Election Special: “The biggest political event ever”

An anonymous British financier will have to wait another 24 hours to find out if his $5 million bet on Donald Trump comes up a winner. He’ll pocket $15 million from Curaçao bookies if it does. The flutter, made after consultation with Trump insiders (who had better crystal balls than Biden ones) is said to be the largest political bet ever made. What’s more, there was heavy movement toward Trump (75% of bets at Ladbrokes) in the waning days of the presidential campaign. Paddy Power did even more: 93% pro-Trump bets. Ladbrokes’ Jessica O’Reilly said, prior to the vote, “[Joe] Biden looks home and hosed according to the bookies and pollsters, but even at the eleventh-hour punters are continuing to back Trump at the odds on offer.” Bets on Biden wouldn’t yield much if he won: $1,986,903 on a $1.3 million wager, so the ‘red wave’ makes sense. GVC‘s supremo of political betting, Matthew Shaddick said, “It is twice as big as 2016, easily making it the biggest political event ever.”

We spoke recently with BetMGM Vice President of Trading Jason Scott and he thinks the U.S. gaming industry is missing out on something huge: “I’d love to see the first [state] to allow betting on elections. The 2016 U.S. presidential election was the largest betting event in the world, ever, and it will get doubled next week by the 2020 election … Those like us that are doing the right thing, betting in a regulated market, in a way we’re disadvantaged, so I’d love to see elections get regulated.”