Trumping the Bets One Last Time: Republican Denial Delays Presidential Payouts
Published November 16, 2020 by Lee R
Presidential betting is still going two weeks later.
Despite record-breaking Presidential betting, punters in the UK and out who bet on President Biden still cannot celebrate.
Betfair Record
Flutter-owned Betfair reported record-breaking action on the election, to the tune of £600m ($795.9m) across over three million bets were placed on either Trump or Joe Biden.
Doubling 2016
This compares to a less than half 2016 total of £250m placed on Betfair for the race between Trump and Hilary Clinton.
Individual Presidential Bet Record
A record-breaking stake of £1m was placed on Biden to win to set the Betfair record for largest individual wager of all time.
Election Continues
Yet the election is not over for oddsmakers.
While Biden has been declared President-elect by every major news network, the Electoral College still must certify the results.
Unsettled Presidential Bets
PR events to de-certify the election in one way or another leave most gambling books with unsettled bets, topped by one UK betting platform's lingering handle of $840 million alone.
Bovada Spokesperson Still Working
Bovada oddsmaker Pat Morrow has been busy for two weeks since the election, taking more bets:
“God help me, I think I have the news on more now than I did during Election Day.”
Tying Up Funds
A Biden win represents Bovada's single largest betting event ever, while a surprise Trump win would cost Bovada more than any single punting event ever has—tying up all kinds of funds:
“We want people to get paid out and going off to bet football. But due to the size of the handle, we can’t.”
Hedging Risk
That's because paying out on Biden's likely victory takes on the risk of additionally paying out a surprise Trump win representing “a quarter” of Bovada's yearly revenue.
Current Election Status
The AP has declared Biden the winner with 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. Then, local, state and federal election officials released a statement declaring the presidential election the “most secure in America history” with “no evidence” of fraud or voting.
Outlook
However, Vice President Mike Pence's subsequent Friday promise to young Republicans at a retreat that the party would not give up efforts to overturn the results represents enough to delay payouts and keep both bookmakers and Biden punters still sweating it out two weeks on.
