London bookmaker now has odds of presidential race:

This online betting site is called Ladbrokes, one of England's biggest betting houses.

The British love to place bets. They will bet on anything, provided you come up with some kind of odds. They even place bets on what type of weather it will be the next day.

They also are betting on who the next president of the US will be.

They now have the odds listed on their web site. You can actually bet online for your favorite, just like at the dog races. See the odds, based on the bookmaker at http://mybetting.co.uk

Kerry is favored to win. Odds: 5/4
Bush odds: 4/7.

They even have the states listed, so you can place bets on which candidate will win in the individual states. I'd say Europe is following this race with keen interest.

The bookmakers are known to be ruthlessly accurate, so I'll be sending some cardboard boxes to Bush for his upcoming move.

You can also bet on all kinds of sports. They have a category for 'American Sports'. Check it and see who they favor winning the Baseball games.

Ladbrokes has Bush favored to win. Kerry odds of 5/4 means you have to bet 4 dollars on Kerry to win 5. Bush odds at 4/7 means you could bet 7 dollars on Bush in order to win a meager 4.

I've posted the Ladbrokes odds here several times over the past 18 months. The current odds have basically been frozen since after he third debate. For reference purposes, all year it was generally pick'em 5/6 each way, or Bush a slight 5/7 favorite with Kerry even money.

Bush's greatest level of favoritism was before the first debate, 4/11 with Kerry at 2/1. Many of us at DU were ticked we did not grab that 2/1 at the time.

In money line terms, Bush is currently -1.75 and Kerry +1.25. That may be an easier way for people not familiar with gambling to look at this, than 4/7 and 5/4. At -1.75, you bet 175 to win 100 on Bush. At + 1.25, you bet 100 to win 125 on Kerry. Obviously those odds are maintained regardless of the amount. A $20 bet on Kerry would win $25, for example.

Interestingly, these odds are virtually identical to this point in 2000. Bush was 5/8 or -1.60 a week out. It went up to -1.70, then -2.00 on election eve.

heavily on a Bush win.

If you put 100 dollars on Bush to win (God forbid) it would only pay you 50$ if he did win (which will not happen of course).

In other words--Bush is their odds on favorite.

I was wrong, sorry.

If it follows the US convention, 5/4 means bet 4 to win 5. Bush would be the favo(u)rite.

odds to win.

I could be correct?

Bush is a pretty clear favorite on all the british gambling sites that offer betting on the presidential race. Don't ask me why. Perhaps it has something to do with British perception of how the election is going rather than the reality.

On the plus side, anyone wanting to make a few bucks is getting really good odds against Kerry right now. :)

whom they believe will win. The line is moved up or down depending on The publics opinion backed by $$$$. They keep the line balanced because they (bookmakers) win either way due to the Vig - or juice. What the line is telling you is how the gambling public is betting, only that, not the bookies pick.