Clinton and Obama prepare for the primaries, so are the punters

Clinton and Obama prepare for the primaries, so are the punters And the Democrats are gearing up for yet another round of voting, the Tuesday's Democratic primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. But along with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the punters are also looking forward at the primaries, wagering on the party primaries and the presidential elections has become a favorite spare time among the bettors. "I don't intend to lose," Sen. Barack Obama told ABC's Diane Sawyer on Monday, but right of the bat, we see Hillary Clinton as a big favorite to win the Indiana primary at the online sportsbook BodogSports, where she is listed with odds to win the primary at -400, while Barack Obama was downgraded to underdog odds +250 to win on Tuesday.

The likely cause of the shift in odds is the recent USA Today/Gallup poll, which shows that Barack Obama's image has indeed suffered from the controversy over his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. According to the poll, Hillary Clinton is now leading Obama 51% to 44% nationally among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters - a sharp contrast compared to the previous Gallup poll, before the latest Wright controversy, where Obama was leading on Clinton by almost 10%. The odds makers are confident, however, that the controversy would have ran it's course in a short while and still have Barack Obama as the favorite Democrat to be named the party's candidate for the 2008 Elections with odds 4/13, while Hillary Clinton is holding odds of only 5/2.

Barack Obama is also a small favorite to become the next US President at BodogSports, where he is sitting on 6/5 odds, but Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is breathing down his neck with odds 5/4. Clinton is still the underdog to win the Elections at 4/1. Quick look at how the British odds makers are perceiving the campaigns so far, at the UK bookie Bet 365 Obama is still atop with odds 5/4, followed by John McCain at 6/4 and Hillary Clinton at 7/2.

Published on 05/05/2008