'I lost nearly £1k over Tory election betting scandal - it sticks in my throat'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A punter who is set to lose more than £800 on an election date says it will “stick in the throat” if Tories are found to have cheated.Peter Spurgeon faces a huge financial hit after an online exchange bet went wrong and believes something isn't right.The 44-year-old He offered up odds of 5.2 on a July election, thinking the UK wouldn't go to the polls until the autumn but 48 hours later - the day before Rishi Sunak announced the snap poll - a mysterious £200 bet was placed on Betfair Exchange.At the time he thought little of it, but now suspects there is something "iffy" after the Tory betting scandal came to light.

Speaking to the Mirror he said: "Any bet you place can be a loser, no matter how confident you are. "But it's a completely different ball game if someone is betting with 100% confidence that their bet is going to be a winner."A total of five Tory figures so far are being probed by the Gambling Commission after allegedly placing wagers on a July election.But the BBC has reported as many as 15 Conservative candidates and officials are also being looked at.

Spurgeon says he can afford to pay up and knew the risks, but has a feeling something isn't right.He explained: "At the end of the day if it's investigated and it turns out that it's an ordinary punter who struck a large speculative bet and won, I wouldn't have any moans at all.

But if it turns out that it's a person with a connection to the Tories, like an MP or someone close to a politician, I'd be very unhappy indeed."Exchange bets allow punters to set their odds and see if others place bets.