Mystery Brit gambler bets $5MILLION on Donald Trump election victory in the ‘largest political wager ever made’
A MYSTERY British businessman has bet $5 MILLION on a Donald Trump victory at 37/20 — believed to be the largest political punt ever made.
The rich former-banker who is based offshore used a private bookies registered on the tiny Caribbean island Curacao for his risky gamble on today’s US presidential election.
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A pal of the fluttering financiar said he had consulted with "Trump camp insiders" before making the high risk bet that could net him a cheque of almost $15million on 2.85 return.
A betting industry source told The Sun: "Word of this bet has done the rounds and we think it's the biggest ever made on politics."
But the mystery punter was not alone in a last minute flurry of bets for the White House incumbent.
Ladbrokes said 3 in 4 of all bets for Trump in the final week of campaign.
Jessica O'Reilly of Ladbrokes said: "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."
And Paddy Power said the volume of wagers placed on the two candidates over the last 24-hours has seen 93 per cent of the money backing Donald Trump to get a second term, with just 7 per cent going for Joe Biden.
Biden is still firmly the bookies’ favourite though as America goes to the polls today.
It emerged today that a bet-placer has put $1million on him winning.
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."
Political betting is illegal in the United States – but it’s not overseas.
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Betfair election expert Paul Krishnamurty told Newsweek that the large betting sums were coming in in the finals days ahead of Election Day because 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.
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"Whilst more money has been bet on Donald Trump, it could be telling that the ten biggest stakes are all on Joe Biden," a Betfair spokesperson told Newsweek.
The Biden-Trump election is set to be the biggest-ever gambling event, per Betfair, as more than $400million is expected in bets by Tuesday.
