Pope Was a Massive Longshot at the Books
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States has been elected as the 267th pope of the Catholic Church.
The 69-year-old Pope Leo XIV, originally from Chicago and a Villanova graduate, makes history as the first American pope, and his election came to the surprise of many.
Prevost's odds this morning at BetOnline.ag had ballooned to 40/1. A true American underdog crossing the finish line like a Kentucky Derby longshot.
Prevost did not appear on any of BetOnline's "Next Pope" boards back in 2022. He was only added this month to the long list of candidates.
Here's this week's timeline of Prevost's odds:
May 6 - 16/1 odds
May 7 - 25/1 odds
May 8 - 40/1 odds
"Bets were steadily coming in on a handful of papal candidates this week, but none of them were Prevost so we kept bumping his odds," BetOnline.ag Political Oddsmaker Paul Krishnamurty said. "Every pope market we had was a winner for the book so it's too bad this only happens every decade or so."
The papal name, Leo, had the fourth-lowest odds on the board (behind Francis, Pius, John) at 8/1.
Bettors were taking the 'over' for rounds of voting at 4.5 so the 'under' hit for BetOnline.
Additionally, the "Continent of Next Pope" was a winner as North American was listed with 9/1 odds (second-to-last odds).
Finally, the odds of 3/2 for the next pope being younger than 70 cashed.
