Sportsbet milks misguided payout on Australian election upset

Australian online sports betting operator Sportsbet is looking at a AU$5.2m deficit after paying out early and incorrectly on the country’s election results.

Late last week, Sportsbet, the down under online sports betting unit of UK-listed gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair, announced it was paying out two days early for customers who’d bet on the Labor Party emerging triumphant in Saturday’s federal election.

But the incumbent Liberal/National coalition defied pollsters by winning a third three-year term to rule the country. Sportsbet paid out AU$1.3m to bettors who’d backed Labor to win based on the company’s assertion that 70% of its election wagers were on Labor and “punters rarely get it wrong on elections.”

Actually, bookies have proven as unreliable as pollsters on numerous occasions in recent election markets, including the UK’s Brexit vote and the 2015 General Election. In 2016, Sportsbet’s parent company paid out £1m early on Hillary Clinton defeating Donald Trump, an upset that, combined with winning Trump wagers, put a £5m dent in Paddy Power Betfair’s annual profit.