One European Sportsbook Took $700 Million in Biden vs. Trump Bets
Getty Images. Pictured: Donald Trump, Joe Biden
All the major news networks called Joe Biden as the President elect of the United States late Saturday morning.
But the European sportsbook that likely has taken the most bets in the world on this election is keeping its markets open. (It has Biden as a massive -3333 favorite.)
Betfair has taken in $714 million in bets on the election thus far, 2.5-times what was bet on the exchange four years prior ($281 million).
For context, legal sportsbooks in the U.S. took nearly $300 million in bets for the Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl in February.
After Biden was declared the winner of the Electoral College by the networks, Betfair, which previously had not disclosed when they would close their markets and pay out winners, put out a tweet that explained their thinking.
Betfair closed previous markets when a candidate had given a concession speech, which likely won’t happen because of President Trump’s legal challenges.
“We will only settle markets when there is certainty around which candidate has the most projected Electoral College votes,” Betfair’s post says. “Before settling the markets, we must therefore wait for clarity around ongoing vote counts, recounts and any political legal challenges to the results.”
The Betfair Exchange is a peer-to-peer betting marketplace. The book posts the odds and facilitates the wagers, but bettors aren't actually betting against the house. Betfair holds the money, and upon releasing it to a winning side, it takes a percentage.
| See how the election odds evolved since Monday |
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