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Bettors at Irish online sportsbook Paddy Power who wagered on Hillary Clinton to win tomorrow's Presidential election and have already been paid will not have to give the money back if she loses, a Paddy Power official told Gambling 911 today.
Last month, Paddy Power (www.paddypower.com) announced that it was so sure Clinton would win the election that it would pay off all wagers on her immediately, even though the election was still a month away.
Winners were paid, but some within and outside the betting industry wondered what would happen should Clinton ultimately lose the election.
Paddy Power spokesman Feilim MacAnlomaire told Gambling 911 that asking for the money back from Clinton bettors was never an option, and also that the book pays off early on wagers all the time.
"We’re in the business of predictions and from time to time we like to put our money where our mouth is, like our customers do on a daily basis, and make a bold move," MacAnlomaire said. "We felt at the time that it (a Clinton victory) was a done deal and decided to give our customers an early payday.
"We paid out early on Obama winning the 2012 election four days before the country went to the polls," he continued. "We have also had it blow up in our faces from time to time. We were stung by Y.E Yang after paying out early on Tiger Woods winning the 2009 PGA Championship and also by Manchester United, whose late season collapse in 2013 saw their rivals Manchester City pip them to the English Premier League title after we had paid out on the Red Devils.
"If Clinton loses we’ll end up with some very expensive egg on our face and pay out on Trump. There’s no question of us looking for our customers’ money back after we’ve paid it out and it’s no longer ours, as far as we’re concerned."
MacAnlomaire was also asked about comments made earlier this week to Gambling 911 by Graham Sharpe, spokesman for rival online sportsbook William Hill (www.williamhill.co.uk), that Paddy Power paying off Clinton bettors early was a "publicity stunt" because Paddy Power wasn't booking much action on the election and didn't have much to lose by making early payouts.
"This seems like a strange strategy for old school bookies such as William Hill, but we’re all about giving our punters a good experience and from time to time that involves us taking a risk," MacAnlomaire said. "As we announced publicly, we paid out over $1 million on Hillary, which is big money in anyone’s language."
By Tom Somach
Gambling 911 Staff Writer
