For gamblers, Clinton versus Trump is the biggest US election on record
It has attracted nearly as much money in bets as the UK’s Brexit referendum
New York — The raucous, passionate and unpredictable 2016 US presidential election is on track to notch another distinction: the most wagered-on political event ever. With many opinion polls showing a tight race just one day before Tuesday’s election, record numbers of bettors are pouring millions into online platforms from Ireland to Iowa in the hope of capturing a financial windfall from a victory by Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump. UK-based internet betting exchange Betfair said on Sunday its Next President market was set to become the most traded it had ever seen and expected to surpass even Brexit, the contentious UK referendum to leave the EU. By Sunday, about $130m had been traded on who would become the next US president, compared with $159m on the Brexit referendum, Betfair spokeswoman Naomi Totten said. The amount bet so far on the 2016 contest dwarfs the roughly $50m laid on the 2012 race. "We think it is because [of] how raw the Brexit [vote] is in pe...
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