Sports Bettors Win Big on U.S. Presidential Election
Scott Morris | November 9, 2016
The people of the United States have elected Donald Trump as their 45th President in what can only be described as a stunning upset.
On sportsbooks across the Internet, Trump was at +450 to begin the Tuesday morning election, as he was behind in nearly every poll leading up to the election. Many thought that Clinton would beat Trump early but Trump’s supporters proved them wrong.
Trump took an early lead then won important battleground states such as Florida, Ohio and North Carolina followed by upset wins in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Many sports bettors held tickets that were +6000 and +6600 when Trump’s winning the U.S. election was thought of as just a pipe dream.
One online sportsbook said that more money was bet on the U.S. presidential election than on any other individual political event. Money was still being bet as late as Tuesday afternoon.
One large money bet included an individual bet for Hillary Clinton that was worth over $750,000.
That was a huge win for the books as Clinton lost the election. Sportsbooks will be licking their wounds for some time on this election due to Trump starting out as such a long shot, then having his odds reduced as his popularity increased.
However, only two weeks ago, his odds went back up to +575 on many sportsbooks, before dropping down to +325 just days prior to Tuesday’s election.
Trump came close to surpassing Clinton on price, but she never fell below -110 on most sportsbooks even though the FBI announced it was looking into their investigation a second time over her email server.
The most bet on event that was not sports related was the U.S. Presidential election in 2012 when President Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney, until the UK’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union broke ever record in wagering, until now.
