Betting on the outcome of the Brexit vote which took place last week broke the record for non-sporting events, with gamblers wagering in excess of £120 million and ushering in political betting as an exciting new and potentially lucrative market.

The result of course was rather shocking to most and left some bookmakers celebrating huge profits, while others mourned heavy losses. Here we’ll take a look at how, in addition to changing the world as we know it, affected the bookmakers who offered odds on this political event.

The Betfair exchange accepted close to £80 million while other bookmakers raked in around £40 million in Brexit wagers. Of course, the bookies incorrectly called the result as “stay” and like the pollsters and experts, got it horribly wrong.

Of all the bookmakers, William Hill was the hardest hit in terms of losses. After accepting £3 million in wagers, the company ended up with a net loss of £400,000 when the results were announced on Friday last week. According to William Hill’s media relations director Graham Sharpe, “Very few saw this coming“. He added that more punters must have backed “leave” at William Hill than other bookmakers offering the same bet.

The numbers support Sharpe’s statement. At William Hill, 68 percent of the money wagered was on remain, but 69 percent of the individual bets were on “leave”.

On the other hand, at Ladbrokes the average wager in the Brexit market was £400 to “remain” and just £70 to leave, which heavily skewed the odds in favour of the general prediction that the UK would remain within the EU.

Ladbrokes’ head of political betting, Matthew Shaddick explained that even though the majority of gamblers in the market were wagering on “leave”, this didn’t affect the prices, he added that the amounts of money wagered are what count, with a single £10,000 wager counting the same as 10,000 individual bets valued at £1 each.

Ladbrokes reportedly earned a six figure profit on the market despite calling the Brexit result incorrectly. The company attributes this to smaller payouts being made to successful gamblers, as the majority of players who wagered on “leave” did not bet large values.

Betfred reportedly accepted over £1 million in Brexit bets, and earned a small profit on the market, which it described. Still it describes the outcome as “the biggest ever shock in political betting”, especially after all of the big money was on “remain”.

Coral also took £1 million in wagers but balanced its book in such a way that it would have made profit on either of the referendum’s outcomes.

As you can see from the above, the Brexit result took the betting industry as much by surprise as it did the rest of the world and this shows that the commonly held believe that public sentiment is a reliable indicator, is a flawed principle when it comes to betting.

Yet bookmakers seem unperturbed. As Shaddick from Ladrokes noted, bookies do not offer odds on political events to help people forecast the results, they do it to turn a profit or at least not lose much. He added, “Nobody at Ladbrokes’ HQ will be criticising the predictive powers of our odds, they’ll be looking at the money we made“.

Bookmakers weren’t the only ones surprised and left reeling after the Brexit vote, some rather noteworthy financial magnates like George Soros were too.

George Soros, a hedge fund boss and veritable gambling legend earned his place in the gambling hall of fame, being dubbed “The man who broke the Bank of England” when he bet that the Pound Sterling would fall in 1992.

Soros short-sold more than £7.6 billion in currency at the time, which meant that if his prediction was correct, he’d make money when the Pound’s value fell. The bet paid off and when the UK fell out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and consequently the value of the Pound fell, Soros walked away with a profit of £760 million.

Soros hoped to repeat his good fortune over two decades later on the Brexit vote, but he failed to repeat the feat this time around. According to a spokesperson for Soros, like most prudent investors, Soros put his money on the UK voting to remain part of the EU, and predicted that the Pound would rise as a result. Unfortunately the vote didn’t go the way of the general sentiment but according to sources, Soros’ generally bearish outlook on the markets afforded him profits on other investments.

Soros, now aged 85, warned that the British economy and people stand to suffer significantly in the short to medium term due to the decision to leave the EU. He added that the disintegration of the EU was practically irreversible.

Playing the financial markets like the game of blackjack is a skilled and calculated form of gambling. It is no wonder then that the UK’s major bookmakers include a number of financial and often political bets within their spreads.

One subject of debate in both the financial and gambling markets is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, also known as Brexit (British Exit). Various financial institutions are offering clients the option to insure against Brexit losses caused by currency depreciation should the UK take the decision to exit the European Union. According to financial experts, the Pound will drop approximately 20% to the Euro should the UK exit the EU. Furthermore economic decline and falling stock prices are also expected should the exit decision be made and along with these there are of course rumours of recession and war being whispered in certain circles.

For those invested in the markets, insurance options may not seem like such a bad idea in an attempt to hedge bets and cover any losses that may be incurred should the Brexit take place. Of course, this cover like any other form of insurance cover does come at a price. In deciding whether or not to take the option investors have to examine their portfolios in order to ascertain whether or not they can realistically weather such an event or not, without the aid of some type of insurance.

Betting odds on Brexit are being offered by a number of the UK’s major bookies with betting and polls favouring the UK remaining in the EU

The financial industry is not the only party interested in the outcomes of Brexit. British bookmakers like Betfair are offering odds on Brexit too, with 15 million Pounds matched on the market to date. This means that as an investor instead of selling your British currency or buying stock put options, if you’re a true gambler, you could also spend your money at the bookies with the potential to earn 5.5 times the money back if the UK votes to leave the EU. Talk about an insurance policy!

The latest polls and betting options do however favour the Britons voting to “remain” in the EU come election time on June 23rd. In fact, Betfair punters are so convinced that the UK will remain a member of the EU that Remain odds are down to 1.21, the lowest price yet with Leave coming in at 5.5 in the most recent numbers. The polls are also in tune with the betting, with Ipsos MORI and ComRes both giving Remain leads of over 10% and YouGov’s latest echoing these sentiments.

Yet the issue remains a passionate point of debate with proponents from each side vigorously arguing their case. With just under a month to go until Britons return to the polls it will remain a very interesting topic to follow.

Gambling is one of the UK’s favourite pastimes – from horse racing to playing casino games like blackjack and slots, at land based betting shops and on mobile and online casinos, you’ll find people of all ages and backgrounds indulging in placing their bets and enjoying the entertainment value that follows.

It’s no wonder then that research firms have gone to great lengths to examine this hobby and gain insights into the various aspects of it…and the findings. Here we’ll take a look at what the stats say about who is doing what, where and when, when it comes to the UK’s gambling activities. We’re sure you’ll be thoroughly surprised and entertained, even if you’re not really a numbers person.

Finding # 1: This is how the UK gambles

78% of the UK’s population enjoys gambling in one form or another. The top forms of betting are as follows:

1. National Lottery
2. Other Lotteries
3. Scratch Cards
4. Horse Racing bets (The Grand National is the biggest horse race betting attraction with £350 million in wagers each year and 500 million spectators across the globe)
5. Slot machines

Finding #2 Women are better gamblers!

Not only do men and women play different casino games, UK men also gamble more than their female counterparts, with 75% of males participating in some form of betting, 71% of women indulge in gambling and generally win more in online casinos than men per wager by around 5%.

Finding #3: Marriage affects our Gambling Habits

According the findings of a number of surveys, people who are married or who have been married tend to gamble more.

Finding #4: Top 5 Places to Gamble

With new advancements in mobile technology we can play at mobile casinos from literally anywhere in the world as long as we have internet connectivity. These however are the top 5 places UK’s 20 million plus players gamble from:

1. The living room (66%)
2. The bedroom (45%)
3. While commuting (33%)
4. At Work (27%)
5. The toilet (23%) – yes they admitted it