Judge clears way for bets on US elections

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

09/12/24 4:45 PM ET


A federal judge has cleared the way for people to bet on U.S. election results for the first time.

A judge in Washington struck down a decision from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that prohibited gambling companies and users from betting on the outcome of Congressional races. Last Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb ruled in favor of the New York-based company Kalshi.

A hearing was held Thursday for Cobb to outline the court’s reasoning. As of Thursday afternoon, Kalshi can offer prediction contrasts, or yes-or-no bets, on which party will control the House and the Senate after November’s election, at least for now, The Associated Press reported. CFTC immediately appealed the decision Thursday.

“Today marks the first trade on regulated election markets in nearly a century,” Kalshi founder Tarek Mansour posted on the social platform X. “This one is for you, the prediction markets community.” It’s not yet known if the company will offer more political betting, including for the presidential race.

Read more: https://thehill.com/business/4877201-judge-clears-way-for-bets-us-elections/

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REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143305272

[Clouds Passing]

1. That is messed up!

[rsdsharp]

7. I agree. That said, she's a Biden nominee. I hope the DC Circuit reverses.

[rzemanfl]

2. Oh, FFS there isn't enough on the line? n/t

[BeyondGeography]

3. What could possibly go wrong?

[Beartracks]

10. We already have enough trouble with entities having a financial interest in our elections.

[sinkingfeeling]

4. Ridiculous for the state to encourage wasting money.

[CrispyQ]

5. This sickens me.

Our entire electoral process has been monetized. It's an industry in itself. It's disgusting & full of corruption. There are the outright frauds like Donald Trump & there are the stealth frauds like Kristen Sinema but both are motivated by easy access to money more than representing the people who elected them.

[malthaussen]

6. In case anyone was still wondering if elections are sporting events.

This is America, friends.

-- Mal

[Wah_Guy]

8. No good can come of this. NT

[FakeNoose]

17. I agree with you, and I hope this gets shot down quickly

Take it to Appellate Court, or whatever. Too many Americans will fail to understand what a scam this is (or what it could become), and they're going to get taken by weasels. This is a door that should never be opened.

[Metaphorical]

9. This is likely to have a huge impact on polling

Prediction markets are not perfect (they tend to skew towards the more wealthy that have disposable income to bet), but factoring that into account, it is far more likely to provide an immediate sentiment gauge than many of the polls out there.

[iluvtennis]

11. OMG...this is so DISTURBING. n/t

[Harker]

12. Every time a republican wins we all lose. n/t

[SupportSanity]

13. I bet Trump won't be president again. I'm ready to put my money on it. Now some betting parlor is going to give me odds?

[former9thward]

14. If you google it there are no end of sites happy to take your money.

[bucolic_frolic]

15. Politics and money will skew this election marketplace into inaccuracy and irrelevance

Republicans will control it for their own political agenda. They won't care how much they lose.

[FakeNoose]

16. Unfortunately, a lot of Americans are less engaged than we are

... and I really fear that this "betting on elections" will be misunderstood and turned into another scam.

Weaselly Repukes will realize that they can't beat Democrats at the polls, so they'll turn our legal and above-board elections into another Off-Track Betting scheme and say the hell with it. This is a door that should never be opened.

[Eugene]

18. After just a few hours, U.S. election bets put on hold by appeals court ruling

After just a few hours, U.S. election bets put on hold by appeals court ruling (Associated Press)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Just hours after it began, legal betting on the outcome of U.S. Congressional elections has been put on hold by a federal appeals court.

The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an order Thursday night temporarily freezing the matter until it can consider and rule on the issue. No timetable was initially given.

https://apnews.com/article/betting-on-elections-kalshi-gambling-c060aad4d12f9622d36f83e525088dcc

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Yeah I had just been going through AP to grab some articles

and spotted that right before you posted here.

I didn't think that was going to last long.