Paddy Power: Greek Referendum ‘Wildly Wrong’

Online gambling website Paddy Power was so sure that the Greek people would vote in favor of austerity that they made early payouts to those who wagered on this likelihood.

Paddy Power was wrong as 61 percent of the Greek population overwhelmingly voted “no” for austerity.

“Paddy Power is feeling a little red faced this morning after calling the Greek referendum wildly wrong,” Paddy Power said in an e-mail in Dublin on Monday, adding it “got a little overexcited.”

Greece's governing Syriza party had campaigned for a "No", saying the bailout terms were humiliating.  The country, however, remains in danger of being ejected from the Eurozone, a result of mounting debts. 

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the eurozone's group of finance ministers, said the referendum result was "very regrettable for the future of Greece".

Germany's Deputy Chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, said renewed negotiations with Greece were "difficult to imagine".

Paddy Power is not through offering odds on the future of Greece.  They currently have the country leaving the Eurozone by year’s end set at 5/4 odds.

- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com