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Some people bet more than $100,000 on Trump winning the election, and now they're suing the bookies

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Dec. 17 2020, Updated 9:19 a.m. ET

According to a report by The Daily Beast, some gamblers lost hundreds of thousands of dollars on Monday, after the electoral college confirmed President-elect Joe Biden's victory. They had placed huge bets based on President Trump's unfounded claims of election fraud and planned to win big.

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While betting on elections is largely prohibited in the United States, international gamblers poured millions into the election.

Helen, a British woman based in Amsterdam, told the publication that she had bet approximately €140,000 ($170,000) after listening to pro-Trump personalities who claimed that the election was fraudulent. According to screenshots from online gambling service Betfair, Helen would have won €2.7 million ($3.3 million) if President Trump was named the victor.

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"It looked very, very likely from the day of the election like it was fraud, and as more info came out I was more convinced of the win. Which is why I have such a large amount riding on it," Helen said. “To be honest, the more likely it looked like fraud, the more I bet."

“I watched the hearings of Rudy Guiliani and Jenna Ellis for ballot fraud, I listed [sic] to Sidney Powell and Lin Wood for the election fraud,” Helen added. “It looked very, very likely from the day of the election like it was fraud and as more info came out, I was more convinced of the win. Which is why I have such a large amount riding on it.”

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“I figured it would be either a void election and get my money back or it would be a Trump win via the terms of the 12th Amendment,” Helen concluded. “Either way Trump will be inaugurated on 20th January and I expect Betfair to pay out accordingly.”

Jordan Lea, based in the United Kingdom, told The Daily Beast that he had “around £50,000 ($67,000) riding on Trump winning.” 

Lea said it was wrong for Betfair to call the election after the electoral college vote on Monday because the company “explicitly told us that they're aware of these alternate electors and still claim that there is 100 percent certainty surrounding the Electoral College vote.”

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“We have thousands of screenshots documenting the LIES we were told by the live chat assistants, as we have grouped together in various chatrooms and are pooling the evidence together to stake our claim,” Lea added.

"The Electoral College formally cast its votes on December 14, and this enabled us to settle the remaining Betfair Exchange markets on the US election," Betfair said in a statement. "The Next President market rules stipulated that we would settle the market on the candidate that had the most projected Electoral College votes. Following the Electoral College votes being cast, that candidate is clearly Joe Biden."

One group of pro-Trump gamblers is planning to take legal action against Bet365, another gambling site.

“I have a background in political betting over 5 years, and I can say that over this time I have never experienced the scope of passion of the people voting for Trump,” a British gambler who claimed that he and 15 others are taking legal action, said.

“Big tech, the mainstream media, and pollster[s] all said Trump had no chance, people believed in Trump so much so that they went against the status quo to vote for him.”

He claims to have "personally 'lost' £9,500 ($13,000), so I am committed to getting it back."

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