British punter LOSES $5million after gambling on Donald Trump to beat Joe Biden in ‘largest political wager ever made’
A BRITISH punter has lost $5million after betting on Donald Trump to defeat Joe Biden in the US presidential election.
The former banker, who is based offshore, used a private bookies registered on the Caribbean island Curacao to place his risky gamble - believed to be the largest political punt ever made.
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A friend of the fluttering financier said he had consulted with "Trump camp insiders" before making the high risk bet that could've netted him a return of almost $15million at odds of 2.85.
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."
The punter was not alone in placing a flurry of bets ahead of the nail-biting November 3 election.
One UK punter placed a whopping £1.54million on Democratic nominee Joe Biden defeating the incumbent Donald Trump.
Alex Kostin of Americangambler.com said: "As Joe Biden has been elected the 46th President of American, UK bookmakers breathe a sigh of relief; with 90% of the money backing Trump, the result marks one of the biggest windfalls for the bookies.
"With more than £600m wagered on the election, a Trump victory would have been a disastrous outcome for any bookmaker as they kept Trump’s odds relatively long throughout the entire campaign - despite the vast volume of bets backing Trump.
"But it paid off. The industry will be paying out around £180m, whereas if Trump had come out as the winner, they’d be looking to part with about £400m in payouts - if not ever more.
“One punter that may be celebrating more than others this evening is the person who put down a £1m bet on Biden a few days before Election Day at the odds 8/15."
Ladbrokes confirmed that three in every four bets went on the Republican during the final week of the campaign.
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Political betting is illegal in the United States but it's permitted overseas.
Last week, Betfair election expert Paul Krishnamurty that the large betting sums were coming in in the finals days ahead of Election Day because of "growing confidence in the betting market".
"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," Mr Krishnamurty said.
