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NEW YORK/LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Donald Trump's chancesof winning the Republican nomination for the White House shot toa record high at online betting sites around the world onWednesday after his latest victory in voting in Nevada.
Betting venues in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand show theonline wagering community coalescing around Trump, onceconsidered a rank outsider attracting long-shot odds of 200/1.
Following his double-digit margin win in Nevada's Republicancaucuses on Tuesday, his third victory in the first four earlynominating contests, odds have tightened all theway to 1/2 in some cases.
"Mr Trump has triumphed yet again, despite politicalanalysts almost unanimously writing him off as a seriouspresidential contender," said Graham Sharpe from William Hill, adding one customer stood to collect at least $100,000if Trump was elected to the White House on Nov. 8.
William Hill and Betway make Trump 1/2 favourite to get theRepublican nod, while Ladbrokes cut his odds to 4/9, the same asthose shown on Ireland's PaddyPower.
His nearest rival, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio from Florida,featured odds of 6/1 on Ladbrokes. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz ofTexas, who has been battling with Rubio for the No. 2 spot inthe early voting states, has sunk to a deep longshot. PaddyPower gives Cruz odds of 33/1, its site shows.
Bettors also markedly cut the odds on Trump becomingpresident, although he still trails Democratic front-runnerHillary Clinton, who won Nevada's Democratic caucuses onSaturday.
Jessica Bridge from Ladbrokes said Trump was on a rollheading into Super Tuesday on March 1, when several U.S. stateshold nominating contests.
On PredictIt, a site operated by Victoria University inWellington, New Zealand, Trump's chances of winning theRepublican nod were the highest since it started tracking therace in October 2015.
A Trump bet there, on a scale of $0.00 to $1, stood at 72cents, up 4 cents, while Rubio tumbled 7 cents to 24 cents andCruz sank a penny to 4 cents, matching a record low. (Reporting by Michael Holden in London and Dan Burns in NewYork; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Howard Goller)
