Britain’s biggest political punter, who made £193,000 by correctly guessing the outcome of the Scottish referendum, has lost his winnings and more by incorrectly guessing the outcome of the General Election.
The unnamed man, who according to bookmaker William Hill has placed the two biggest political bets of all time, placed a £200,000 bet at 2/9 on a hung parliament and then added a further £5,500.
He previously bet £900,000 on the outcome of September’s Scottish referendum, winning £193,000.
A William Hill spokesman said: “For the majority of the night we were convinced he was on to a winner but things then spiralled against him.
“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.
“He was more concerned that his analysis of the election didn’t work out, more than losing the bet.
“It has been a remarkable series of bets.
“Although he lost, many of our clients have flourished. It has been quite an expensive night for us.”
Someone who lucked out on the General Election result was a Betfair punter from the Midlands who put £2,600 on a Conservative majority two days ago and won £46,000.
Another Betfair customer who backed a Conservative majority in April with £3,200 won £33,600.
Bookmaker Betfred reported a record-breaking election in terms of bets.
A Betfred spokesman said: “In terms of turnover this election was a record breaker for a political event.
“After seeing a landslide of money for the Conservatives all day long we called it over at 9pm and paid out on the Tories winning the most seats.
“It was a fascinating election and plenty of punters voted with their cash and are celebrating a Conservative victory.
“The punter who had £60,000 on no overall majority at 1/12 looks to have had his fingers burnt.”
Paddy Power’s biggest win was a customer who won £25,000 by betting David Cameron would continue as Prime Minister.
A Paddy Power spokesman added: “Our other big winner was an online punter with a confident £8,000 bet on the Tory majority at 7/1 yesterday.”