UK Bookmaker William Hill has just taken what could be its biggest-political bet ever, accepting a £400,000 ($670,000) wager that Scotland would vote no on its independence referendum this coming September.The Guardian reported that the man from Surrey came into a William Hill branch in South-West London bearing a banker’s draft for £400,000 to bet on 1/4 odds that Scotland’s independence referendum would be decided by no votes. If he’s successful, the man stands to win a profit of £100,000 ($167,000).
Betting on such low odds can be a huge gamble, but recent opinion polls indicate growing support for a no vote, improving to 61 percent compared to the previous poll. By contrast, support for a yes vote has dropped to just 18 percent, down from 22 percent. The numbers suggest it might not be such a huge gamble for the man from Surry, still it’s a pretty significant bet to make to win just a quarter of the amount you’re staking.
The bet caught the attention of William Hill, which already has a £200,000 ($335,000) bet on a no vote on the line. Shortly after taking this even bigger wager, the bookmaker told the Guardian of its plan to cut odds on a no vote to just 1/5 while also increasing odds of a yes vote from 11/4 to 10/3 odds.
If anything, William Hill is milking the publicity generated by these insane wagers. This is free buzz that’s getting the bookmaker a ton of media mileage. The astronomical bets—it’s well on its way to £1 million ($1.67 million)—have come to the point where the prop is already being hailed as one of the biggest political-betting events outside of the U.S. Presidential race.
And people say political betting is boring? Clearly, people wagering large sums of money on these kinds of props would disagree.
source : www.calvinayre.com
