Posted on 11/04/2012 9:32:56 PM PST by nickcarraway
Europe's largest betting company, renowned for settling its bets early, is paying out to punters who backed Barack Obama to win Tuesday’s US Presidential election.
Irish bookmaker Paddy Power said that despite the polls showing voters remain largely undecided, they believe it’s a done deal and that Obama is a “nailed on certainty to win a second term”.
President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney are blitzing the remaining toss-up states, with both sides predicting victory just two days before election day.
However Paddy Power has been caught out before with similar early calls.
In 2009 Tiger Wood’s failure to win a PGA Championship left the bookmaker about $2 million out of pocket. It paid off anyone who bet on Woods to win the title when he led by four shots through 36 holes at odds of 1-to-5.
When Tiger lost Paddy Power said in a statement: "It takes a special kind of dimwit to turn what should have been our best ever golf result into our worst,”
Obama’s odds fell to a low 2/9 and over the past months Paddy Power have seen 75 per cent of money staked go Obama’s way.
“Romney gave it a good shot and is doing well in the popular vote, but we suspect he’s had his moment in the sun and is likely to be remembered more for his legendary gaffes than Presidential potential,” a Paddy Power spokesperson said in a statement.
The overall betting trend has shown one way traffic for Obama and punters seemed to have called it 100 per cent correct. Despite Romney appealing to the large evangelical and senior vote, America‘s sticking with black and cool.”
Perhaps he's doing this election stung knowing that it's an even bet (based on the polls) and that it will surely generate lots of press. Or he's drunk. Could go either way.
I saw the info re Vegas on my Twitter feed and they gave a name but I can’t recall. Should pop up in a Google search though. Good luck.
Sounds like enormous potential for arbitage.
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