Foreign oddsmakers still rank JEB! Bush the most likely GOP presidential nominee

Falling in line again, like moths around a flame, they can't help it!

(Bangor Daily News) - Would you like to place a bet that Republican property mogul Donald Trump will (or will not) be the next U.S. President? Sorry, you cannot do it in Las Vegas — Sin City is not allowed to take bets on Presidential elections. In fact, it is not legal for Americans to bet on elections at all. State and federal laws prohibit the practice.

However, it is perfectly legal to look up the odds being made by foreign bookmakers and have a good chuckle at them, or observe them as they change. Bovada, based in Canada, and Ladbrokes, based in the UK, are two of the most well-known oddsmakers, although there are a host of others. We will start by looking at Bovada and follow up with British bookmakers. These figures were accurate at the time of writing.

Republicans – It is no surprise that Donald Trump has shown the greatest increase in the odds of becoming President, moving from 25:1 on Aug. 5 to 7:1 on Aug. 25 (the most recent issue as of this writing). However, the favorite to prevail is still the former Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, at 3.75:1, a drop from his previous 3.5:1 odds. Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker and Senator Marco Rubio have both sunk to 14:1 odds from their previous 10:1 and 12:1 respectively.

Governor of Ohio John Kasich is doing unusually well at Bovada, vaulting from 40:1 to 25:1. Texan Senator Ted Cruz and Detroit neurosurgeon Ben Carson are on the upswing, currently tied at 33:1 after rising from 40:1 and 45:1 respectively. Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina are tied at 50:1, although that is a rise for Fiorina and a drop for the controversial Christie, who recently suggested tracking immigrants the way FedEx tracks packages. Read more.