Some Canadians who watch the American election battles have a little skin in the game — and not because they have friends and family south of the border.
According to a press release Wednesday from the BC Lottery Corp., Canucks gambling at  are betting on favourites Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
In the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Biden went from 10/1 odds two short weeks ago to emerge as the overwhelming favourite at 2/17 odds, according to BCLC. Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, plummeted from 5/6 to 6/1 odds.Â
Only a handful of B.C. bettors seem to be backing Biden, who has garnered 11.5% of the Democratic nominee bets, compared to the 34% of bets placed on Sanders.
As for how the odds stand for the U.S. election in November, President Donald Trump remains the favourite to win a second term (2/3 odds), ahead of both Biden (3/2) and Sanders (13/1). Currently, 46.5% of bets are on Trump to be re-elected, says the BCLC release.
The lottery corporation says U.S. politics is one of the most popular novelty bets on its website, focusing on current events and water-cooler topics that capture the interest of non-sports bettors. In 2019,  players wagered on several Trump-related bets, including if the president would be impeached (he was).
BCLC introduced novelty betting on the U.S. election in 2014, and B.C. was the first Canadian jurisdiction to offer betting on American politics.
