Irish bookie pays out early on EU 'yes' vote

(DUBLIN) - A leading Irish bookmaker is paying out early to those who bet that the "Yes" campaign would win in a crunch EU referendum, a spokesman told AFP on Friday.

The payout decision was made shortly after polls closed on Thursday, although on Friday Paddy Power bookmakers admitted that it may have been a bit too hasty and got it wrong.

"If we get caught with our pants down so be it. We have a long tradition of early payouts. This would be the first one that we have got wrong. Up until now we have been absolutely on the button," said spokesman Ken Robertson.

Ireland went to the polls in a crunch referendum on the treaty on Thursday but the result is not expected until Friday afternoon.

It is the only European nation holding a referendum on the treaty, which has already been approved through a parliamentary vote by 18 other European nations and if it votes "no", the EU will be pitched into serious crisis.

"We saw a surge of betting away from a "no" vote and towards a "yes" vote," Robertson said, "That kind of bucked a trend a little bit. It has been quite an erratic market, it swung from a "yes" to a "no" and a "no" to a "yes".

"It looked like what all the punters really wanted was a "yes" vote. We decided to reward our punters early but I have a suspicion that we may have acted a little bit fast given what appears to be a low turnout."

Commentators said a low turnout could favour the "no" campaign. There were varied reports on the turnout Friday, ranging roughly from 40 to 50 percent.

Robertson said they had received almost 200,000 euros (308,000 US-dollars) in bets on the treaty and the final odds for a "Yes" vote were 1 to 3 and 2 to 1 for a "No" vote.