Following Newt Gingrich’s win in South Carolina, Europe’s largest betting company Paddy Power is today sweating over its decision on Friday to pay out early on Mitt Romney winning the Republican nomination.
While Romney remains the favourite for the Republican nomination his odds have taken a significant slide from 1/14 to 2/5, while Gingrich’s odds have been chopped from 6/1 before the South Carolina Primary to 2/1.
For next weeks Florida Primary, Romney and Gingrich are joint 5/6 favourites for the win with Ron Paul and Rick Santorum both at a very unlikely 66/1 to record their first victory of the campaign.
Paddy Power a spokesman for Paddy Power said “It looks as though we could have jumped the gun too soon by paying out on Romney. Newt Gingrich is continuing to build momentum and if he succeeds we could end up with some very expensive pie on our face!â€
Meanwhile, Paddy Power are also taking bets on what cliché Barack Obama will say first during Tuesday’s State of the Union speech. The favourite is “We have more work to do†at 8/1 followed by “Health Care Reform†at 10/1 while “Life is like a box of chocolates†is at a massive 250/1 to be his first utterance tomorrow evening.
Republican Presidential Nomination
2/5 Mitt Romney
2/1 Newt Gingrich
16/1 Ron Paul
50/1 Rick Santorum
Florida Primary
5/6 Mitt Romney
5/6 Newt Gingrich
66/1 Ron Paul
66/1 Rick Santorum