Gambler Loses $318K on UK Elections

Although he was playing with the house money, after earlier Scottish bet
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2015 11:43 AM CDT
Gambler Loses $318K on UK Elections
From left, Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, and British Prime Minister David Cameron. Only Cameron was left standing after the election.   (Dan Kitwood/Pool photo via AP)

You win some, you lose some. Just ask Ed Miliband and this gambler: The anonymous bettor was so sure that the UK elections would result in a hung parliament that he put down $316,500 with a bookmaker, reports USA Today via the Independent. Then the Conservatives stunned pollsters by winning an outright majority. Softening the sting: The same gambler won $297,000 by correctly predicting that the earlier Scottish referendum would end in a no vote.

"For the majority of the night we were convinced he was on to a winner, but things then spiraled against him," says a spokesman for bookmaker William Hill. "This is the biggest ever loss on a political bet, but I have spoken to the man and he will live to fight another day. He is going to take a low profile for a while." (More gambling stories.)

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