‘Blushing bookie’ Paddy Power pays out early on Greek referendum Yes… Greece then votes No
Paddy Power has been served “a dollop of humble pie for breakfast” after incorrectly paying out Yes bets on the Greek referendum before the results were even announced.
On the back of the nation choosing to reject EU austerity and its latest loan terms with 61 per cent voting No, Paddy went in with weighted money from bets and internal data backed the wrong horse in Yes which cost it a five-figure sum.
A Paddy Power spokesman told The Drum that it got a little “over excited” and was looking to continue its good record of paying out referendum and election results early, most notably nailing the results of the Scottish referendum and the Conservative Party’s latest majority before they were called.
He added that the bookmaker felt it was a “sensible call” and that projections had the likelihood of a Yes vote at 80 per cent.
The firm’s last high profile blunder was in 2009 when it paid out on a Tiger Woods PGA Championship after just two rounds - only to see Y.E. Yang sneak up the rear, snag the title and cost Paddy Power around £1.25m.