The 2020 U.S. presidential election between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden is heating up at this late stage with the incumbent going into the vote as the underdog.

Who is leading in prediction markets?

With less than two days away from Election Day, professional forecasters are predicting a Biden win as he leads in both national and state polls.

FiveThirtyEight is predicting that Biden has a 90 per cent chance of winning, while Trump has 10 per cent.

The site, which has been looked upon as the go-to site for election predictions, wrote: "At this point, President Trump needs a big polling error in his favour if he's going to win... a 2016-sized polling error just isn’t going to cut it."

FiveThirtyEight added as a word of precaution: "But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still a path for Trump. Trump might be the underdog, but bigger polling errors have happened in the past, and there’s a difference between a 10 per cent chance of winning and a 0 per cent chance."

Battleground states closely watched

At this stage, it appears the election would be close with a few key battleground states that would prove influential in swinging a victory either side.

These states include, Iowa, Ohio, Maine, and even Florida.

The Electoral College system used in the U.S. means that candidates would need to surpass the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to win the White House.

Trump prevailed in 2016 with 304 electoral votes despite losing the popular vote.

Betting markets heat up

With Trump going in as the underdog, the closely watched presidential election has spawned one of the biggest betting events of all time.

U.K.-based Betfair Exchange is seeing gamblers wager more than US$300 million when there was five days left before Election Day.

The figure is expected to hit US$500 million.

Betfair’s odds favour Joe Biden at 66 per cent, while President Trump, the incumbent, is the underdog again with a 34 per cent chance.

Trump was the underdog in 2016 election against Hillary Clinton.

Odds on Trump win

Betfair is offering $1.40 for every $1 wagered on Biden.

It is offering $2.88 for every $1 wagered on Trump.

At BetOnline, an offshore operation in Panama, just over 70 per cent of the money wagered is on Trump to win.

Trump is a +165 underdog, meaning a $100 bet will win $165.

Biden is a -190 favourite, so if you bet $190 you win $100.

BetOnline says that Biden is the slight favourite at 54 per cent.

If the election were called now and Trump won, BetOnline would lose millions of dollars, the company said.

Bet on Trump to double money

Trump's underdog status is attractive for punters who want to experience a windfall, as an upset victory can double the money overnight.

Three days before Oct. 31, a surge of bets was placed on Trump to win.

A professional bookmaker said: “We saw this same scenario plating out in 2016.”

That year, Trump pulled off an upset victory despite losing the popular vote to Clinton, but won the Electoral College.

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