© Mandel Ngan/Getty US President Donald Trump speaks following a section of the border wall in Alamo, Texas, on January 12, 2021. A man from Florida who bet $100 on Trump getting re-elected last November is being sued for refusing to pay up.

When the oddsmakers release a betting line on a game, the first thing they.

A man from Florida who wagered $100 on President Donald Trump winning re-election last November is being sued for refusing to pay up.

Sean Hynes, a Trump supporter from St. Petersburg, Pinellas Count, suggested the bet via Facebook to Jeffrey Costa, an acquaintance from his time in Atlanta and a Biden supporter.

The two regularly discussed politics on Facebook and remained in touch after they moved apart. They decided that if Trump won the November 2020 election, Costa would pay $100, but if Democrat Joe Biden won, Hynes would pay the same amount, The Tampa Bay Times reported.

What To Know About Trump Impeachment Move As Democrats Push To Oust President

Although it started as a friendly wager, the relationship quickly turned sour when Trump lost to Biden on November 3.

Hynes refused to acknowledge the results and pay up. He was still in denial after several state recounts and the Supreme Court's rejection of lawsuits challenging Biden's victory.

Costa, a 50-year-old IT worker, then decided to take the matter to a court. He demanded another $250 in court fees and $300 in interest on the unpaid bet.

  • If you bet $100 on the Celtics, you would type +100 (EVEN) in the American Odds section and 100 in the Bet Amount ($) section. You’ll see that you’d get a payout of $200.00. You would get your initial $100 back plus your winnings of $100.
  • Betting a Favorite: The odds for favorites will have a minus (-) sign, and represent the money you need to risk to win $100. So if you're betting on the Packers at -140 against the Vikings, that means Green Bay is a slight favorite. You need to risk $140 to win $100 on the Packers. If they win, you profit $100 and get your original $140 back.
  • If you bet $100 on Harris to win, you win $135 and get back the original $100 bet. When the 2020 election odds are +135 that means oddsmakers give the Democrats a 42.55% chance of winning the election. The return on the wager is higher. This is because betting on the US presidential election underdog is.

Costa, representing himself, filed on December 28 in Pinellas County small claims court.

'You should have the integrity in your principles to follow through with what you have proposed,' Costa told the newspaper.

On November 7, the day after the election was called for Biden, Costa messaged Hynes on Facebook.

'Bro, the elections are determined by the courts, not the networks,' Hynes responded. Weeks of arguments via Facebook Messenger ensued.

'It's not settled by law, Sean,' Costa said. 'Trump is mathematically eliminated.'

Sports Betting 101 For Dummies

Costa eventually told Hynes in December he was planning to sue for the money, before Hynes unfriended him on Facebook.

Hynes has not responded to a Facebook message from Newsweek.

Costa explained to the Florida daily why he brought the lawsuit. 'I also felt that if you're going to live in a post-fact world, there are consequences to that.'

Gamblers in the U.S. are not allowed to place legal bets on elections with bookmakers. However, in the U.K., someone placed a £1 million ($1.29 million) bet on Biden to win, according to Betfair Exchange, the world's largest betting exchange. It was the biggest-ever political bet to be placed on the exchange. The identity of the person, who put down the money on October 29, is not known, but they would have won a $696,170 profit on top of getting the original wager returned.

Related Articles

Welcome to the Sports Betting Odds section of The Sports Geek. If you are new to sports betting and don’t understand how to read betting odds (+150, -110, +2200, etc) we will lay it all out for you and help you learn how the betting odds work.

Betting Site
BonusBet Now
1 up to €30 Free BetGo to Site
2
22Bet
100% up to €122Go to Site
3100% up to €200Go to Site
4
10Bet
100% up to €50Go to Site
5 100% up to €50Go to Site

Sports Betting Odds Explained

Many people don’t know how to read or calculate sports betting odds, so below we have done our best on explaining how betting odds work. The most common type of sports betting odds used in North America are the American style odds which we explain below.

American Style Sports Betting Odds

Most online sportsbooks will list their odds in what is called “American Odds”. There are a couple different versions of sports betting odds, but these American Odds are the most common odds used. Reading and understanding sports betting odds can bet a little confusing to beginners, so we have provided an example below using two NFL football teams:

American Odds

  • Matchup Odds
  • New England Patriots +120
  • Pittsburgh Steelers -140

The number shown in the bracket represents the odds. The American Odds have two components to them, the first being the positive or negative sign, and the second being the number that follows the sign.

The sign in front of the number indicates whether placing a wager on that outcome will pay out more money then you have wagered or less money then you have wagered. If the odd is negative (-) it means that outcome is more likely to happen and placing a bet on that outcome would payout less than the amount you wagered, while a positive (+) odd shows that the outcome is less likely to happen and it would pay out more than the amount you wagered.

Betting $100 On The Kentucky Derby

The next step is figuring out exactly how much the bet pays out, which is where the numbers in the odds come into play.

A listed odd with a – sign in front of it, such as the -140 in our example above, shows us how much money you would need to wager in order to win $100. So using the -140, this would show us that you would need to bet $140 in order to win $100 in profits. You can easily substitute the $100 bet for a $10 bet by moving the decimal place over one spot, showing us that you would need to wager $14 in order to win $10 in profits.

Examples:

A listed odd with a + sign in front of it, such as the +120 in our example above, shows us how much money you would win on a $100 bet. Using the +120 odds, it shows us that a $100 bet on that outcome would pay out $120 in profits. Again this can easily be converted into smaller or larger size bets. A $10 bet on +120 odds would pay out $12 in profits.

Examples:

Betting Odds How It Works

Below is an example of NFL betting odds taken from an online betting site.


Betting 100 On100

In this example you can see Los Angeles is listed at +130 ($100 bet pays $130 plus of course your original wager back) and New England is listed at -150 ($150 bet pays $100).

Betting

The great thing about betting online is that the online sportsbooks will do the calculations for you before you place your bet. You can click on the outcome or team you would like to bet on, and then input the amount you wish to wager and it will show you your potential pay out before you confirm your bet.

Ready To Start Betting?MyBookie and BetUS are my two favorite sportsbooks and make betting very easy. You will also get a Free Money Bonus at each sportsbook if you follow either link above.

Explain Betting +100

Decimal Style Sports Betting Odds

Decimal style odds are used mostly in Europe, and are pretty easy to understand. To calculate the decimal style odds all you will need to do is simply multiply the amount you wish to wager by the decimal odds shown and you will get your payout. For example it may look something like this:

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on the USA at 2.40 you would simply need to multiply your $10 wager by the 2.40 odds (10 x 2.40) to find out that the payout is $24. It is important to realize that with decimal style odds it includes the amount you wagered, so to find out profits you would need to subtract your wager ($24 – $10) to find out your potential payout is $14 in profits.

If you wanted to place a $10 wager on Brazil you would again just multiply $10 x 1.55 to find out that you would win $15.50 total or $5.50 in profits.

Online Betting 100 Bonus

Decimal style betting odds are very simple to understand, but you won’t see them displayed in many North American sportsbooks. With that said, most online betting sites will allow you to chose the style of betting odds you want displayed, with American odds set as the default.