betting

Powerball Jackpot Leaps to $550M

The Powerball jackpot has jumped to $550 million, a major climb less than a day after the latest drawing produced no winning ticket.

Nate Silver Almost Certainly Has Millions at Stake in Tonight's Election

The other day, Nate Silver proposed a $2,000 bet (for charity) with Joe Scarbrough on the outcome of the election. But let's be honest, the New York Times polling guru has WAY more at stake than that. We're talking millions of dollars on his being right that Obama will stomp Romney in the Electoral College.

President Romney? Gamblers Say Don't Bet on It

We've heard from poll after poll in recent months predicting who would win the presidential race: Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. But poll respondents don't have anything to lose when they give their opinions. Gamblers betting on the outcome do, and they give overwhelming odds to one candidate.

Jeopardy! Challenge: Bettors Are Gambling on the Machine

IBM's supercomputer Watson racked up $5,000 in winnings on day one of the three-day Jeopardy! challenge Monday, but so did one of its human competitors. The human champs, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, face long odds -- at least according those betting their own money on the action.

Literary Betting: Popular Abroad, but Could It Catch on Here?

When Mario Vargas Llosa won the Nobel Prize for Literature this week, the British literary betting agent Ladbrokes couldn't have been more pleased. Ladbrokes had given the Peruvian author slim odds of winning the prize, so when Vargas Llosa won, Ladbrokes avoided a massive payout.

Wall Street's Cantor Fitzgerald Becomes a Las Vegas Bookie

The bond-trading specialist is taking bets and setting odds for the new M Resort Spa & Casino. But instead of simply handicapping games and accepting wagers, Cantor's tech-savvy braintrust has turned betting into something more akin to trading.