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Irish bookmaker Paddy Power's decision to pay out $1 million to customers who bet on a Hillary Clinton victory backfired, as Donald Trump was elected U.S. president in a surprise win.
Clinton was a "nailed-on" certainty to get to the White House, Paddy Power said last month, putting her odds of victory at that point at 86 percent.
"We're in the business of making predictions and decided to put our neck on the line by paying out early on Hillary Clinton, but boy did we get it wrong," said spokesman Feilim Mac An Iomaire. "We've been well and truly thumped by Trump."
Bookmakers pay out early when they regard the result as a foregone conclusion, in part because it draws publicity and in part because gamblers often recycle winnings into other wagers.
Paddy Power said it will also pay out $4.5 million (4 million euros) to backers of Trump, leaving the bookmaker facing the biggest political payout in its 28-year history.
"If it's cost them a million, it's been cheap because they would have got that back many times over in publicity," said Warwick Bartlett, chief executive officer of Isle of Man-based Global Betting and Gaming Consultants. "This will fly around the world that they paid out early."
It's not the first time the bookmaker has been wrong. Last year, Paddy Power said it was left "red-faced" after paying out early to gamblers who incorrectly bet that Greek voters would back an austerity referendum. The result of the U.K.'s Brexit referendum also defied gambling firms, which placed a 90 percent chance on the nation remaining in the European Union as the campaign drew to a close.
The company paid out on Clinton "because they believe the polls, which is a major mistake," said Bartlett. "The polls have proven to be fallible."