In what might be the biggest political bet in history, one former British banker has bet $5 million on President Trump retaining the White House this election night.
According to The Sun, the offshore mystery gambler reportedly used “private bookies registered on the tiny Caribbean island Curacao.” Industry insiders confirmed that the bet indeed was placed and might be the largest made in political history.
“Word of this bet has done the rounds and we think it’s the biggest ever made on politics,” said the source.
Jessica O’Reilly of Ladbrokes, a gambling company, said that 3 in 4 of the final bets were all in favor of President Trump.
“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,” she told the outlet.
Paddy Power, an online betting firm, simultaneously reported that the last-minute wagers in the last 24-hours were 93% in favor of President Trump versus Joe Biden’s 74%. Despite the last-minute surge, bookies still overwhelmingly favor Biden, with one even placing $1 million on his victory. More from The Sun:
According to British bookmaker Betfair Exchange, an unnamed person in the UK placed £1million – or $1.29million – over the weekend on Biden beating incumbent Donald Trump.
If Biden wins the contentious race against Trump, the bet-placer will get $1,986,903.
The bookmaker said that $337million worth of bets have been placed on the 2020 election.
“This is a huge market,” Matthew Shaddick, head of political betting at British sports betting and gambling firm GVC told AFP news agency. “It is twice as big as 2016, easily making it the biggest political event ever.”
Speaking with Newsweek, Paul Krishnamurty of Betfair said that the sudden surge is a result of “growing confidence in the betting market.”
“That’s what we always see at the end of an election where the people get more confident about the market and the big hitters enter,” Krishnamurty said.
“Whilst more money has been bet on Donald Trump, it could be telling that the ten biggest stakes are all on Joe Biden,” said a Betfair spokesperson.
As The Daily Wire reported, however, the bookies should not be a source of confidence going into the 2020 election, given how badly they performed during the 2016 election; Paddy Power being chief among them. “With national polls showing a healthy lead for the Democratic candidate and Donald Trump’s campaign running into scandal after scandal, Paddy Power believes it’s a done deal and that Hillary is a nailed-on certainty to occupy the Oval Office,” Gambling.com reported Oct. 26, 2016.
“Trump gave it a hell of a shot going from a rank outsider to the Republican candidate, but the recent flood of revelations have halted his momentum and his chances now look as patchy as his tan,” the bookmaker said. “Recent betting trends have shown one-way traffic for Hillary and punters seemed to have called it 100 percent correct. Despite Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ message appealing to many disillusioned voters, it looks as though America [is] going to put a woman in the White House.”