BOOKMAKER PADDY POWER is so certain Hillary Clinton will win the US Presidential election, it is paying out to customers who backed her two weeks before the country even votes.
The move was announced on the Paddy Power blog yesterday, as national polls show a healthy lead for the Democratic candidate over Republican Donald Trump, whose campaign has been shaken by a number of scandals.
The bookmaker said it believes “it’s a done deal that Hillary is a nailed-on certainty to occupy the Oval Office”.
Trump’s odds in May 2016 were as short as 13/8 but recent revelations about his comments about and alleged actions towards women halted this momentum. His odds are now at 9/2, representing an 18.2% chance of winning.
This compares with Clinton’s odds of 2/11.
Paddy Power said it was putting its “neck on the line” for over €900,000.
“Recent betting trends have shown one way traffic for Hillary and punters seemed to have called it 100% correct. Despite Trump’s Make America Great Again message appealing to many disillusioned voters, it looks as though America are going to put a woman in the White House,” said Féilim Mac An Iomaire, a spokesperson for Paddy Power.
This is not the first time the bookie has pulled a stunt like this – they paid out almost €640,000 on Barack Obama winning two days before the 2012 election.
They also paid out early on Tiger Woods winning the PGA Championship in 2009, which backfired when YE Yang actually won.
If Trump does beat the odds and become the 45th President of the United States, it will trigger the biggest political payout in bookmaking history and Paddy Power said it will have “some very expensive pie on its face”.
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