After a similar publicity stunt 4 years earlier, Paddy Power once again paid out early on all bets backing Barack Obama, for the 2012 US Presidential election.
This time, Obama was facing Mitt Romney, and it was a riskier move on Paddy Power’s part because the outcome was not looking as clear cut as it had done in 2008.
At the time of the early payout, around 24 hours before the election itself, the polls were still showing that the outcome was too close to call, as the popular vote was looking more or less tied, but Obama was edging ahead in polls relating to the all important swing states.
However, bettors did not agree, as a Paddy Power spokesman confirmed:
“The overall betting trend has shown one-way traffic for Obama and punters seemed to have called it 100% correct.”
The stunt cost Paddy Power £400,000, and very few people had bet on Romney by comparison with Obama attracting 75% of the action, so it wasn’t exactly going to bankrupt them if they got it wrong, but that amount of money is no joke either.
PADDY POWER EARLY PAYOUT ON OBAMA. Overall betting trend showed one way traffic for Obama, early payout amounts to more than £400,000
— Paddy Power Politics (@pppolitics) November 5, 2012
Of course, we all know that they made the correct call, and with hindsight, it’s easy to see why Obama took a second term.
Presidents were more likely to serve two terms rather than one going on stats from recent history, and to be fair to Obama, he had been doing a decent job of steering the country back to financial health after the Republicans had made a bit of a hash of things under George Bush Jnr. Plus, Obama was the one that ‘got’ Bin Laden.
Many punters actually thought Obama was priced too long.
It was indeed closer this time around than it had been 4 years earlier, but nevertheless, Obama came out victorious.
While Obama got 51.1% of the popular vote, the electoral vote is the one that really counts, and he received 332 to Romney’s 206, securing a second term comfortably.