Is this new? Looks like Robinhood’s letting people bet on the presidential election outcome, and you don’t even have to be in a casino—it’s available across the U.S.
Does anyone know if winnings are taxed as regular income? And if you lose, can you write it off against other investment gains?
Keep in mind it might still be illegal in some states. The CFTC has been challenging these election contracts. There’s a discussion about it here: link to previous discussion
@Briley
Are they trying to do something like what Kentucky does?
In Kentucky, you can have gambling machines in bars, but they need to be somehow tied to horse racing because betting on horses is legal, but general gambling isn’t.
@Lee
Gambling laws are super complex. Casinos sometimes even contradict themselves about what counts as gambling from place to place.
For example, anything based on luck can be considered gambling, but skill-based games like pinball were debated for years before they were legalized. Fantasy sports betting was accidentally allowed by Congress when they legalized office betting pools—it’s kind of wild.
@Lee
That’s both hilarious and awesome.
@Lee
Not sure. I haven’t looked into the legal filings on why the CFTC’s ban on Kalshi’s election contracts was lifted, so not sure what arguments were made.
@Briley
That’s good info.
You could always sort of do this by buying calls or puts on $DJT on election day.
Has anyone actually been able to do this yet? I don’t see it.
Nico said:
Has anyone actually been able to do this yet? I don’t see it.
I checked with Robinhood’s support this morning, and they put me on the early access list. They said I’d get an email when I’m in.
Nico said:
Has anyone actually been able to do this yet? I don’t see it.
Try here: link to Robinhood election page
Nico said:
Has anyone actually been able to do this yet? I don’t see it.
Same here. I’m just trying to see what the spread is, but can’t find it anywhere.
Nico said:
Has anyone actually been able to do this yet? I don’t see it.
Same here. I’m just trying to see what the spread is, but can’t find it anywhere.
Kalshi.com might have something like that.
@Beckett
Kalshi’s a different platform.
Oh, right. You’re looking for the Robinhood spread. My bad!
Nico said:
Has anyone actually been able to do this yet? I don’t see it.
Same here. I’m just trying to see what the spread is, but can’t find it anywhere.
Link to Interactive Brokers’ event trader. IBKR should have something similar since they’re providing services for Robinhood.
Nico said:
Has anyone actually been able to do this yet? I don’t see it.
They’re available on IBKR too.
Nico said:
Has anyone actually been able to do this yet? I don’t see it.
Just updated the app, but still don’t see it. Wondering if you can close out early like you can on Kalshi.
Nico said:
Has anyone actually been able to do this yet? I don’t see it.
There’s an app update, and it shows up.
Event contracts are not unique to Robinhood. Interactive Brokers and others like Tradovate and Ninjatrader offer them too. You can bet on events like whether oil will close above a certain price.