Search the Community

After the UK’s biggest ever political betting event, William Hill said it lost money on the outcome of the European Union referendum. Hills has been an exponent of political betting in recent years, with events such as the Scottish independence referendum of 2014 and last year’s general election generating huge interest and large revenues. Hills’ Graham Sharpe told that the bookmaker actually took more money on the Scottish independence vote, although a £900,000 bet “slightly skewed the market” two years ago. Sharpe said about £20m (€24.7m/$27.4m) was taken in total on referendum bets. Hills offered Remain as the favourite throughout the campaign, but while 69 per cent of all the money taken was for Remain, 69 per cent of all individual bets were for Leave. When asked if the industry had learned anything from the Brexit betting market, Sharpe said: “It shows that you can beat the bookie occasionally. It is the biggest political betting event in bookmaking history, and the industry has learned there is an appetite to bet on politics.” “There is no rest for the political markets, with Hills already offering bets on the next Conservative leader following David Cameron’s resignation this morning (Friday).” Source: TotallyGaming