Who yuh money deh pon? - Election betting spikes before Wednesday’s polls

Betting shops across the Corporate Area were filled with gamers yesterday, but a very meagre amount were observed placing a wager on tomorrow's general election.

However JusBet's Product Manager Christopher Sawyers said the election bets are spiking.

"Our odds are basically determined by the local polls posted by Don Anderson. Betting has been very good and we really can't complain this time around as the betting is doing really well. It is way better than the last election and we are expecting more sales between today (yesterday) and tomorrow (today) as we have betting up to midnight on Tuesday," Sawyers said.

"The odds are $1.50 for JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) to win and $1.60 for the PNP (People's National Party). Let's say someone places a $1,000 ticket on the PNP, then the payout would be $1,600. The $1,000 would be multiplied by the odds," he added.

While the average gamer will spend a couple hundred dollars on games like Cash Pot, and sports such as horseracing, Sawyers said political supporters are throwing hundreds of thousands on a single bet.

"What I can tell is that most of our betters are going to bet $100,000 on their political parties. The last election I think the JLP would have given them $2.80 [odds] so you have persons who bet $500,000. There was this one gentleman who won $2.8 million and that was only on one bet. For the JLP to win over 32 seats the odds is $1.45 and for the PNP to win under 32 seats the odds is $2.55," said Sawyers. In addition to choosing the party they think will win, Jamaicans, through Island Bet, can also wager on how many seats each party will win. Additionally, bets can be placed on 30 constituencies that the betting company has singled out as battleground or swing seats.

But some Jamaicans who spoke with THE STAR had no interest in participating in the election betting.

"Mi already a pay tax which means mi a spend on politician, so dem nah trick mi. Mi nah spend a cent on any of them. Mi will gwan buy Cash Pot. Mi nuh trust dem people ya because next ting mi put a big money and some foolishness gwan and mi no get mine. Cash Pot put on my pot so a it mi a stick wid," said one man. Others said they would not be betting on the election because the payout would not be worth it.

"Mi wah the green people dem fi step down but mi nah gamble on dem at all. A monkey money dem a pay. Mi can buy Cash Pot with a bills ($100) and if it mega, mi win a nice little change can cook some food and have change. But a bills can't buy a ting if mi win di election bet. Mi nuh deh pon dem ting deh ya man," a woman said.

THE STAR came across a PNP supporter who said he is confident that the JLP will be on the losing side when the results come in tomorrow evening. He, however, stated that the payout for each bet is extremely small, and, as a result, he has to supplement his bets.

"Mi wah vote out the other side man, but the only thing is that the pay out likkle bit bad. Mi have to be betting on some football game to win a big money," he said.