OĽaNO chair Igor Matovič (l) and Sme Rodina chair Boris Kollár (r) (source: TASR)
The victory of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) in the February 27 parliamentary election awarded €21,000 to a better. A few weeks before the elections, this person bet that the movement would get more than 6.5 percent of the vote.
“He didn’t hesitate to bet €15,000 for this possibility,” said Richard Slušný, main bookmaker in Niké, as quoted by the SITA newswire. With the odds at 1.4, he earned an extra €6,000.
Odds at 22 for OĽaNO’s victory
Another better predicted the movement’s triumph about a month before the elections, when it was still quite low in the polls. The odds were 22.
“By betting €200, he received €4,400,” Slušný said, as quoted by SITA.
People could also bet on who would receive the most preferential votes. Those who chose OĽaNO chair Igor Matovič were successful.
“One of the clients picked him in mid-February,” Slušný continued. “The odds were at 6.5, meaning he won €6,500 for a €1,000 bet.”
Kollár also benefited betters
People earned money on the success of Boris Kollár's Sme Rodina as well. One person bet €300 on the party being among the top three. With the odds at 25, he won €7,500.
Another better said the difference between the first and second party would be 5 or more percent. The €1,000 with the odds at 4 turned into a win of €4,000.
People could bet during the day of the election as well.
“The record holder is a person who predicted less than 4-percent support for Vlasť,” Slušný said, as quoted by SITA. “With a bet of €6,500 he earned €13,650.”
Smer’s loss came as a surprise
The election brought several surprises, said Pavol Boško, the head of bookmakers in Tipsport.
“Betters made a mistake in four of the five top possibilities,” he said, as quoted by SITA. “They thought, for example, that Smer would win the election, the Vlasť party would enter the parliament, and ĽSNS would be among the top two or three,” he said, as quoted by SITA.
The company received bets at €211,000 for Smer’s victory. The highest bet of €10,000 was that OĽaNO would not be among the top three parties.
The election showed that opinion polls and exit polls may be mistaken, Boško added.
He also said that the highest net win paid in connection to OĽaNO’s victory amounted to €3,600.
