Daily Beast: “Despite betting money on President Donald Trump’s re-election, Helen was unfazed when Joe Biden was declared the victor. She watched press conferences by Trump surrogates who claimed the election was a fraud. She watched a pro-Trump web show that alleged the same. Then, using the online gambling service Betfair, she wagered even more money on a Trump victory after Election Day. ‘To be honest, the more likely it looked like fraud, the more I bet’ Helen, an Amsterdam-based British woman who declined to give her last name, told The Daily Beast.”

“Had Trump won re-election, Helen would have won nearly €2.7 million euros, according to screenshots of her Betfair account. But Betfair and other gambling sites closed the books on their 2020 presidential betting on Monday, after the Electoral College certified Biden’s victory. Now Helen, who says she’s lost approximately €140,000 and believes the election results will be overturned, is joining other bettors in accusing gambling sites of wrongly calling the election for Biden. Some of those Trump bettors are turning to conspiracy theories about election fraud – and threats to visit the homes of gambling company employees. Americans (with a few exceptions) cannot legally bet on elections, but gamblers in Europe and Asia poured millions into the 2020 presidential race. Some of those bettors, like a Brit who wagered about $1 million on Biden, became significantly richer when betting sites began paying out after Biden’s Electoral College win on Monday. Others were not so lucky. Some of these European bettors have become deeply invested in U.S. election fraud conspiracy theories, which they (still, despite everything) say will result in an overturned election and the return of their money. Jordan Lea, a U.K. man, told The Daily Beast he had ‘around £50,000 riding on Trump winning.’ He and others say they are appealing to Betfair to undo its payouts, ostensibly because Trump could still win (he can’t).”