Chris Bradford | The Scottish Sun
A BRITISH punter has lost $5million after betting on Donald Trump to defeat Joe Biden in the US presidential election.
The former banker, who is based offshore, used a private bookies registered on the Caribbean island Curacao to place his risky gamble – believed to be the largest political punt ever made.
A friend of the fluttering financier said he had consulted with “Trump camp insiders” before making the high risk bet that could’ve netted him a return of almost $15million at odds of 2.85.
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.”
The punter was not alone in placing a flurry of bets ahead of the nail-biting November 3 election.
One UK punter placed a whopping £1.54million on Democratic nominee Joe Biden defeating the incumbent Donald Trump.
Alex Kostin of Americangambler.com said: “As Joe Biden has been elected the 46th President of American, UK bookmakers breathe a sigh of relief; with 90% of the money backing Trump, the result marks one of the biggest windfalls for the bookies.
“With more than £600m wagered on the election, a Trump victory would have been a disastrous outcome for any bookmaker as they kept Trump’s odds relatively long throughout the entire campaign – despite the vast volume of bets backing Trump.
“But it paid off. The industry will be paying out around £180m, whereas if Trump had come out as the winner, they’d be looking to part with about £400m in payouts – if not ever more.
“One punter that may be celebrating more than others this evening is the person who put down a £1m bet on Biden a few days before Election Day at the odds 8/15.”
Ladbrokes confirmed that three in every four bets went on the Republican during the final week of the campaign.
Bron: The Scottish Sun