An anonymous individual has wagered over $1 million on Joe Biden winning the election.
According to British bookmaker Betfair Exchange, an unnamed person in the UK placed a £1 million bet (approximately $1.29 million) over the weekend on Biden defeating incumbent President Donald Trump.
Sam Rosbottom, a spokesperson for Betfair, stated that this bet “is the biggest political bet of all time.” This comes after The Sun reported on Monday that a British gambler bet $5 million on a Trump victory, now believed to be the largest political wager ever made.
If Biden wins the election, the bettor will receive $1,986,903. The bookmaker revealed that $337 million worth of bets have been placed on the 2020 election, with $170 million on Biden and $156 million on Trump.
Betfair assessed that Biden has a 66 percent chance of winning, while Trump has a 35 percent chance. “This is a huge market,” Matthew Shaddick, head of political betting at GVC, a British sports betting and gambling firm, told AFP news agency. “It is twice as big as 2016, easily making it the biggest political event ever.”
While political betting is illegal in the United States, it is permitted overseas. Betfair election expert Paul Krishnamurty explained to Newsweek that the surge in large bets in the final days before Election Day reflects “growing confidence in the betting market.” He noted, “That’s what we always see at the end of an election where the people get more confident about the market and the big hitters enter.”
Despite more money being bet on Trump overall, a Betfair spokesperson told Newsweek that “the ten biggest stakes are all on Joe Biden.” Betfair predicts the Biden-Trump election will be the largest-ever gambling event, with more than $400 million expected in bets by Tuesday.
The other massive political bet was placed by a wealthy former banker using a private bookie registered in Curacao, a small Caribbean island. A friend of the financier said he consulted with “Trump camp insiders” before making the high-risk bet, which could yield nearly $15 million on a 2.85 return.
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.”
