Republican Nomination Betting Market: Mitt Romney Making Waves While John McCain Remains the Leader

Mitt Romney's win in last nights Michigan primary has pushed the former governor of Massachusetts back into contention for the Republican nomination.   These were the findings issued by inTrade.com on Wednesday, immediately following the Michigan Primaries.  The victory saw Romney's value jump to 21.1, a gain of 8.0 points from his value of 13.1 on the eve of the primary, and a gain of 9.9 points from last weeks value of 11.2.

John McCain remains the market leader but suffered a sharp loss in value after being beaten by Romney last night. His current price of 33.9 is only down 0.7 points from last weeks value of 34.6, but is down 9.1 points from his value of 43.0 heading into the Michigan Primary.

Rudy Giuliani enjoyed a bounce in value despite finishing a distant sixth in Michigan and receiving less than half the votes of maverick Texas Congressman, Ron Paul. His current value of 21.3 is up 2.5 points from his value of 18.8 heading into the primary. This is down 7.9 points from his value of 29.2 seven days ago however.

It's a similar story for Mike Huckabee, who came in third in last nights primary. He is currently trading at 14.4, which is a bump of 0.9 points from his value of 13.5 leading into Michigan, but a loss of 1.6 from last weeks value of 16.0.

Romney's odds have improved a bit in recent days, up from 15/1 to 12/1 at Sportsbook.com whereas Rudy Giuliani has fallen to 10/1 odds; and Mike Huckabee to 15/1 odds.  John McCain leads by a large margin among Republicans with 7/2 odds.  Ron Paul has fallen heavily to 50/1 odds while Fred Thompson also nose dives to 50/1 odds.  Many Paul supporters believe their candidate will outlive Huckabee and Thompson, both of whom are believed to be running short of money.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is still the favorite, paying $140 for every $100 bet while Barack Obama would pay out $200 for every $100 bet.  This race remains extremely tight while the Republican nomination is completely up in the air. 

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com

Originally published January 17, 2008 12:58 am EST