The vice presidential book

Let me just say right off the bat that I don’t understand bookmaking. But I happened to be walking past one of the newsroom TVs and Wolf Blitzer was interviewing the usual suspects about a British bookmaking Web site that is taking bets on the vice presidential possibilities, indicating Condoleezza Rice, Mike Huckabee, and Mitt Romney as the favorites.

So I took a look at the site, which — you’re right — I’m not linking to, and found this:

Here’s what I’ve learned this means:

Back — Is a bet that it will happen.

Lay — Is a bet that it will not happen.

The shaded box are the best available odds. And the dollar amount is the most you can bet at those odds.

In my fog of bookmaking ignorance, it at least looks like Tim Pawlenty is in the game, though it wasn’t mentioned on CNN.

Far more interesting than trying to figure this chart out, is trying to figure out why on earth someone is betting that John McCain will select himself as a running mate.

We now turn the comments section over to the bookmaking experts… and we know you’re out there.