Donald Trump is now favourite to win with Ladbrokes

A victory for the controversial Republican would be a big loss for the bookies

Donald Trump is now the favourite to win the US presidency with Ladbrokes (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Donald Trump has become the favourite to win the US Presidential election with Ladbrokes

He and Hillary Clinton are virtually level pegging in betting markets less than an hour after punters thought Ms Clinton had it all but wrapped up a victory with her price hitting 1-8.

The odds started to change rapidly as results from battleground states showed Mr Trump performing far better than pollsters had expected.

The betting patterns in the run up to the US election were remarkably similar to those seen in the run up to the EU referendum, with high rolling punters backing Ms Clinton at odds on, against legions of smaller punters who put they money on Mr Trump.

A victory for the controversial Republican would be a big loss for the bookies, because a large numbers of punters backed him at high prices in the early days of his candidacy.

He was at one point available at 150-1. He has been consistently supported by small staking punters right the way through the election campaign and continued to receive support even when it seemed like Clinton was all but home.

Matt Shaddick, head of politics at Ladbrokes, said: “This is very reminiscent of Brexit referendum night with favourites switching places. Right now the betting industry faces a big loss on Donald Trump.”

Meanwhile spreading betting firm Sporting Index has cut its forecast on Ms Clinton’s performance in the electoral college to 275 votes, a victory but a narrow one.