Slovaks gambled hundreds of thousands of euros on the results of the general election that took place on Saturday, and did rather well, the TASR newswire reported on Tuesday, June 15. Punters bet around €330,000 with bookmaker Niké, while more than €100,000 was staked with rival Fortuna.
"Elections always create great interest among betters, as the success rate for bets here is significantly higher than for sporting events," said Niké operations director Roman Berger, adding that Niké had paid out more than €400,000, recording a net loss of €70,000 on the general election.
Fortuna was more fortunate, according to its employee Marián Varga, who said it "hasn't lost". The betting company profited mainly from bets on the turnout, setting a threshold of 58 percent. The actual turnout reached 58.83 percent. "Many people guessed that it would be less," said Varga.
Conversely, punters were successful in head-to-heads. "For example, that the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) would defeat the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), that the SDKÚ would beat Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), and that the KDH would gain more votes than the Slovak National Party (SNS) or the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK)," Varga stated. The biggest win at Fortuna was recorded by a punter who put together a combination of election bets, winning €1,600 from a €100 stake, added Varga.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
