LAS VEGAS — In a town that has made its mark on betting and gambling, there's one thing on which folks wish they wager: elections.
"Since football started on Saturday and Sunday, we're jammed here, but you'd be surprised with all the people here is it legal to bet on the federal election," said Jimmy Vaccaro, a betting expert with South Point Hotel & Casino.
Vacarro says the sportsbook received calls from across the U.S. and around the world after the last election, wondering if election betting was real.
Some of those calls from other countries asked which candidate was the favorite and why.
Vaccaro says U.S. elections are a big event for the European Book.
"It is their third or fourth biggest day of the year when they have odds on our people over here," Vaccaro said.
If election betting were to become legal in America, Vaccaro is confident sports betting would be blown out of the water.
"Betting on an election would make the Super Bowl look like a high school football game," Vaccaro said.
Election betting is a two-for-one as Vaccaro calls it. Bettors could walk away with a chunk of change, perhaps, the change they want for America.
Vaccaro believes while it's not legal in America, in time, it will be a part of the "sports" book.
He guesses at least a decade until it happens and becomes accepted.
"For the younger people to get into power, and they've grown up around this and grown up around the legalization of sports betting and sees nothing wrong with it, its just another past time," Vaccaro said.
