US Politics

With the news that President Obama’s top economic adviser Larry Summers is to step down after the November elections, leading betting firm Paddy Power have installed former Young & Rubicam boss, Ann Fudge, as their 5/2 favourite to replace Summers as director of the White House National Economic Council.

Former senior economic adviser to President Bill Clinton, Laura Tyson, is Paddy Power’s 11/4 second favourite ahead of Jason Furman at 4/1. Both Gene Sperling and Diana Farrell are considered 9/2 shots by the betting firm.

Paddy Power said “At this point it seems to be a two-horse race between Ann Fudge and Laura Tyson with Fudge the more likely of the two” (more…)

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is now second favourite to win the Republican nomination according to international betting firm Paddy Power. The mother of five is now at odds of 4-1 just behind race favourite Mitt Romney at 11-4.

Palin’s forthcoming engagement as main speaker at a Republican dinner in Des Moines, Iowa has fuelled speculation over whether she will run for president in 2012 and has resulted in Paddy Power cutting her odds from 6-1 to 4-1 to win the Republican nomination, with the betting firm also offering odds of 5-1 that Palin will use the Iowa event as the platform to announce that she is seeking the Republican nod.

Paddy Power said “Sarah Palin is obviously playing her cards quite close to her chest but recent betting trends suggest that people believe she may just be the shot in the arm needed by the Republicans” (more…)

Leading betting organisation Paddy Power have today slashed the odds from 5/4 to 4/11 on Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice replacing Andrew Cuomo as New York State Attorney General in the November elections.

Paddy Power have reported significant betting in support of the native New Yorker who in 2005 become the first woman elected district attorney in Long Island history.

Over the past 24 hours several wagers of €100 (US$130) have been placed in support of the Nassau County DA which forced the bookie to cut her odds into 4/11.

State Senator Eric Schneiderman is currently the 7/2 second favourite ahead of former New York State Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo at 8/1 and State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky at 10/1.

Paddy Power said “From a betting point of view Kathleen Rice has emerged as a very strong favorite and is now definitely the one to beat” (more…)

Forget about the soccer World Cup in South Africa, the burning question on the minds of punters around the globe is whether Sarah Palin had a boob job and leading bookie Paddy Power claims to have the answer.

Speculation began after the recent Belmont Stakes where the former Republican vice-presidential candidate was spotted looking suspiciously more voluptuous than usual. While the self confessed hockey mom has vehemently denied any procedure Paddy Power aren’t so sure and are offering odds of 7/4 that the 43-year old will admit the boob job before the 2012 election.

Paddy Power are also taking bets on Palin’s next procedure (Botox is the 4/6 favourite) and her chances of landing a modeling contract. The cheeky bookie is also taking bets on Palin’s actual boob size at the next Presidential election (a C cup is the 4-6 favourite).

Paddy Power said, “We’re all big Sarah Palin fans. She makes politics fun and keeps you guessing about what she can possibly do next!” (more…)

Paddy Power are today paying out over €5,000 to punters that backed Mayor Michael Bloomberg winning a third term in office a full 24-hours before voting starts in the 2009 election for Mayor of New York.

Hundreds of Bloomberg supporters will be collecting their winnings after the bookmaker suspended all bets on the 2009 Election and declared the Boston native as winner. Bloomberg was the bookies red-hot favourite and his odds tumbled from 1/50 to a literally unbackable 1/100 when betting was suspended.

Bloombergs opponent in the race, NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson, was literally friendless with punters with 95% of betting in support of Bloomberg despite Thompson’s generous odds of 14/1.

Paddy Power said “From a betting point of view this race is well and truly over with incumbent Mayor Bloomberg pretty much a certainty for a third term.  At odds of 1/100 surely nobody can disagree?”

Paddy Power are no strangers to early payouts on US elections having paid out over of €1,000,000 [$1,479,000] on Barack Obama as the forty-fourth President of the United States of America almost three weeks ahead of Election Day last year. (more…)

Support is growing for the possible legalisation of internet gambling according to Paddy Power. Ireland’s top bookie had been offering odds of 6/4 that pro-gambling Congressman Barney Frank would be successful with his attempts to lift the US federal ban on gambling before 2011. However they were forced to cut their odds from 6/4 to 4/5 following numerous “significant” bets placed through their online betting site, paddypower.com supporting the Frank’s sponsored bill getting the green light.

Barney Frank, who is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, has been a campaigner against the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which effectively banned Internet gambling by outlawing the transfer of funds from a financial institution to Internet gambling sites.

Paddy Power said “I understand that Congressman Frank was at the World Series of Poker last week drumming up support for his campaign and this seems to have acted as the catalyst to reignite speculation with punters that online gambling may yet be legalised. Rumour has it that President Obama plays a mean hand of poker so maybe the Congressman could find himself with some very powerful supporters!”

Paddy Power are also offering bets on which American State will first veto the bill should it be successfully passed into legalisation. Bible bashing Utah is the 2/1 favourite following by Nevada at 4/1.

Online Gambling Bill
4/5 Amendment of UIGEA to be passed into law on or before 31 Dec 2010 with Rep. Barney Frank as sponsor

First State to opt out if Bill is passed
2/1 Utah
4/1 Nevada
6/1 New Jersey
6/1 Texas (more…)

The new US Presidential pooch took a bite out of Paddy Power’s pocket today after the bookie paid out over €2,682 to punters who correctly predicted The Obama’s would choose a Portuguese Water Hound as their new family pet.

It was a toss between two breeds with the Irish bookie offering odds of 8/11 that the Obama’s would opt for a Portuguese water hound over another hypoallergenic breed, a Labradoodle at Even money.

The First family’s new six month old puppy Bo, who was a gift from Senator Edward Kennedy, is scheduled to make his first public appearance today as both Sasha and Malia return from school.

Paddy Power had also been betting on what The Obama’s would call their new puppy although ‘Bo’ wasn’t on the bookies list of potential names.

Paddy Power said “Our punters went Obama crazy and sank their teeth into our doggy specials for a bit of fun.  I’d never even heard of a Portuguese Water Hound before this!” (more…)

Will Smith is the bookies’ 6/4 favourite to play Barack Obama in the first Hollywood blockbuster about the new President.  Other superstars who feature in Paddy Power’s list to play what will surely be one of the roles of the century include Oscar winners Jamie Foxx and Denzel Washington at 5/2 and 4/1 respectively.

Paddy Power have been inundated with requests from punters on everything from who will play the new President in a Hollywood Blockbuster to what the Obama’s will name the puppy he promised his kids in his acceptance speech last night.

The cheeky bookie has even quoted odds of 100/1 that the Obama’s new puppy will be a pit bull named Palin!

George is the 8/1 favourite to be the name chosen for the new Whitehouse puppy – after the very first President Washington, rather than the George just gone.

Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said: “The phones haven’t stopped ringing since his acceptance speech – punters are really getting into the swing of things.  Everybody wants a piece of Obamania!” (more…)

As the final curtain is drawn on an extraordinary and historic US Presidential election, Ireland’s largest bookmaker, Paddy Power can finally uncross its legs after paying out in excess of €1,000,000 ($1,360,000) a full three weeks ago to punters who backed Barack Obama to become next US President.

Without pausing for breath, the market-leading election betting specialist has already focused its sights on the outcome of the 2012 election. Newly elected President Barack Obama is Paddy Power’s odds-on 4-5 favourite for successful re-election in 2012 and is a seemingly un-opposable 1-7 shot to win the 2012 Democratic nomination.

Paddy Power have installed Sarah Palin as their 3-1 favourite to win the Republican nomination in 2012 and make the glamorous Alaskan Governor an unlikely 7-1 shot to replace Obama in the White House next time around. Palin’s political colleagues Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are priced at 5-1 and 7-1 respectively to head up the Republican ticket in four years time.

Betting is also now available on who President Obama will choose as Secretary of State.  Top ranking American diplomat, Richard Holbrooke, is Paddy Power’s 9-4 favourite with Anthony Lake and Richard Lugar sharing the bookies 7-2 second-favourites tag.

Paddy Power said “Hats off to all those who backed Obama, you got it right and thankfully so did we.  We’re already looking ahead to 2012 and I honestly believe that the 4-5 about Obama to hold the Presidency will be the biggest price you can expect between now and then!” (more…)

There’s nothing that gets Paddy Power more excited these days than a good old fashioned wedding and tomorrow’s nuptials between Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky has the bookie acting like on kid on Christmas Eve.

To mark Chelsea’s big day Paddy Power are taking bets on everything from the designer of the glamorous brides wedding dress (Vera Wang is the red-hot favourite) to who will shed the first tear during tomorrow’s lavish ceremony, Bill is currently the bookies 7/4 favourite.

You can also place bets of what song will accompany the happy couples first dance with R&B singer Etta James tipped to lead the charge at odds of 5/1.

Looking into the future Paddy Power are tipping 2011 as the year the newly weds will have their first child and are even offering odds of whether it will be a boy or a girl!

Paddy Power said “We’ve a long tradition of betting on the length of the Best Mans speech weddings in Ireland so we’ve just turbo charged our usual offering in honour of such a big event” (more…)