Online Bookies Watching Election Closely

UNITED STATES – As reported by the CNBC News: "With just two weeks to go until the presidential election and most polls putting the two candidates neck and neck, you might be better off talking with a bookie if you want to know whether Sen. John Kerry or President Bush will win the Oval Office this November.

"A number of online betting sites are offering punters around the world the opportunity to bet on the outcome of this November's extremely tight presidential election race, as well as the outcomes of hotly contested Senate races in states like Colorado and South Dakota.

"The business of online betting barely existed four years ago, but in recent years has blossomed into a multi-million dollar industry. And with millions of dollars being wagered on the U.S. elections this year, experts say the odds these sites offer are proving to be far more accurate real-time predictors of election outcomes than political pundits or over-quoted public opinion polls.

"…The thinking among economists is voters don't have any incentive to tell pollsters the truth about their voting plans, but when they are betting their own money they will tend to make informed choices based on the best information available to them, Vaughan Williams said

"…Still, some analysts doubt that betting odds can always accurately predict an election's outcome. Bill Thompson, a professor of public administration at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas and a gambling scholar, said online betting can sometimes skew toward the investing class, which likely vote Republican, or voters who don't bet or use the Internet, and gamblers usually bet with their hearts and not their heads…"