Betting directly on politics hasn’t been legalized anywhere in the U.S., and that includes outcomes from the Sept. 10 debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
The debate is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and will last 90 minutes. Philadelphia and ABC host the event.
On betting platforms in countries where betting on politics is allowed, Trump had been the slight odds favorite to win the November election against President Joe Biden. Odds changed dramatically following their first debate this election cycle. Trump surged to better than a 2/1 favorite following Biden’s poor debate.
Biden dropped out of the race in July.
Harris eventually became the Democratic Party’s candidate, with the first Trump-Harris debate scheduled for Sept. 10.
Harris surged to a significant betting favorite to win the election following the party nomination, but odds have narrowed to roughly 50-50 in recent weeks as her polling momentum has apparently slowed.
CNN hosted the first presidential debate this year between the incumbent president and former president. Some offshore gambling platforms had odds on who would “win” the debate.
Harris Favored Over Trump
At Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction trading platform, Harris was a 75% favorite to win the Sept. 10 debate, compared to 25% for Trump (as of Monday, Sept. 9).
Polymarket can’t accept American bettors.
Rules for the bet: “This market will resolve to ‘Kamala’ if Ipsos/538’s opinion poll indicates Kamala Harris won the ABC-hosted debate against Donald Trump scheduled for Sept. 10, 2024. This market will resolve to ‘Trump’ if Ipsos/538 opinion poll indicates Donald Trump won. If the results are tied, this market will resolve 50-50.”
Trump will be looking for back-to-back debate wins.
An Ipsos poll found that 60% of voters thought Trump won the first debate of 2024, with just 21% thinking Biden won it.
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
