One of the greatest publicity gambits you’ll see has struck again.  Irish bookmaking firm Paddy Power has paid off backers of Republican Scott Brown in the special election to replace the late Ted Kennedy in the US Senate.  

Unless you could project their press releases in advance, there is no way to profit from this, and even then Paddy Power doesn’t take bets from US citizens online.   I just admire the clever gimmick.   How much are Irish bettors putting on this election to start with?   Any limited exposure that the firm has as a result of Brown’s possible loss is more than made up for in the publicity that exposes them to folks who live in jurisdictions that have more enlightened laws on online gambling than we do here in the states. 

Paddy Power gimmicks haved a long history, as you can see in this 2003 article.

Good craic, Paddy Power.  Good craic, indeed!!