The polls show Joe Biden is in the lead, but Australian and UK bettors have a different perspective and are putting money on Trump.

Trump has since the end of July to gradually close the gap with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Betting on a national or local election is illegal in the US but allowed in the UK and Australia.

"It is clear that 'impetus' is returning to President Trump," said Rupert Adams, spokesman for bookmaker William Hill, which has received more than $ 1.3 million in stakes for the US presidential election.

Lee Price, spokesperson for Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, explained that after a period of declining betting activity due to Covid-19, the game of chance "has started to heat up again in recent weeks".

Many betting on Trump are hoping that 2016 history will repeat itself, as the Manhattan real-estate mogul triumphed over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, despite negative results in previous polls.

The British bookmaker Betfair has raised £ 10 million ($ 13.3 million) in bets on the US presidential election since August 23, before the Republican congress.

In addition to the main event, Paddy Power also took bets on some strange questions such as whether Trump has painted the White House yellow.

Spokesperson Darren Hughes said Betfair expects this year's stakes to exceed 2016's £ 199m record, half of which is placed after the polling stations close.

Matthew Collins, 29, an Australian sales consultant, has staked 21 times before the Republican congress, almost all of them on Trump.

Collins, who describes himself as a left-wing bias, thinks Trump has made strong momentum since the party congress in late August, following the events of the Democrats.

"Republicans show they love America. They don't hate their country. But I don't feel it from the Democrats' congress so I don't find their message convincing."

Nick Freiling, the chief executive officer of a market research firm, has made a $ 300 bet that Trump will win in Minnesota, a state that has traditionally supported Democrats.

Covid-19 is also a factor with a big impact.

Collins doesn't believe the polls reflect reality, arguing that the range of errors is very high and that voters may deliberately lie to "blow the fire".

Bettors are also eyeing the widespread use of mail-based voting this year's election season due to concerns over Covid-19.