WASHINGTON – The money, literally, is moving to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as the choice to succeed Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court, according to Sportsbook.com, the giant online betting operation.
The betting opened Tuesday with Gonzales a clear favorite: The odds were 6-5 that President Bush would pick him, followed by federal appellate judge Emilio Garza at 6-1. Appellate judges Janice Rogers Brown, Edith Jones, Edith Brown Clement, Michael Luttig and Samuel Alito all came in at 8-1. Judges Michael McConnell, John Roberts and Harvie Wilkinson were 10-1.
But these preliminary numbers, spokesman Patrick Erlich said, were based on a team of oddsmakers’ assessments over the past two weeks based on news accounts – and they were working on the assumption that Chief Justice William Rehnquist would be the first to quit.
Then the gamblers weighed in. Bush widely praised Gonzales, and the odds changed sharply for him. By late Thursday, Gonzales had moved to a 5-9 favorite. “That means he’s getting a lot of action,” Erlich said. “The betting public is firmly behind Gonzales.”
Clement zipped up to 4-1, Garza dropped to 7-1, and others faded, with Luttig and Roberts surprisingly dropping back to 15-1. Erlich wouldn’t say how many bets had been placed but allowed as how the average bet so far is $61, which is “pretty good” for a nonsports, nonracing event in what’s called the “novelty” category.
“If we see a huge wad of money” on one person, said Marketing Director Alex Czajkowski, “coming from, say, D.C. or Texas, where the news may have been leaked, we’ll tell you who the next justice will be.”
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