Isn’t there a website where you can really place bets on candidates? With real money?
Yes, there are several. Basically British and Irish bookies make bets available on elections, including US elections.
Here are the odds from Paddy Power, an Irish on-line bookie.
(BTW: It is against US law to bet on-line - so the site will not allow Americans to register. (thank you corrupt US legislators, Harry Reid, Sheldon Adelson & company))
Here they are, in order, from most likely to least. (Da Governator is not eligible to be POTUS, but then many feel neither was Obama, so maybe 80 to 1 is not so bad?)
| Jeb Bush | 9/4 |
| Marco Rubio | 7/2 |
| Scott Walker | 9/2 |
| Rand Paul | 8/1 |
| Ben Carson | 12/1 |
| Ted Cruz | 14/1 |
| Paul Ryan | 14/1 |
| Chris Christie | 20/1 |
| Rob Portman | 25/1 |
| Bobby Jindal | 25/1 |
| Rick Perry | 25/1 |
| Mike Huckabee | 25/1 |
| Condoleezza Rice | 33/1 |
| Jon Huntsman | 33/1 |
| Carly Fiorina | 33/1 |
| Rick Santorum | 33/1 |
| John Kasich | 40/1 |
| Eric Cantor | 40/1 |
| Ron Paul | 50/1 |
| John McCain | 66/1 |
| Donald Trump | 66/1 |
| David Petraeus | 66/1 |
| Newt Gingrich | 80/1 |
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | 80/1 |
Here are the odds for which party wins the election:
| Democrat | 4/6 |
| Republican | 6/5 |
| Independent | 50/1 |
And finally, for the many Ted Cruz fans on this thread, here are the odds for Ted and Hillary to win the election (excerpt from a much longer list)
| Hillary Clinton | evens |
| Ted Cruz | 33/1 |
British Odds Explained
For those not familiar with British style betting, they can be understood by reading them as: "a bet of (the second number) will win you (the first number)". So 9/4 means: "a bet of 4 dollars will win you 9". In British betting the original wager is also returned to you, so in fact your 4 dollar bet would result in 13 dollars being handed back out to you from the teller if you won.
A $100 bet is calculated by dividing by the second number and multiplying the result by the first. 100/4=25 25X9=225, which is your winnings, and your $100 is also returned to you, for a total of $325.
The term "even" odds in British betting means 1/1, or a total of $2 returned on a $1 bet.
The British odds 9/4 are expressed as 3.25 in European odds and +225 in American odds.
American sports betting odds, termed the "moneyline", are based on a "normal" bet being double your money, or even odds. (It's also how friends typically bet on things. If I bet you $100 I get $100 from you if I win, and give you $100 if I lose.) The house holds the bet when you bet at a bookie, so your $100 bet returns $200 normally. US odds adjust this up or down.
So +225 can be read as "a $100 bet will win you $100, plus $225", or $325 total. A little confusing at first, but easy to understand if you bet in multiples of 100.
There are also negative odds in the us system, which mean something different. It is the amount you have to bet to win $100. So -500 means you would have to bet $500 to win $100, and get $600 returned to you.
In football betting you can either bet the points spread (which is always a straight 1/1 bet) or the moneyline. Obviously friends usually prefer point spread betting, moneyline is for bookies.
The European odds are simply the multiple of your money that is returned to you. In our example of a $100 dollar bet: $100 X 3.25 = $325, the amount returned to you.