The day a bookmaker lost over $ 1 million with a risky bet

A little more than three months ago, Paddy Power once again made the buzz by taking a radical decision on the American Presidential: Pay in advance the pro Clinton bets, well before the result of the elections.

At the time, the British bookmaker had no doubt that Hillary Clinton was going to sit at the White House. He said it himself: “With national polls that show a strong lead for Clinton and a Trump that continues the scandals, Paddy Power thinks everything is settled and that Hillary Clinton is assured of occupying the oval office. ”

With such confidence, Paddy decided to pay several weeks in advance of the pro-Clinton bets, tapping into his wallet and offering (a few weeks after that term was appropriate) over $ 1 million to the players involved. The firm had already paid in advance the pro-Obama bets in 2012, taking this time a two-day margin. Showing the tickets several weeks in advance and when the final debate had not taken place was risky. Some 6,000 players were thus paid.

A red mane shines

Yet on November 8, all televisions around the world displayed the face of the businessman and former casino. He will be the next American president with 306 big voters on his counter, against 232 on the side of Hillary Clinton. He will have won more voters even though fewer Americans voted for him (46% versus 48%).

Trump President, who would have believed it? Not Paddy anyway.

One can only imagine the surprise of the leaders of Paddy Power, gathered for the morning meeting, to have to debrief on this loss of more than $ 1 million, just for wanting to make a publicity stunt. However, the pain was not yet completely complete since it was now necessary to pay the $ 4.5 million of pro-Trump bets.

To all the players of the site who had the good idea to bet on the two candidates, health to them!

This election was the biggest political payment ever made by Paddy Power. One thing is certain, the bookmaker will not pay in advance the bets of a candidate for the election of 2020, unless maso.