As reported in the Guardian Unlimited, Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has doubled it's year to date profits so far in 2007, thanks to punters having an unusual run of bad luck.
While Paddy Power serves punters across Europe, it has a strong local following in Ireland - much of which frequently bets on local teams, players and horses. Between some unexpected outcomes at the track, major golf tournaments and other leagues, many regional favorites didn't come in as expected this year, making for a significant number of losing wagers when compared to the norm.
This run of bad luck for Irish punters helped Paddy Power increase it's annual profits for the first half of the year up to €35.4m, slightly more than twice the profits this same time in 2006.
