Can someone please explain

In thinking over the election and who might win, I hit on the idea of checking the betting odds as an indicator. I figured that those that are taking bets would set the odds fairly intelligently as they would not want to pay out a lot of dough. Unfortunately, I am not a betting person. Could someone be so kind as to explain the odds stated.

http://www.oddschecker.com/specials/politics-and-election/us-presidential-election/winner

It looks like Obama is the odds on favorite, unless I am backwards.

Thank You

Andy

First thing to know is that bookies don't bet. It is a profit oriented business and the goal is to get the same number betting each way and operate off the premium charged.

In the case of the election charts you liniked, take the last line of Obama 57/100. What that means is that if you bet 100 dollars, you will get back 57 (+ your original bet) Lose and you lose 100 Romney from the same source 8/5. Bet 50 you will get back 80. The various lines are different betting houses. The lines can change.

In this case, more people are betting on Obama by far than Romney. I don't know how old your chart is, but if those are today's odds, it would seem that the lines should move.

Thank you.

BTW I note that the site is from the UK. I don't know how much that relates to american voters or gamblers. I don't know if there are any american bookies taking election bets, I don't know of any. Nor do I know how many US bettors there are placing bets on offshore sites.