In recent years, bookmakers have entered the political realm, offering the betting public odds for the potential winners of major elections — or the chances that high-profile celebrities would run for office.
In September, Costa Rica-based MyBookie.com took bets on who was behind the anonymous New York Times editorial which claimed things were seriously amiss in the Trump administration.
Now comes the situation of CNN reporter Jim Acosta, who lost his White house credentials on Wednesday after seriously sparring with President Trump and allegedly touching a White House intern. That too is enough to inspire a wagering opportunity.
“Will Jim Acosta get his White House press pass back before 2019?” asks Bovada.lv, an online betting concern which covers sports, horse racing, poker and other casino games.
And the Bovada.lv odds for Mr. Acosta:
Yes, he’ll get his credentials back: +150 (3/2).
No, the press pass will not be returned: -200 (1/2).
“As of now, the money is being heavily on ’Yes’ for Acosta to have his credentials re-instated,” Bovada.lv head oddsmaker Pat Morrow told The Washington Times in statement.
“On the backs of the U.S. mid-terms and all the wagering that took place in an unconventional sphere — politics — we tried to take advantage of the increased focus on it with our players. Trump’s press conference, which was uneventful to start (by Trump standards), quickly became aggressive when it got to the Q and A portion, and in particular with his interaction with Jim Acosta,” Mr. Morrow said.
“As we went back to monitoring the to-be-determined Senate races in Arizona and Florida, we were surprised later to see that this had developed into more of a story than the usual ’Trump vs The Press’, culminating with Acosta’s credentials being revoked. We had just finished posting odds for the new Attorney General and it made sense for us to try and get our players engaged in the Acosta story as well,” he continued.
Politics can be a popular theme.
“While wagers like these usually don’t garner the same kind of heavy wagering as traditional sports betting, the U.S. mid-terms and all the individual races it encompassed, stood side by side with the NBA, NHL and college football that evening. The early betting handle on the Acosta line, and the new Attorney General is a bit lighter as, admittedly, there’s much more uncertainty in these kind of betting markets,” Mr. Morrow said.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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