Here’s where Vegas odds put Democratic candidates ahead of the New Hampshire primary
Bookmakers taking bets on who will win the Democratic primary in New Hampshire Tuesday all agree that the senator from neighboring Vermont, Bernie Sanders, is the favorite in the race.
But a review of the betting lines from several gambling sites shows varying odds for Sanders — and puts Pete Buttigieg in a close second to win the first primary of the season.
Betting lines put Sanders as the safe bet in Iowa, too, but after technical problems and a caucus count that took days to release, Buttigieg came out with a slight delegate lead over Sanders, The Des Moines Register reports.
The most recent polls as of Monday give Sanders the lead in New Hampshire with 26% of the vote and Buttigieg in second with about 20%, according to FiveThirtyEight. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts polled third in the state, with 12.8%, the election-tracking site said.
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s numbers have dropped precipitously in New Hampshire from putting him in the lead with more than 20% of the vote in mid-January to now polling at 12.3%, according to an aggregate of polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight.
Bookies in Vegas have been watching these poll numbers and their betting lines have changed with the political fortunes of the candidates.
Who should I bet on to win the New Hampshire primary?
Popular betting site Bovada gives Sanders the best odds, giving him -500 on its line. The lower the number, the more the candidate (or football or basketball team) is favored to win. Bovada gives Buttigieg +300. The site puts Warren, Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota all at +5,000.
That means a $100 bet on Biden, Warren or Klobuchar would pay out $5,000.
The site BettingPros puts Sanders at -286 and Buttigieg at +200, a much closer spread. The site puts Warren at +2,500 and Biden at +3,000.
A third site, Jazz Sports, has also Sanders as the favorite at -325 and puts Buttigieg at +225. Jazz Sports likes Biden a little more though, giving the former VP +2,000 over Warren’s +2,500.
Overall, Sanders appears to be the favorite for winning the Democratic nomination to take on President Donald Trump in the 2020 general election, according to Real Clear Politics, with Mike Bloomberg in a distant second and Buttigieg ranking third in the odds.
A RealClearPolitics aggregate of polling on a general election match-up between Sanders and Trump shows the Vermont senator ahead by 3.7 percentage points. But Bovada gives President Trump a better chance to win re-election come November.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Here’s where Vegas odds put Democratic candidates ahead of the New Hampshire primary."
