Paddy Power pays out Hayward bets

[The Buzz]

Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is known for paying out some bets early if it looks like the bet is in the bag. Sometimes they are right (Scott Brown, Barack Obama). Sometimes they are not right (Tiger Woods). Well, Paddy Power is betting they will be right again as they are paying out more than £10,000 to customers who bet that Tony Hayward would step down as BP's chief executive.

BP, in case you've been living under a rock, is responsible for America's worst natural disaster in history.

From The Guardian:

The Irish betting firm closed its book after seeing a surge of wagers on Hayward's imminent departure over the last few days. It believes he is now certain to quit BP before the end of December, even if the company is successful in permanently capping the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

"The punters have spoken," said Ken Robertson, communications manager for Paddy Power. "The betting has been one way since we opened this book in May. Over the weekend, there was a constant flow as people looked to back Hayward's departure."

Paddy Power started offering odds of 2-1 that Hayward would vacate the chief executive's seat by 31 December. By early June, the odds had been cut to 5-6, and Paddy Power decided to pay out after still finding interest at the miserly odds of 1-5.

More than 500 bets were placed on Hayward leaving, at a cost to Paddy Power of £10,055.

[PremTips]

Paddy Power sure do know how to market

[Anthony]

It is worth the money for the great PR!