Gambling On The Next Pope

Above are the current odds on Intrade. Tim Dolan is way down the list at 2.1%.

Intrade Boots Americans

The popular online gambling site Intrade has told Americans to close their accounts after U.S. regulators charged it with "facilitating bets on future economic data, the price of gold and even acts of war."

Hours after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed a complaint in federal court, Intrade posted in its user forum and on its news page that it could no longer allow U.S. residents to trade "due to legal and regulatory pressures. U.S. residents must begin closing their accounts and withdrawing their funds immediately, the website said. It said customers must resolve open predictions by Dec. 23 or the site would assign them "fair market value" and close them. The CFTC's civil complaint charged that Intrade and its operator solicited customers to trade investment contracts that technically are options. Options must be traded on approved, regulated exchanges.

(Tipped by JMG reader Ray)

Web Gamblers Put Money On Obama

Embiggen the above chart to see the betting trend on the Intrade gambling site.

Web Bettors Like Obama

The president has a wide lead among internet gamblers.

Intrade Bettors Split On Romney's VP

Pundits pointed at Portman this weekend, but it's Rubio that's on the campaign trail by Romney's side today. As you can see, Intrade's gamblers are hedging their bets.

Intrade Bets On Romney

According to the bettors of online gambling site Intrade, it's a lock for Mitt Romney.

Intrade's Bettors Predict The Winners

"This scoreboard shows the up-to-the-minute probability of victory for each candidate fighting for the Republican Presidential nomination, and in the upcoming Republican primaries and caucuses."

Intrade Predicts

Intrade Ranks The Odds

Betting On Gay Marriage

Intrade, the online stock trading /gambling site that allows players to bet on social issues rather than sports, is currently showing California's gay marriage amendment as selling at 40, meaning that only 40% of the site's thousands of traders believe that gay marriage will be overturned. If you buy at 40 and the players' opinions turn in the amendment's favor, then the price will go up and you can sell the difference at a profit. The amendment's stock sold as high as 60 in recent weeks, but has steadily dropped.

RELATED: Barack Obama's stock is presently at 64.

Betting On Obama

According to Intrade.com, an online futures trading (betting) site:

The electoral map is a forecast for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election in which the presumptive nominees are Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama. The electoral vote value for each state is shown, and the states are shaded according to the probability of a win.

The data for this map comes from the Intrade prediction market where there are real-money contracts for each individual state based on how it will award its 2008 electoral votes. Traders who predict the outcome correctly are rewarded with the money of those who don't. For more information visit Intrade.com. This map is updated at least weekly.

If you play on the Intrade site, you can also bet on the price of gasoline, how bad the recession will get, and the date that the U.S. and Israel will launch a joint air strike against Iran. As far as the election, so far the bettors have Obama winning by 13 electoral votes.