Donald Trump Being a Big Winner Means William Hill Being a Big Loser
LONDON -- British online bookmaker William Hill (www.williamhill.co.uk) suffered a six-figure loss booking the U.S. presidential election, as 70 per cent of bettors put their money on the winner, Donald J. Trump, a book spokesman tells Gambling 911.
"The U.S. election was the biggest political betting event ever," said William Hill spokeman Graham Sharpe. "William Hill took 5 million pounds (about 6 million U.S. dollars) worth of bets on the outcome, but it left them with a six-figure hangover, after 70 per cent of the political punters speculating on the outcome opted to back Donald Trump to win, despite the fact that he was a 150-1 outsider when he first emerged as a potential candidate.
"The good news is that betting on politics is booming like never before," Sharpe continued. "The bad news is that we seem to have some very shrewd customers betting on it, and a six-figure loss on this market can now be added to losing outcomes on the recent European Union referendum, the last general election and the Labour leadership campaign."
Despite the Trump victory being a financial disaster for William Hill, the book will continue to book Trump bets, Sharpe said.
For example, Sharpe said, William Hill has already set odds on where President Trump will go on his first foreign visit.
The odds that he will visit Russia are 3-1, Canada is 4-1, the United Kingdom is 6-1, China is 7-1, France is 7-1, Germany is 7-1, Mexico is 9-1, Slovenia is 9-1, Cuba is 16-1, Israel is 16-1 and North Korea is 66-1, Sharpe said.
Bettors can also wager specifically on when Trump will visit the U.K., Sharpe said.
A visit to the U.K. would include a visit to England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Trump's maternal side of the family is Scottish and the paternal side is German.
The odds that Trump visits the U.K. in 2017 are 8-11, Sharpe said, and 13-8 that he visits in 2018 and 5-1 that he visits in 2019 or later.
Sharpe also said that Trump's big win has spurred wagering on other world political figures who are considered mavericks like Trump.
"Following Donald Trump's victory, William Hill have seen substantial support for Marine Le Pen to win the forthcoming French presidential election, and have cut her odds from 6-1 to 2-1," Sharpe said. "Political punters clearly sense a connection between the recent Brexit and Trump outcomes and suspect that the French may be ready to cause a political shock result."
In a related matter, Sharpe said a woman from Covent Garden, a section of London, was relieved to see Hillary Clinton fail to become President, as the woman stands to win 20,000 pounds if Hillary's daughter, Chelsea, is the first female President. The woman bet 20 pounds on that happening at odds of 1000-1 with William Hill in October of 2000, Sharpe said.
By Tom Somach
Gambling 911 Staff Writer
