The surprising win of the Coalition was not the only news which saw millions of Australian residents surprised. Another interesting revelation regarding the gambling business Sportsbet, as it became clear that, by Sunday night, the company had paid out more than AU$5 to local punters on election bets.
The betting operator, just like most of Australia, was absolutely sure that the local Labour party would win, so it decided to pay out its customers’ “winning” bets a couple of days before the votes have actually been counted. The overall amount paid out by Sportsbet to the ones who place wagers on the Labour Party and Bill Shorten was estimated to more than AU$1.3 million.
This didn’t age well…#ausvotes https://t.co/QHSot5rmbe
— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) May 18, 2019
The decision of the betting agency, however, is not that unusual. One of the major reasons why gambling companies pay out their punters’ winnings early is a previous tactic which has already proved to be quite successful, as it provides players with the chance to place the winnings as wager into another event.
A couple of days after Sportsbet has paid out the expected winnings to everyone who had bet on the Labour Party, it turned out that the real loss to the company was generated with the payouts made to the players who bet on the Coalition and, respectively, Scott Morrison to win.
Sportsbet Still Keeps Its Sense of Humour Despite the Large Losses
The gambling company still managed to see the humour in the situation, despite suffering a massive loss. It used its Twitter account to post several jokes regarding the “biggest losers” from the weekend, ranking itself among them.
According to previous Sportsbet predictions, the Labour Party would have won the elections, claiming a total of 82 seats and leaving the Coalition with 63 seats. However, it was the Coalition which appeared to be the actual winner, with 75 seats in the election, and potentially more wins to come.
Tough day at work for Gal. We know how you feel mate! #NRLSharksManly #auspoI pic.twitter.com/T8ajzBQarU
— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) May 19, 2019
Richard Hummerston, a spokesman for Sportsbet, has confirmed the losses for the company, joking that the gambling operator would have to take alternative measures to compensate for the costs made after the early winning payouts. Despite the massive losses, the gambling company is still trying to see the bright side of the situation, making a parallel with the mining magnate Clive Palmer who invested about AU$80 million in his own fortune at the election but was not successful.
Yep, we blew $1.3million
Could have been $80million though eh Clive?#ausvotes #Ausvotes2019 pic.twitter.com/R8kG9GqK5q— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) May 18, 2019
Sports betting still remains a large part of the Australian gambling sector, with a large number of players betting on various events. Apart from the massive losses suffered by Sportsbet, it also became clear that an anonymous punter could have won the amount of AU$230,000 in case that the Labour Party has won, after placing only AU$1 as a bet with Ladbrokes. The unsuccessful bet, which has been the biggest one in the history of Ladbrokes, now went into the agency’s pocket.
- Author
Olivia Cole
