Petr Pavel, a former high-ranking Czech army and NATO official continues to be the bookmaker’s favorite to win the presidency after the first two debates before the second round of the presidential election.
The average odds of his victory are 1.18:1. His rival, ANO movement chairman and former prime minister Andrej Babiš, has improved slightly since Sunday, regardless of the debates, and his odds of winning are currently around 4.5:1. This is according to the websites of bookmakers and information from the Czech Press Agency.
“The first two presidential debates practically did not move the odds on the winner of the second round. Bettors are betting slightly more on Petr Pavel today, but in the overall total, two-thirds of the bets are still on Andrej Babiš,” said Tipsport’s chief bookmaker Pavol Boško.
“More people are betting on Andrej Babis, and the odds play a major role. People are trying to believe that the reality will be much more balanced than the current forecasts,” added Jakub Vilikus, Betano’s chief bookmaker.
After his narrow first-round victory on Saturday, Pavel had odds of around 1.12:1 to become the next head of state.
Now it’s almost the same, weakening slightly and ranging from 1.16:1 to 1.2:1. On Sunday, the odds of Babis winning were 6:1; now they range from 4:1 to 4.8:1.
The odds are also written on turnout ahead of the second round, which will take place on January 27 and 28, and according to bookmakers, there are big bets that turnout will exceed 68.5 percent.
There are also bets on the number of votes for individual candidates overall and in the regions. The odds of Babiš winning in Prague are 200:1.