PaddyPower are Confident of a Connolly Victory
By Donna Gannon
Bookmakers PaddyPower have already declared Catherine Connolly the next president of Ireland – weeks before a single vote is counted.
On October 10th, PaddyPower announced that all bets placed on Connolly before 9 a.m on October 8th will be paid out as winners.
The company stated that this payout would stand “regardless of what happens when the nation votes at the end of the month.”
“Catherine Connolly was 1:10 and Heather Humphreys was 6:1 over the weekend, so they seem pretty confident in Connolly winning,” says a staff member at PaddyPower.
These figures mean that Connolly’s 1:10 odds imply about a 90% chance of winning, while Humphrey’s 6:1 odds suggest roughly a 14% chance.
In relation to early pay-outs, competitors of PaddyPower, BoyleSports will not be following suit, they said:
“We are still actively taking bets and have not paid out yet – we will be waiting for the official results.”
Paddypower is infamous for these ‘publicity stunts,’ making risky or controversial moves in order to gain media attraction – This is not the first time PaddyPower has paid out early on bets.
Stated on the PaddyPower website:
“It only took him two games to make Celtic punters happy with his early payout on the Bhoys winning the Scottish Premier League while last season he again paid out early on Liverpool to be crowned Premier League Champions.”
But regardless of certainty or early pay outs, the results lie in the hands of voters on Friday, October 24th.
Both Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys were contacted for a comment, but made no response.
