratic primary at -425. That gives him a huge lead over fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, who is now pay out on +355 odds, great news for the political bettors, considering she could easily win the Palmetto State primary. As a matter of fact, according to the Associated Press, most polls have Clinton and Obama tied for the top spot and some polls even show Hilary Clinton leading on Barack Obama in South Carolina. Clinton's odds of +355 mean that the bookmaker will pay out 355 on ever 100 bet, while the odds on Barack Obama mean that you have to bet 425 to win 100. John Edwards is distant third in odds, holding the money line of +1400 and Bill Richardson is the underdog with odds of +9000 to be the winner of the South Carolina Democratic primary more than a week from now.

The broader Dem picture, however, still favor Hillary Clinton as the winner of the Democrats presidential nomination. She is listed with odds -200 at Bookmaker, while Barack Obama comes second with odds +160. John Edwards holds odds to win the Dem nomination of +850, while Al Gore is still on the betting sheets with odds of +950. Bill Richardson pays +6000 and the field is at +4500.

Betting odds at Bookmaker to become the next U.S. President have the two top Democrats leading the pack, Hillary Clinton with odds +120 and Barack Obama at +330. Only after the two Dems come Republican presidential candidate John McCain with odds +340, Mike Huckabee with odds +600 and Rudy Giuliani posted at +900 with the bookie.

Published on 01/17/2008