Paddy Power in record payout after gambling on Clinton

Paddy Power has apparently been left with a red face and a big bill following Donald Trump's shock win in the US presidential election.

In October, the Irish bookmaker paid out £800,000 to punters who had backed Hillary Clinton to be next commander-in-chief. The payments were made after Trump became engulfed in a series of scandals, including leaked audiotapes suggesting he groped women.

However, the Republican went on to pull off one of the biggest turnarounds and electoral shocks in US history – meaning Paddy Power has had to pay out another £4m, says The Guardian.

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"After Donald Trump was hit with scandal after scandal we were confident of Hillary's chances – prompting the whopping payout," the firm said in a blog post.

"Clinton's campaign took a late hit thanks to the reopened FBI investigation, which resulted in a huge surge in bets for The Donald."

The loss was the bookie's biggest in political betting.

Spokesperson Feilim Mac An Iomaire said: "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."

Overall British bookies "sustained large losses in the wake of record bets" on a Trump victory, the Wall Street Journal says. A total of £20m was placed in traditional physical betting shops, alongside huge sums online - William Hill alone said it took £4m.

However, the bookmakers might not have done as badly as the headline payout numbers suggest. Around three-quarters of the record revenues total was on a Clinton win.

As a result, despite more individual bets going on Trump and the hefty odds being offered, losses were at least mostly offset and many companies will have turned a profit on the event.

Even Paddy Power's double-payout might not work out badly, an industry expert told Bloomberg.

"If it's cost them [£800,000], it's been cheap because they would have got that back many times over in publicity," said Warwick Bartlett, the chief executive officer of Isle of Man-based Global Betting and Gaming Consultants.

"This will fly around the world that they paid out early."