Place Your Bets on Government Shutdown 2013

By Alexis Shaw
@ashaw109
Follow on Twitter

Credit: Susan Walsh/AP Photo

What are the odds that within hours of the U.S. federal government shut down, bets were wagered as to how long it will take Congress to reach a deal?

It’s a sure thing, through bookmakers overseas including Ireland’s largest, Paddy Power, where bettors can put money on the length of the shutdown, whether the U.S. Treasury will default on its obligations by the end of 2013 and if there will be a quarter of negative growth.

The Government Shutdown Explained (Like You’re an Idiot)

Paddy Power spokesman Rory Scott told ABCNews.com that the agency believes the shutdown will be over within seven days. The odds are 11-to-10 that it will only be a week before a new budget bill is passed and federal services are restored, according to their website.

If the shutdown goes on for eight to 14 days, the odds are a little under two-to-one. After two weeks in, the odds lengthen, but the payoff could be sweet. If the shutdown persists for 22 to 28 days, bettors win big with 10-to-one odds.

British betting house Ladbrokes is also taking wagers on when the government shutdown will end.

Ladbrokes spokesman Alex Donohue told ABC News that the odds are one-to-two that the shutdown will end by Oct. 15. The payoff is two-to-one if the shutdown is over by the end of October and eight-to-one if compromise is reached by November.

Those who are less optimistic and bet that the shutdown ends in December, January, or even later, can take their chances with 20-to-one odds.