Record-Breaking US$5 Million Bet On Trump Election Win
Gambling records were smashed when an anonymous British bettor placed a $5 million wager on Donald Trump to win the US presidential election. If Trump had won, the former banker would have received a $15 million, thanks to odds of 37/20.
According to reports, the bettor spoke to people in Trump’s camp before placing the bet with Curacao-based private bookmakers. An industry source described it as the largest political bet ever made. It certainly wasn’t the only big bet placed on the election. Betfair told reporters that it received a $1.3 million bet on now president-elect Joe Biden at odds of 8/15. The bookmaker said it was the largest political wager it had received.
Some commentators reckon that the 2020 US presidential election was history’s largest gambling event. Although no US bookies offer odds on political events, those in other countries saw business boom in the weeks and days leading up to the election. Altogether, more than $1.3 billion was bet on the race between Trump and Biden.
Trump Was Bettors’ Favourite
Biden was the favourite of most bookies, but the figures show that Trump was the favourite of most bettors. According to reports, Paddy Power reported that 93% of the bets it received in a 24-hour period were on Trump.
OddsChecker saw a slightly more conservative 71% of bets placed on the incumbent president over a few hours. The website’s head of marketing, Sam Eaton said the situation was similar to what happened during the 2016 election. They explained that more and more money was bet on Trump, and that it was likely to have come from part-time gamblers who prefer to bet on election day. Eaton elaborated that those gamblers probably chose Trump because of the prospect of bigger returns on their wagers.
Bookies Pay Out On Biden
Despite Trump’s obstinate refusal to concede the election, most bookies paid out on Biden as the winner. The incumbent president refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory while he continues to dispute the results in states such as Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
According to reports, UK and Irish bookmakers such as Betfair, Betfred, Bet365, BoyleSports, Paddy Power, and William Hill all settled Biden as winner. After initially saying that they would wait for the legal disputes to be resolved, Coral and Ladbrokes announced they would also pay out on Biden as the winner. Australian bookmaker Sportsbet also declared Biden the winner, before paying bettors.
Betway was one of the few bookies who had not paid out at the time of writing. According to spokesperson Chad Yeomans, the brand said the liquid trading of the outcome around the world was a legitimate reason for not settling the market.