Oh 'Yes'! Now bookies are left licking wounds
Related Articles
Saturday June 14 2008
SOME RED-FACED bookmakers are facing their biggest ever political payouts as punters who correctly backed a Lisbon 'No' vote against the odds line up to collect their winnings.
The biggest Lisbon losers are Paddy Power, who are now making double payouts after disastrously tempting fate late on Thursday night by announcing within minutes of polls closing that they would pay out on 'Yes' bets.
That mistake will now cost them approximately €180,000, with the bookmaker -- famed for often paying out early on what seem to be dead certs -- admitting that Lisbon ranks as one of its biggest blunders.
Of the €100,000 Paddy Power will pay out on Lisbon 'No' bets, half will be pocketed by a canny Munster punter who put €10,000 on 'No' at odds of 5/1.
"We're licking our wounds," said Ken Robertson from Paddy Power. "We've done it before on big events like general elections but we've never really been caught out this badly.
"We got the last two general elections right. We looked at the trends over the last 24 hours and the trail of the money was suggesting a 'Yes' vote. It was a very varied book.
"There were sizeable 'No' bets on two weeks ago but by last night the odds were 1/3 that 'Yes' would be carried.
"In terms of non-sporting events, this is the biggest hit we've ever taken."
Also feeling the pinch were Boylesports, who are facing payouts of €30,000. A Boylesports spokesperson said that the odds had varied wildly over the past few months. "On the fifth of April, 'Yes' was 1/5 on and 'No' was 3/1," the spokesperson said.
"On the sixth of June it had changed to 1/2 for 'Yes' and 6/4 for 'No'. And by the ninth, that had changed to 1/4 for 'Yes' and 5/2 for 'No'.
"There was quite a lot of money put on for what was a novelty bet. It did excite a lot of people."
Hackett's, who have branches around the country, said they didn't expect to take a big hit on Lisbon since they took in more bets on the 'No' side in the last few weeks.
"The 'No' side did seem to be more popular in the last few weeks," a spokesperson said. "The 'No' odds shortened from 3/1 to 7/4 in the last couple of weeks. We definitely took more in on 'No' so we won't be taking as big a hit as the rest."
Some bookmakers' firms, like Ladbroke's, escaped a rare scalping by not even taking bets on Lisbon at all.
