Brash Firms as PM Betting Favourite After Debate

SYDNEY, Sept. 16 /MediaNet International-AsiaNet/ --

National's Don Brash is firming as Centrebet's favourite to become New Zealand prime minister.

Centrebet's odds on Brash becoming PM have fallen from 1.80 to 1.65 since last night's debate.

But Centrebet clients are not writing off Labour leader Helen Clark's chance of retaining the job.

Centrebet says that Labour has been the subject of 40 percent of the bets in the past 24 hours.

"This is the closest race that Centrebet has bet on in its 13 years as the world's election betting leader," says Centrebet's Gerard Daffy. "Punters are favouring Brash but not by very much."

Centrebet specialises in election betting and there is evidence to support its claim that its odds are more accurate than polls. Stanford University's Justin Wolfers and Andrew Leigh, of Harvard, found that Centrebet's odds on the 2001 Australian Federal Election not only forecast the overall result correctly but also provided precise estimates of outcomes in more than 40 electorates.

Wolfers (http://bpp.wharton.upenn.edu/jwolfers) and Leigh (http://andrewleigh.com) also praised the accuracy of Centrebet's betting odds on last year's Australian Federal Election.

New Zealand prime minister 1.65 National (Don Brash) 2.10 Labour (Helen Clark)

Australian prime minister 1.50 Coalition (John Howard) 2.40 Labor (Kim Beazley)

Log on to http://www.centrebet.com to view its latest odds.

ENDS

© Scoop Media