Learn how to legally bet on the Presidential Election and other Political events in the US.

  1. Betting Lines On Politics
  2. Where Can I Bet On Politics Online

Legally betting on politics is one of those intriguing niches within the gambling industry, and unbeknownst to many bettors, political wagers can end up yielding a nice hefty payout if you place your bets right.

As a larger range of people have become more politically aware and involved during the last two presidential elections, the bettor base has expanded exponentially. Based on this steady growth in legal politics betting, we decided to include this gambling platform as one of the topics covered in our guide.

The irony of betting on the elections and events associated with those politicians attempting to outlaw gambling is not lost on the American people. However, it is still prudent to make sure you understand the legalities surrounding political betting, and what legally sanctioned options should really be considered.

Many players just want a simple explanation as to whether or not it is legal to bet on politics in the United States. The short answer is yes, betting on political events online is legal in the US simply because there are no specific federal regulations that outlaw the act of offshore gambling. Not only can you bet on politics, but you can also get in on the action on some more random, unexpected things as well, such as snooker, darts, and even table tennis (yes, ping-pong)! Tips & Strategies for Politics Betting. Wagering with the best politics bookies can be great fun. However, you need to realize that political wagering and sports wagering are very different. When you place a bet on a sportsman or team, you base the decision on past games.

Legal Status For Betting On Politics In America

Many players just want a simple explanation as to whether or not it is legal to bet on politics in the United States. The short answer is yes, betting on political events online is legal in the US simply because there are no specific federal regulations that outlaw the act of offshore gambling.

The repeal of PASPA has made things even more simple and we are likely to see both domestic and offshore legal political betting gain momentum.

Bovada is our top recommended sportsbook for betting on politics. Their lines are always competitive and comparable to the Las Vegas sportsbooks. Because Bovada caters almost exclusively to USA players, they put a lot of thought and work into creating comprehensive betting lines and odds for those who enjoy betting on US politics. They also sometimes cover big elections in other countries.

In addition, Bovada is a full-service online sportsbook, poker site, and casino. They support Bitcoin and offer same day payouts for cryptocurrency funding, as well as a nice 50% match bonus up to $250 in their sportsbook.

Pros

  • Accepts USA players from most states
  • Full-service sportsbook and casino
  • Owned and operated by trusted Bodog brand
  • Most trusted site for US players
  • Fast payouts on time every time
  • 50% bonus up to $250 for sports
  • 100% bonus up to $3,000 for casino

Cons

  • Excluded States: NV, NJ, DE, MD

Other Top Rated Sportsbooks
That Offer Political Betting Odds

The following is a list of the most reputable offshore betting sites in the industry. They pay out winnings just as fast if not faster than the US-regulated options and many of them offer some great ongoing promotions and bonuses for loyal players. The brands listed below offer futures, props, and betting lines for US politics along with a full-service sportsbook. Our sportsbook reviews page is intended to inform you of each sites pros and cons while offering an overall grade and detailing additional features.

SiteReviewBonus OfferUSAVisit
Read Review50% Max $250Play now
Read Review50% Max $1,000Play now
Read Review50% Max $1,000Play now
Read Review50% Max $1,000Play now
Read Review15% Max $600Play now
Read Review100% Max $500Play now
Read Review100% Max $500Play now

Is It Legal To Bet On Political Events In The US?

Yes, there are legal options for betting on politics in the US. Though state-regulated sports betting has expanded quite a bit across the country, there are no domestic sportsbooks offering political betting odds or lines at this time.

Politics

There are no US federal gambling laws prohibiting political betting at reputable, legitimate online sportsbooks operating legally outside of the United States or at domestic sportsbooks. Only two states restrict online betting at international political betting sites, CT and WA (though these restrictions remain unenforced).

State Gambling Laws Affecting Political Betting

A handful of states have already embraced state-regulated sports betting, while others are in the process of doing so. State-regulated sportsbooks are not interested in covering US politics at this time, and we don't expect that to change before the 2024 Presidential election, the senate and house elections, or the 2024 gubernatorial races.

It is perfectly legal to place bets on US or foreign politics through the trusted sites listed in this guide. Our ballot measures by state guide is a resource where you can track gambling bills to see what changes are being voted on for gambling reform in your area.

There are two states that prohibit online wagering of any kind regardless of the source, those being Washington state and Connecticut. While there is no evidence of enforcement of those restrictions, the fact remains that the laws are in place. We do not condone or encourage illegal gambling in any circumstance.

2021 Political Prop Bet Odds

Even though the Presidential election sees a great deal of betting action every four years, political prop bets provide bettors a way to cash the odds of what a politician will or won’t do, and sportsbooks frequently post a variety of entertaining novelty prop bets during the lull in between election seasons. The following political prop bets can be found online at Bovada sportsbook.

Gambling On Who Will Win The United States 2024 Presidential Election Race

The next US Presidential election will take place on November 3, 2024. As of now, there are no clear Presidential Candidates but online sportsbooks have odds for potential candidates.

2024 Presidential Candidates

Odds available at Bovada

  • Kamala Harris +450
  • Joe Biden +600
  • Donald Trump Sr. +800
  • Nikki Haley +1200
  • Andrew Yang +1600
  • Mike Pence +1600
  • Michelle Obama +2000
  • Pete Buttigieg +2000
  • Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez +2500
  • Bernie Sanders +2500
  • Beto O'Rourke +2500
  • Elizabeth Warren +2500
  • John Kasich +2500
  • Mark Cuban +2500
  • Stacey Abrams +2500
  • Andrew Cuomo +3000
  • Tim Scott +3000
  • Ted Cruz +3300

Types of Political Wagering Lines and Odds Offered For the 2024 Presidential Election

As you might imagine, the big bet here boils down to the big office. Who will win the Presidency is always the biggest betting line. And you can often find more than just a winner-loser dichotomy; you can actually bet on:

  • Electoral vs. popular vote totals
  • Winning percentages (like point spreads)
  • Other variations in a single 1 vs. 1 election

You can also find betting lines on entire parties. For instance, the 2018 Midterm Elections had Republicans favored to take both houses of Congress. They kept the Senate but lost the House to the Democrats. The next midterms may be reversed or be a clean sweep for one of the two major parties.

From a local standpoint, gubernatorial and even council member races are always hot-button items on the betting circuit. You can find a range of different political events and elections on which to bet.

You can also find prop bets, which will include things like the gender of the winner, the party of the winner, a clean win vs. a run-off/recount, and even bets about legislation like health care or immigration. Prop bets also include events such as debates.

If it's part of politics, then there's undoubtedly a sportsbook out there with a betting line on it.

Betting Odds Explained - The Most Common Types Of Betting Lines Available:

Odds for winning the 2024 Presidential Primary – This type of betting line will allow you to bet on who will win the nominations in the primary for each party. If you are participating early in the process and are placing a futures bet, your range of options may include individuals who have not yet announced their candidacy but that are active in the political landscape and are considered potential candidates.

The closer you get to the actual election, the more accurate your list of options may be. However, keep in mind that the futures bets can pay off big if you guess correctly.

Odds for Winning the 2024 US Presidential Election – Obviously, this type of betting line will concern the overall winner of the election. You will typically have a variety of associated lines, including the following:

  • Odds for who will win the 2024 Presidential Election
  • Odds for which party will win the 2024 Presidential Election
  • Odds for which gender the winner of the 2024 Presidential Election will be
  • Odds for the gender balance on the 2024 Presidential Tickets – this line is sometimes broken down by party affiliation, but not always.

Odds On Who Will Be Selected As The Vice President

In August of 2020, Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris to be his running mate and the nation's Vice President should he win the election. Most oddsmakers had Harris as the favorite to earn the spot for the majority of Biden's campaign.

Can

Odds For Winning a Specific State – This type of betting line predicts the winner of influential swing states. For example, the Iowa Caucus odds start surfacing very early in the race. Other states are added closer to the actual election.

Winning the electoral votes in an influential state can make or break the election, hence these betting lines are particularly exciting and can determine the outcome of the election. The results of swing state Electoral College votes can be unpredictable, as we saw in 2012 when Obama took Florida despite the fact that Romney was the favored candidate to win the Sunshine State. We saw it again in a series of once-Democratic strongholds in the Midwest when Trump took states trending favorably for Hillary Clinton.

Odds For Winning the Popular Vote – Once the candidates have been selected, you will find more betting types added to the line up, such as betting on who will win the popular vote. Though it has no bearing on the overall election, political aficionados enjoy betting on who will win the popular vote.

There are times when the winner of the popular vote is not elected as President. The popular vote can be unpredictable, making it a very exciting wagering option. This type of option typically does not appear in the lines until about a month or two out from the actual election.

Electoral College Count - You will find that your range of wagering options for these lines increases after the candidates are selected and the election is approaching. This is when additional prop bets and specific options appear, such as over/under wagers for betting on the Electoral Vote count. In this type of political betting line you are predicting whether a candidate will receive more or less Electoral College votes than predicted.

Prop Bets - Some of the sportsbooks now offer some interesting prop bets for the upcoming election. You can wager on which candidates will win in hypothetical head-to-head matchups, what issues will be debated at a given townhall, and so on. Political props come and go on a near-weekly basis during the election cycle, so it's always good to pay attention to breaking news stories and how those might prompt new props or alter existing lines.

Why Betting on Politics Intrigues Us

One of the most amazing things about President Barack Obama's election in 2008 was that no one had really heard of the man in 2007. A junior Senator with an iffy record of no-votes and voting 'present' on big issues, even those getting to know him didn't think he had the political chops. However, democracy proved what democracy is, in that experience counts for next to nothing when you're a popular, charismatic figure.

The people spoke, the people voted, and President Obama served two terms in office. Who actually saw that coming? Very, very few saw it coming. But for those who did, they may have cleaned up in the betting lines by betting on Obama for the win. When Trump ran in 2016, his odds were even longer, and now its possible he may win re-election to a second term.

The beautiful irony here is that it's actually politicians who seek to make gambling illegal across the nation, yet one of the most lucrative lines of betting is to wager on their elections and futures. Some may consider that to be very fitting, given the duplicitous, snake-like nature of many of these political buffoons.

But we're not out to play politics. Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, socialist or anarchist, it matters not. It's all about the gambling here, and we'll take a closer look at political betting for all interested parties.

How to Hate Politics but Love Betting on It

Compartmentalization is a word you may often hear, but you may not really know what it means. Well, put it this way: You can absolutely loathe the political process, yet you may still find a way to make money by gambling on politicians. Don't worry; this isn't cognitive dissonance. This is simple math. Money spends better than hatred. Now, of course, there are plenty of reasons to despise politics.

People who aren't even as smart as you, yet they stand on a podium, lie to the masses, and earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in salary and benefits. Heck, when a politician retires, they earn a pension package that's probably higher than your salary, and they could have been a horrible politician. It's no wonder Congress has such low approval ratings. The average person despises politics.

But keep in mind that a government is something you're stuck with. Death and taxes, they say, and a savvy politician will even tax your death! How's that for control? There's just no shaking government; it's a monolith that's always with us. So, as the old adage suggests, one must laugh to keep from crying. Betting on politicians' fates can actually lighten you on the subject. You can learn to love gambling while still hating the political process.

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Our regular readers will remember a previous article of ours titled, “What Kinds of Entertainment Bets Can I Make“. You may remember from that article that we touch up on the topic of politics a little bit, but barely, just a mention really.

In this article, we’re going to go just a little deeper into everyone’s favorite, don’t-talk-about-it-at-the-bar topic, politics.

Keep in mind, we’re not political masterminds here, never claimed to be. We’re not here to tell you who you should vote for. That’s nobody’s business but your own.

We just want to point out that if you think you’re politically savvy, you can absolutely put your money where your mouth is and make some dough while doing it!

No matter if you love or hate the guy, you can make some money based on his future!

Where Can I Place Bets on Politics? A Top 3

You can make any of these your top sportsbook if you would like. There are reasons we support them and use them ourselves! We are also huge fans of joining more than one sportsbook to ensure that you are always getting the best lines and the best odds!

Just click on any of these names if you’d like to know more about each sportsbook and be taken to our honest reviews! Also, click on the big pictures to be taken directly to any of the mentioned sites!

Bovada

Not only US friendly, but very US politics friendly as well. As this is being typed, (September 29th 2019) there are four categories to choose from for your wagers, surely with more to come as we get closer to our elections! Keep reading and scrolling to learn more about these categories.

Not only can you bet on politics, but you can also get in on the action on some more random, unexpected things as well, such as snooker, darts, and even table tennis (yes, ping-pong)!

Usually, the standard welcome bonus over at Bovada is a match bonus of up to $250, however, for the time being that has actually been lifted to $1000 if you use one of the following codes when making your initial deposit!

  • BVNFL1000
  • BVNCAAF1000

Better get in on that before it’s too late and they’re not doing it anymore!

BetOnline

Another very US friendly sportsbook that accepts many different types of currency for deposits. Of all the choices, you’ve got

  • bitcoin
  • Litecoin
  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • Person-to-Person
  • Check
  • Money Order

and others!

You can also try them out without losing any money! Head on over there and check out their promotion for a Risk Free $25 Wager!

BookMaker

This one is perhaps the most fun, at least at the time of this writing. As of right now they have the most options as far as breaking down the wagers, as much as they can anyway and even throw in some international stuff in there for those that are interested in the things that go on over across the waters.

BookMaker also has some of the greatest promotions and rewards for those that choose to use bitcoin. If you would like to know more about some of the best bitcoin wallets to use when gambling, take a look right on over here!

And let’s move on to the stuff!

Types of Political Wagering

Let’s start with the most basic one, the one everyone would expect…

Is Trump going to win again come 2020?

This may be one of the easiest ones of the past. “Is my candidate going to win”, with almost a 50/50 chance. Those days are long gone, at least for this cycle.

Depending on who you watch for the news and for the commentary, you’ll see quite the differing viewpoints going on. You’ve got those that are convinced Trump is about to be impeached and he won’t even be in the next election. You’ve got those that are convinced that he will in fact win again in one of the biggest landslides ever, paving the way for Trump Jr. in 2024.

If you’re willing to go and take a gamble on that you’re more than welcome to go to any of the three sites mentioned above and put your money where your mouth is!

If you do in fact think that Trump will win again, as of this writing, BookMaker is giving the best odds on that although that may change at any time!

An Example of Betting on Politics

Take a look at the image above. Let’s just say, hypothetically, that I thought Trump is going to take it again in 2020. I would simply choose which bet I wanted to place and click it. Then you see the bet slip appear on the right hand side of the screen.

I would then place the amount I would like to wager, in this example $100. After that, just click the big red, “PLACE BETS” button. You can see that with the odds of +125, I would potentially win $125.

Absolutely hate Trump and a big fan of MSNBC? That’s okay, totally your decision. If you listen to them and what they like to rant about, you can flat out go and bet on whether or not ol’ man Trump is going to be impeached during his term over at Bovada.

Impeachment aside, BetOnline will give you 5% above market price for bitcoin deposits after which time the pessimist or optimist in you can wager on just flat out whether or not he’ll finish his first term!

Now Let’s Break it Down a Little More, (the Nominees)

You can bet on Trump without even thinking he’ll win the election, or even be in it!

You may believe that Trump just will not be running due to impeachment, health, dropping out, whatever. While there are no names to replace him at this time, you can still bet on whether or not his name will be on the ballot.

For example, right now at BetOnline, you can go and place your bets for the 2020 republican nominee as ‘Trump’(-500) or ‘Not Trump’(+350).

Moving Over to the Left Side

This is where things start to get a little more interesting since we just don’t know at this time who is going to be the big name on the ballot, but that doesn’t have to stop you from making your prediction!

Warren, Biden, Yang, Sanders… You’ve got all of ‘em on the betting slips and ready to go!

Once again you can go with the simple, “Will they win” (Bovada), to the “Will they even be on the ticket” (BetOnline).

Anyone but Warren is always a possibility!

Betting Lines On Politics

As I type this, Elizabeth Warren is looking like the democrat favorite among all three of these sites, although the odds are not as good as Trump being re-elected, just sayin’. However, if you look at the image above, you’ll see something. She’s still not the fave in the sense that you can literally bet on anyone but her, at least according to BetOnline!

Once again, after clicking on exactly which bet I would like to place, the Bet Slip appears on the right hand side where I would confirm my wager. In this case and with these odds I would have to wager $100 in order to win $83 and some change.

If you fancy yourself a political activist and you don’t like the way things are looking, now is the time to act, but that’s not why we’re here!

Republicans Versus Democrats

Take a look at these odds from BookMaker. This may be the year a 3rd party wins and someone’s gonna get PAID.

Let’s be honest here. Some of you have not cared enough to look at individual candidates yet. That’s okay, BookMaker still has you covered!

You can head on over there, claim their 15% cash bonus and just flat out bet on “Republican or Democrat” and leave it at that! While waiting until election time head over to their casino where you also got a 50% bonus when you made your deposit. (If you took it and accepted it, that is!)

Even if you don’t want to go with either of the two big parties, you can bet against them both. The odds are very, very heavily, stacked against you, but absolutely crazy things have happened in the world of betting before!

Foreign Affairs

Where Can I Bet On Politics Online

Most of you are going to be from the US. We know that a few of you aren’t. There may even be some that are from the US but are knowledgeable when it comes to the state of things when it comes to different countries.

Think you know all there is to know about the upcoming Canadian federal elections? Prove it!

You can go to BetOnline and wager on Andrew Scheer, Justin Trudeau, Jagmeet Singh, Elizabeth May, any of those Molson swilling beaver lovers!

Right now, the best odds are on Andrew Scheer. Looks like Mr. Trudeau has really porked himself as of lately, but I could be wrong. I don’t know much at all about Canadian politics, don’t take my word for squat on any of that.

Over at Bovada with their $4500 bitcoin bonus, you can bet on “Will Jair Bolsonaro Complete His First Term”. That’s something I know even less about, however, the odds look good that he will, so good for him for keeping away from the scandals that plague those of us over in the states!

Last, but not least, BookMaker will let you place some wagers on the next Jamaiican election with the People National Party up against the Jamaica Labour Party. BookMaker even has some seat handicapping on this for those that really know their stuff when it comes to the home of spicy jerk chicken and one Mr. Bob Marley.

Know anything about Jamaica that you didn’t see in a movie? I don’t! But if you do, you can go place bets in their elections!

Don’t Care Who Wins?

And there is that last group of people that don’t care who wins or don’t want to learn more about it. While this probably will not interest you, it’s still available.

You can head on over to Bovada and bet on which field the next recipient of the Presidential medal of freedom be attributed to, with the choices of

  • Sports/Athletics
  • Arts/Media
  • Education/History
  • Law/Humanitarian

And so on.

Is it possible for Trump to just give it to himself and then just start shoving people and saying, “O’Doyle rules”? That’s where I would put my money.

Conclusion… For Now…

Until more information comes out, and until more decisions are made among our friends up in Washington come out, that’s pretty much what’s available in the world of betting on politics.

Those that went to school and earned themselves a degree in political sciences can go and try to make a killing.

Just kidding. The way US politics are going, hell, it’s anyone’s guess, but if you think you know how it’s all going to go, this is your chance!

Just make sure that when you do go, you go to one of our true, legit, safe sportsbooks to do so! Unlike many sites that will just send you off to wherever, we actually use these sportsbook ourselves to do our own personal wagering. Click on this link right here to check out more reviews from the places we visit!

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