Today is the day. Everyone remember to go out vote, so I don't lose my 9:4 wager on turnout topping 70%! The tip for this came from what has been one of my favourite columns in the weeks leading up to the election,
Mike Smithson's election bet of the day. Mike is the founder and editor of
politicalbetting.com, which saw a record breaking 433,000 visitors to its site yesterday alone. Almost every day for the past four weeks, Mike has posted his top tip for best value electoral betting and it's worth taking a second to summarise the most recent bets that are still in play:
7 April: The Greens will secure their first MP (1-1)
21 April: The next Home Secretary is Eric Pickles (8-1) or Nick Clegg (8-1)
23 April: Turnout tops 70% (9-4)
24 April: LibDems receive more of the total vote share than Labour (6-4)
25 April: LibDems win Newcastle North (1-1) or Newcastle East (2-1)
28 April: Labour win the most seats (9-2)
30 April: LibDems win more than 100 seats (6-4)
3 May: Alistair Darling as next permanent leader of the Labour Party (16-1)
4 May: LibDems win in Streatham (6-4) and Conservative win in Sunderland Central (11-4)
5 May: A hung parliament (1-1)
The question over whether political odds are predictive is an interesting one, with many in the betting industry maintaining that punters outperform polls. Seeing how a top tipster fairs against the odds is an interesting test of that claim. I'll check in next week to comment on how he's faired.
The polls may close at 10:00, but
Paddy Power were already paying out bets on David Cameron becoming the next PM and the Tories winning the most seats before a single vote was cast.
Lest you think your vote doesn't count, some other interesting available bets have include: Will Vince Cable be the next Chancellor? Which Cabinet Minister will be first to lose their seat? (Ben Bradshaw is currently ahead of Ed Balls and Jack Straw by a substantial margin). Which party will rack up the most tweets today? Which party will come in fourth in total votes? (Currently the BNP are challenging UKIP for the title). Which pollster will predict most accurately?
And, most importantly, what will Gordon Brown's next job be? Suggestions please.