Paddy Power is backing off from its audacious plan to payout punters who wagered on a Hillary Clinton presidency, before the election is even held.
The Irish bookmaker’s bold decision to start handing out cash weeks before Americans officially choose their next president has already cost them more than $1 million in payouts to approximately 6,000 punters.
Those payouts began about a week and a half ago. Since then, however, the publicity-minded bookie has something of a change of heart regarding Donald J. Trump’s chances of moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
In a statement to the press, as reported on by CalvinAyre.com, Paddy Power spokesperson Féilim Mac An Iomaire explained the move saying:
We’re not reaching for the rosary beads just yet but if money talks, and it usually does, it’s telling us that Trump still has a puncher’s chance and he’ll be leaving us with some very expensive egg on our face if he does manage to pull it off.
With the vast majority of polls showing Clinton leading Trump in the race, there’s very little chance that Paddy Power will wind up with egg on its face because of its early payout decision.
What Paddy Power will get, no matter what happens in the US, is a boatload of free publicity from their early payout PR plan. Paddy Power is notorious for, and ridiculously good at, is using current events to generate mountains of free press (not that there’s anything wrong with that).