Certain qualified US residents can choose to bet on the Iowa Electronic Market or the site PredictIt, which are legally allowed to operate for research and teaching purposes. Under most circumstances, Americans are not legally able to wager money on US election results. By comparison, $257 million ( £199 million) was placed on the 2016 race. Betfair Exchange, the country’s largest betting site, has taken in around $634 million (£490 million) worth of wagers thus far, according to Pete Watt, public relations manager of the odds comparison site Oddschecker. One British participant has put down about $1 million on a victory for Joe Biden.
In fact, the 2020 presidential election is drawing a record amount, primarily from the United Kingdom.
There’s a thriving market for gamblers in Europe and Asia, and the still-too-close-to-call nature of this year’s race means that bookies are still able to take bets. I wouldn’t wish this anxiety on anyone who doesn’t have a personal stake in US electoral politics, but thousands of non-Americans have eagerly placed bets on the presidential race. We’re trapped in an uncertain limbo, refreshing electoral maps and wondering why vote counting is taking so long. The slow tally of election results has been excruciating for many Americans.
