Clinton’s odds down in desi satta bazaar, bets pick up as US election draws near

Mumbai: Betting over the US Presidential elections is heating up in the domestic Satta or the illegal betting market. With polls in the US predicting a narrowing of gap between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the trends in Satta Bazar of Mumbai and Delhi witnessed a reversal of fortunes on Tuesday. Bookies, who were willing to pay Rs 5 over every Rs 1 bet on Trump till last week, slashed their premiums to Rs 2.5 on Tuesday.

A fall in premium indicates that odds of Trump winning have increased. Though, Clinton still remained the favourite among punters, her odds fell from 20 paise to 40 paise on every rupee. “The swing in trends is mainly due to news of further probe in email scandal of Clinton and her subsequent narrowing of lead in major media polls," said a Mumbai based bookie.“Otherwise, everybody in the betting market had an impression that it would be a one-sided election. But now it seems premium on Trump would further fall in the coming days.“

Polls in the US tightened as race to become the 45th President of the country entered its last week. On Tuesday ,a Washington Post -ABC News Tracking Poll showed that voter preference for Trump stood at 46% and Clinton at 45%. This was the first time a major news media poll had shown Trump leading by 1% in overall voter preference. Otherwise, Trump was seen trailing by a margin of 5-10% in most major polls.

Bookies said a bets of more than Rs 500 crore have been laid on the outcome of the US Presidential elections in Mumbai and Delhi so far.Bookies say they draw their US election odds from international betting sites like Betfair.com and PaddyPower.com. A review of these sites showed that $1 bet on Trump would fetch $2.65 while the same on Clinton would fetch 38 cents.