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Trump still has a 10% chance of remaining in the White House for
a second term, according to Betfair, an online betting exchange
that matches opposing wagers by punters. That is up from 3% late
last week.
Democrat Biden is currently projected to win 279 electoral
college votes, more than the 270 he needs to become president.
He is ahead of his Republican rival Trump in the voting count in
states that would bring his electoral vote total to 306,
according to Edison Research.
All major U.S news organizations have called the Nov. 3 election
for Biden based on preliminary voting tallies.
Major bookmakers, such as Paddy Power, Ladbrokes and William
Hill, have paid out bets on the basis that Biden won, but many
online exchanges such as Betfair have not settled bets and
remain open for election wagers.
The discrepancy shows how some punters are backing Trump's
long-shot bid to overturn the election outcome in the courts,
based on unproven claims of extensive voting fraud and
irregularities.
"I'm a loyal Trump supporter and I put my money where my mouth
is," said Chris French, a 53-year-old mortgage broker from West
Sussex in Britain. After losing a 50 pounds ($66) bet on Trump
with a bookie that settled bids once TV networks called the
presidency for Biden, French placed a new 10 pounds bet on Trump
this week with an online exchange that still accepted wagers.
"Trump was so far ahead on the election day. I believe things
will turn once fraud is uncovered," French added.
Despite a flurry of lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign in the
last few days, legal experts say the litigation has scant chance
of changing the outcome.
A Trump campaign spokesman said: "With every action we take, we
are moving closer to the goal of re-electing President Trump.
More than 70.5 million Americans voted for the President and he
owes it to them – and everyone who voted for Joe Biden as well –
to ensure that the election was fair and secure."
The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Nearly 80% of Americans, including more than half of
Republicans, recognize Biden as the winner of the presidential
election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll published this week.
Prominent Republican lawmakers and other Trump allies have
defended Trump's refusal to concede, arguing he has the legal
right to contest the results.
Betting exchanges such as Betfair and Predictit that are still
taking bets on the election said they needed more certainty to
call the outcome, and declined to specify when they would follow
the lead of the bookies. A Predictit spokeswoman said the
company was "seeking clarity in light of ongoing vote counts,
potential recounts and any legal challenges."
Not all betting exchanges remain open to election bets. Smarkets
settled bets on Saturday after U.S. TV networks called the
election for Biden. "It appeared clear that Biden's leads in the
key swing states was unassailable," a spokesman for the firm
said.
Those who are still bullish on Trump's odds remain defiant. "I
think the betting odds show that there are some smart people
that are realizing this is not over," said Nathan Lands, a
Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Trump supporter.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in London and Krystal Hu in New
York; Editing by Greg Roumeliotis and Rosalba O'Brien)
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