Just 20% of punters' money was on the UK to leave the EU in a historic night for political betting
EU Referendum
It’s been a fairly busy 24 hours. Not only did the Big Brother house flood, and the Mitchell family had another crisis on Eastenders, but the UK decided to up sticks and leave the EU. Nigel Farage’s Leave Campaign was victorious by a super-slim margin and the resulting shockwaves saw the value of the sterling plummet as David Cameron resigned and the zip-wire-flying, bicycle-riding, hair-styling Boris Johnson became favourite to take over as Prime Minister.
One of the big questions of the day is how did the bookmakers get it so wrong? High rollers continued to punt on the ‘Stay’ market yesterday, but an incredible number of smaller stakes flooded in for ‘Leave’ ensuring Paddy Power was in a lose/lose situation.
But around the country where was the money going?
The Percentage of Money Staked on the UK to Remain in the EU
In the capital a staggering 80 per cent of the cash was riding on the UK remaining in the EU, as a number of chunky bets – including a £10,000 punt – rolled in throughout the day. Similarly the ‘Stay’ decision was well backed in Liverpool (78 per cent), Glasgow (76 per cent) and Derry (93 per cent).
The place where punters will be happiest today is down in Southampton as 73 per cent of cash was on the UK to leave the EU. Similarly there would have been plenty of gleeful dances in the North East as there was more cash on ‘Leave’ in Sunderland, Sheffield and Leeds.
The fallout from the vote continues throughout the day, from Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership being questioned, Scotland and Northern Ireland calling for referendums, and millions of people from all corners of the EU fretting about the price of a Freddo. Luckily Paddy Power’s politics trader Stephanie Anderson is on top of it all, and you can read her latest Blog here.