The US Presidential election, according to online betting site Paddy Power is pretty much done and dusted. The Bookmaker paid out over $1 million on Hillary Clinton winning the race for the White House. The election isn’t actually until November 8th but so convinced is the bookmaker that it is going to be a runaway victory for Democratic nominee Clinton, that they paid out this week.
Throwing further fuel on the fire has been all of the scandal surrounding Republican challenger Donald Trump. The real estate mogul has courted controversy all through his campaign and the latest string of reports about his mistreatment of women has just given more support to Clinton’s claims for the Oval Office.
Trump was an outside candidate to get the Republican support in the first place, as long a2s 100/1 back in June 2015. But as he gained momentum, those odds tumbled and he was in as short as 13/8 to win the US Presidential Election by May this year. But with all the revelations about him coming out, the value on him winning has drifted severely out to a price of 9/2 which is around an 18% chance of winning the race.
This is still a huge gamble by Paddy Power to have paid out early on the market, especially as they have shelled out $1,000,000. But before having paid out on Clinton winning, the bookmaker received a flurry of money supporting the former ‘First Lady’, whose odds fell to a low 2/11 (84.6 per cent chance of winning).
So with The Donald looking to be out of the picture, a Paddy Power spokesperson said: ‘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. Recent betting trends have shown one way traffic for Hillary and punters seemed to have called it 100 per cent 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.”
This isn’t a new move by the bookmaker as they paid out $700,000 on Barack Obama winning two days before the 2012 election. Of course, nothing is set in stone though and Paddy Power were stung back in 2013 when they paid out on Manchester United winning the Premier League, only for rivals Man City to pip them at the death. If The Donald was to become the 45th President of the United States, Paddy Power would be left feeling the pinch of having paid out twice. Paddy Power continues to offer betting right up to and including Election Day. One of the most popular bets currently on offer is predicting the winning margin of the successful nominee on November 8th.
