Koodbee Virtual Betting Site Leverages Crowdsourcing to Generate True Odds on Election Outcomes

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Oct 07, 2016, 08:40 ET

WEST ORANGE, N.J., Oct. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Predicting elections has typically been the domain of media experts, professional pollsters and big data firms, but a startup named Koodbee (www.koodbee.com) is looking to empower ordinary people to forecast outcomes like these. The virtual betting site is launching two free games – "My Ballot" and "Battlegrounds" – to generate odds on all candidates via mutual betting for score, rank and virtual currency. Both games will close on Tuesday, November 8 at 8 p.m. EST.

Koodbee's My Ballot game is customized to each Congressional District, all 435. The elections in which you can actually vote are the races on which you can virtually bet.

Koodbee's Battlegrounds game presents the two dozen state-level races that will likely determine who is elected President and which party controls the U.S. Senate.

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"Most people have an interest in the results of national and local elections," says Koodbee Co-founder Andrew Ellis. "Making odds on candidates running for office is a logical way to create a preview of what the election outcomes will be. We simplified and democratized the process so everyone can participate in generating these odds. Ultimately, we're using gamification and the wisdom of crowds to provide an innovative new way of forecasting outcomes."

"My Ballot" is organized by Congressional district. Players can only bet on those races in which they can actually vote, ensuring fairness. "Battlegrounds" focuses on the 23 state-level races that will be pivotal in determining who becomes the President-elect, as well as which party controls the Senate.

Koodbee's election games offer just two types of bets – "Who will win?" and "By how much?" All players get the same number of game tokens with which to place bets. Players can change bets for as long as the game is open.

"We want players' 'best bets,'" explains Ellis, "so the odds they generate will be accurate. Even though the games only use tokens and players only win virtual currency, the social information Koodbee outputs has real value."

As players enter bets, they are processed mathematically into payout odds – the amount players could get back for each token bet, should they win. Unlike the fixed odds set by bookmakers, Koodbee's true odds are derived mathematically from all players' bets.. In other words, these odds represent players' collective judgment about the likelihood of each outcome. Games display the crowdsourced odds and equivalent probabilities in real time.

Koodbee's games also incorporate social features. Players can create groups and invite friends. Groups are free and include leaderboards and comment threads. Owners can make their groups public, private or secret, as well as customize their group's look, among other tools and options.

After the election, new games will be launched to cover Cabinet appointments, the nomination and confirmation of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and the actions of the President-elect during his or her first 100 days.

About Koodbee

Koodbee is a web service where users can predict and generate true odds for any set of mutually exclusive outcomes. The service provides a gamified version of mutual betting for score, rank and virtual currency. Games cover sports competitions, entertainment awards and political elections, among other events.

SOURCE Koodbee