Political Betting – Everything you Need to Know in One Place

Welcome to politicalbetting.co.uk – our resource to help you take advantage of the meteoric rise of UK political betting.

Like with financial markets, success with political betting markets depends on efficiently processing the vast sums of information that are available across media and the internet round the clock. This information – and the conclusions that can be drawn from it – will all be distilled and condensed here, to provide the most comprehensive resource for winning politics bets in the UK and beyond.

Analysing the Political Landscape

The political landscape across the UK, Europe and the US changes everyday. Constant news coverage and social media ensure that developments occur constantly that affect political change and events in the future. With the explosion of online bookmakers, the political betting market has really caught up. Betting options now genuinely reflect the speed at which politics moves, with betting options on everything from election outcomes, to who which leaders will lose their position next.

In the UK, politics is the fastest growing sector for many a bookie. The rapid rise of online political betting has seen the market’s forecasts become equally, if not more respected, than the historically revered opinion polls.

So, utilising our expert knowledge and techniques, we’ll have you covered for the key political events of the year – the US primaries and Presidential Election, UK Mayor Election and Referendum on EU Membership – along with the hundreds of other betting opportunities that are sure to present themselves.

What we’ll do differently

A passionate group of politics geeks, our team has years of experience and knowledge in the political betting arena. We want to apply our expertise into becoming the leading portal for political betting, sharing our key insights into political markets. Research and constant monitoring of developments is key to success. The hard work truly pays off and we want to pass on the fruits of our round the clock efforts to our customers and share the success.

We’ll provide a comprehensive analysis of the world of political betting, including:

Tips

The basics of political betting are the same as with most other markets; confirmation bias and over-reliance on punditry should be avoided, while discipline is key. Politics bets are unique in that history, current affairs, popularity ratings and many other factors are always relevant.

No market sees the swings that politics betting experiences. Timing is key to getting the biggest payouts. Our up-to-date analysis will ensure that you can strike at exactly the right time.

Operators and the Best Odds

Such a swift increase in popularity has ensured that political betting is one of the most competitive markets around, with most respected political betting sites offering an ever increasing number of markets, options and competitive betting odds. Ladbrokes and William Hill lead the charge, with both bookmakers experiencing a turnover of over £3m for 2015’s Scottish referendum.

We’ll provide a run down of these and other operators vital to political betting success. With an ever increasing number of players, offering more and more betting options, choosing the right provider is key.

Some operators, such as Ladbrokes, generate their political betting odds without the use of modelling or statistical software. But this type of forecasting can be especially relevant for politics bets, since freak occurrences or one-offs are far less common than in other arenas. Odds across bookies can differ, what is well reflected in the various odds checker, and our analysis will make sure you find the most competitive odds.

Upcoming Events

2016 is to be an explosive year for UK and US politics. Political bets in the UK will likely be focused upon the impending referendum on Britain’s EU Membership, which most analysts think will take place this year. The polls have barely budged since the announcement, though the market currently favours the UK to stay in Europe, with odds at many operator’s 2/5 to stay and 7/4 to leave.

Already this year we’ve seen turbulence in UK politics. UK political betting markets got off to an early start as controversial Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, hastily reshuffled the Labour front bench, resulting in the protest resignations of three Shadow Ministers and the appointment of six new ones. Jeremy Corbyn’s very position is seen to be at threat by some; this market will be moving rapidly throughout the year as Corbyn negotiates what has already been a tricky term as Labour leader. Labour MP Sadiq Khan is also sure to attract lots of attention later in the year as the current favourite to win May’s London Mayoral Election.

Politics betting in the US is set to see its biggest year ever, with the 58th US Presidential Election planned for November and the preceding series of primaries throughout February to June. From the primary race to see who’ll be the Republican nominee, to who will become the next President, the 2016 US Election is set to be the biggest event in political betting history.

The Past & Future of Political Betting

Political betting has been around almost as long as politics itself. Throughout the 20th Century, the market began to take off in a big way. UK politics betting saw figures equating £4m in today’s money bet on the 1923 election. This trend grew and grew and in 1963, Ladbrokes began to take bets from the general public on political betting markets.

The betting markets are now viewed by many as a more valuable resource for political predictions, and rightly so. Take last year’s UK General Election. The pollsters got it famously wrong, with most predicting a neck-and-neck battle between the Labour and Conservative Parties. The outcome was a sweeping majority win for the Tories and egg left on the face of many a respected pollster.

Though not entirely accurate in predicting the outcome, the betting market was, on the other hand, a lot closer. But so it should be. While pollsters take a snapshot of public sentiment through opinion polls, betting markets attempt to accurately forecast outcomes utilising statistical information, projection modelling and a constant monitoring of the events that affect political outcomes.

In the UK, the former Liberal Democrat politician, Mike Smithson, has really brought political betting to the fore – though the creation of the internet and the online bookies that came with it, has propelled UK political betting to what we see today. The quick pace of politics is matched by those betting upon it; over 90% of politics punters use mobile and online technology, rather than visiting the local bookie.

Following on from the success of trading platforms like Intrade, in recent years the market really has shown no signs of stopping, with each major political event breaking the previous year’s betting record. This trend is sure to continue.