UK Bookies Pay Up as Trump Wins US Election

UK bookies reveal that US election has become their biggest ever political market.

Bookmakers across the United Kingdom are counting the costs of Donald Trump’s shocking victory in the US Presidential Race as the wealthy businessman was regarded a major underdog ahead of the election.

The Republican candidate enjoyed a landslide triumph as he won the key states of Florida, Ohio and North Carolina, sending shockwaves across the world as many were shocked by the outcome.

UK betting firms had been hoping to turn a nice profit as the US Presidential Race become their largest non-sporting event with UK bettors staking over £150 million on the two candidates.

However, some of them were forced to pay up big time as long shot Trump enjoyed an unlikely victory, and this was especially true for Paddy Power, who had paid out on Hilary Clinton winning a couple of weeks ago, but still accepted bets on Trump, taking the total minus to $4.5 million.

Female Punters Lose Out Big Time on Hilary

While Ladbrokes were accepting an average of 35 bets per minute, William Hill had reason for optimism as they accepted bets of €550000, €220000 and £183,200 on Hilary Clinton to win, with all three placed by female punters.

Meanwhile, Spandex had to pay one lucky bettor £500,000 after he placed a £200,000 wager on Trump to win the Presidential Race.

John Mappin from Cornwall was so convinced that the Republican candidate would take the White House that he placed no fewer than 30 bets over a period of time, securing a nice windfall of £100,000.

UK punters have clearly taken to political markets, but the US Presidential Race proved even more popular than the UK’s EU Referendum that resulted in the famous Brexit.

Leading UK betting firms such as William Hill, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power were accepting a huge number of bets during the election day, with wagers split evenly across both sides of the market in the dying moments.