DAVID CAMERON THE BOOKIES FAVOURITE TO WIN 1ST GENERAL ELECTION DEBATE

With tonight’s General Election Live Debate kicking off at 8:30, the betting markets are starting to heap up- not just for the election itself but for the wagering on tonight’s debate. Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has listed David Cameron as the strong even-money favourite to win tonight’s debate as judged by the polling results from ICM on the individual debate. Should they not actually carry out a poll after the debate then all bets will be void, but come on- you know they’ll want some sort of instant reaction from the public.

With Cameron listed at even money, you’ll also find Nick Clegg trading at 13/8 to win tonight’s debate for the Lib Dems. While they don’t have a chance in hell of winning anything resembling a national election, they are favoured to pick up a few seats here and there and there has been rumours that they may make up the balance of power.
Good ol’ charismatic Gordon Brown is trading at 10/3 to win tonight’s debate and he seems to be the value play. Cameron is heavily-favoured to win the election and that may alter peoples reactions to the actual debate itself. I think that Brown has to accomplish a lot more in front of the cameras than David Cameron does and that could be the telling aspect of this debate.
You can also have a punt on which TV station will boast the highest ratings for the highest TV audience. Keep in mind that this is peak audience-not total. BBC is the heavy 1/3 favourite while ITV trades at a 2/1 margin. More viewers to watch on Sky than any other station pays out at a 10/1 price tag.
There’s also an interesting market on the cliché betting during the open speech session- not during an opening statement. “Britain” is the favourite at 5/1 while “jobs” pays out at 10/1. “Manifesto”, “crime”, “Afghanistan” pays out at 12/1. “Rubbish” and “employment” (you mean they’re not the same thing?) pays out at 14/1 along with “NHS”, “Iraq”, and “Education”.
Should one of the candidates say “Paddy Power” before anything else, you’re looking at a 500/1 margin.