FanDuel Briefly Offers Odds On Presidency In West VirginiaPresident Donald Trump Opened As Betting Favorite, But Lines Were Taken Down Just 15 Minutes Later |
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FanDuel’s online sportsbook in West Virginia briefly posted betting odds for the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election Tuesday night before quickly taking them down from the site.
According to The Action Network, those bets were only available for about 15 minutes before the entire Politics tab was removed from the book. While gamblers can’t bet on the upcoming election just yet, it seems as if West Virginia is ready to become the first state to allow its citizens to gamble on the political process.
“While the markets were approved, the West Virginia Lottery has asked FanDuel to refrain from offering the markets until they have time to fully work through the implications of this new market offering,” said FanDuel in a statement to The Action Network.
During that brief period where odds were posted and bets were being taken, President Donald Trump opened as the betting favorite with -110 odds on the moneyline, meaning a $110 bet would profit $100.
Former Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, went out as a +125 underdog, meaning a $100 bet would profit $125. Bernie Sanders, who suspended his campaign Wednesday morning, was +3,500.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is not currently running a campaign, was on the board with better odds than Sanders at +2,200.
Other Republicans on the board included Vice President Mike Pence at +3,500 and former South Carolina Governor and current diplomat Nikki Haley at +5,000.
A spokesperson for the West Virginia Lottery had a slightly different understanding of the mishap, indicating that the political betting markets were not yet approved by the regulators.
“It is my understanding that we were asked by the sportsbooks to allow betting on the presidential election and it is being reviewed,” the spokesperson told another media outlet. “I think possibly someone jumped before given an approval.”
FanDuel also offered bets on the eventual 2020 Democratic nominee, the 2020 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee and the winning party of the 2020 Presidential Election. At least one bet was made before the odds were deleted. FanDuel has refunded any wagers that were placed.
Betting on the U.S. Presidential Election has been legal for quite some time in Europe, but never in the U.S. Vegas oddsmaker John Murray told The Action Network last month that if sportsbooks were allowed to accept wagers on political races, “The handle would be astronomical.”
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