Everybody was caught with their pants down when it came to Donald Trump's unexpected election victory, including the bookies, which are paying dearly for their collective misjudgement.
Sportsbet reports it has paid out $11 million to 25,000 punters who backed Trump, including one punter who picked up $10,100 from a $100 bet on Trump in 2014.
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US election: markets grapple with uncertainty
The key outcome of the US election is uncertainty as markets piece together President-elect Donald Trump's policy goals, and how the federal reserve will react. The Age's Peter Martin explains.
The company, owned by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power/Betfair, hasn't said how much was bet on a Hillary Clinton victory, but twice as many bets were made on Trump, suggesting the losses across the industry will be substantial.Â
This is certainly the case for its UK parent, which was so confident of a Democrat victory it paid out €1 million ($1.4 million) to punters three weeks before the election. Like everyone, it believed the polls.Â
It now has to pay out €4 million for a Trump victory and will record its biggest loss ever on a political bet.Â
Toblerones changing, Trump elected, AND it's an international break in the football. Rough week.
— Paddy Power (@paddypower) November 9, 2016
"We're in the business of making predictions and decided to put our neck on the line by paying out early on Hillary Clinton, but boy did we get it wrong," spokesman Feilim Mac An Iomaire says.
"We've been well and truly thumped by Trump."
Paddy Power also got it wrong on last year's Greek rejection of austerity referendum, and was among the bookies giving little chance of the UK voting for Brexit.Â
Back in Australia, Tabcorp says it has paid out more than $4 million to punters who backed a Trump win - taking a $2 million hit to earnings in the process - while the Tom Waterhouse-run William Hill says it will pay out just under $4 million.Â
Trump was $5 at about 9am on Wednesday and got down to $1.03 at the close of business, William Hill spokesman James Burroughs says.
"Trump entered the day as the clear outsider but once Ohio was in his sights the market flipped dramatically," TAB's Shaun Anderson says.Â
"It was easily the most popular politics market in TAB's history, with almost four times the amount of money bet on it compared to the Australian Federal Election."
Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au