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USA Presidential Election Betting was Live in West Virginia: But Only for a Few Minutes
By Jeff Osienya Apr 08, 2020 LegalityThe West Virginia Lottery had approved placing wagers on the looming Trump v Biden race to the White House. The excitement was unfortunately short-lived after the regulator backtracked on the decision.From the look of things, West Virginia sportsbooks are poised to start taking wagers on the United States 2020 presidential election. This is a keystone moment in the history of betting in the USA, as it would be the first time that residents would be allowed to cash in on their political predictions.
Yesterday, the Mountain State’s gaming regulator, the West Virginia Lottery had okayed betting on politics at licensed sportsbooks. But then, in a startling move, officials pulled back shortly afterwards, saying that they needed more time for thorough research on the matter and work through the implications of the decision.
FanDuel on the Front Line of Betting on USA Elections
The events on Tuesday were rollercoaster for plenty of fans who had been waiting all along for this moment. The FanDuel sportsbook in West Virginia seemed to have set up shop beforehand as their elections betting menu was already up and running complete with odds after the initial approval. The options which were available for betting on the US 2020 Elections at FanDuel.com were;
- Winner of 2020 Election (Florida Man -110, Biden +125)
- Democratic Nomination (Biden -714, Cuomo +1400, Sanders +1600)
- Democratic Vice Presidential Nomination (Harris +188, Klobuchar +400)
- Presidential Election 2020 – Winning Party (Republican -125, Democrat -110)
- State by State Winning Party
There were several other markets with different odds from party nominations all the way to the ultimate winner of the presidential seat.
But then a little over half an hour later, FanDuel pumped breaks on the new offering, stopped taking bets and took down the election market. Consequently, players who had already put their money on the markets were refunded.
In a statement released right around the inexplicable turn of events, FanDuel indicated that the markets had been approved by the state’s gaming regulator but were asked not to offer them until further notice.
Did FanDuel Jump the Gun?
From a later statement released by the WV Lottery, it appeared that FanDuel was too excited to become the first sportsbook to offer betting on the US presidential elections that they did not wait for final official approval.
Randy Burnside, a representative from the WV Lottery, indicated that indeed the regulator received a request about betting on the presidential election, but it was still under review. From Randy’s statement, it seemed that the official green light hadn’t been given yet. It’s no wonder why the sportsbook pulled the odds that quickly. But is it?
But then again on Tuesday night, the West Virginia Lottery revised their statement confirming that indeed, they had okayed the markets, but all they need is more time to take a closer look at the matter.
“The markets were initially approved, however, the West Virginia Lottery has asked FanDuel to refrain from offering the markets until we have time to fully work through the implications and research it further.”
While this is a developing story, there are a lot of mixed opinions on the matter. Some legal experts, for instance, insist that it has always been illegal to bet on US presidential elections across all states. Bookmarkers in states like Nevada have expressed interest on this subject before, but their efforts were shot down in the legislature. However, in other regions such as the United Kingdom, regulated betting on elections has been legal for decades.
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