Gamblers who placed bets totalling $10.5m angered after capture of Nicolás Maduro deemed not to qualify
The online wager platform Polymarket has angered some gamblers by declaring it will not pay out yet on millions of dollars’ worth of bets on a US invasion of Venezuela, arguing that the capture of the then president, Nicolás Maduro, does not qualify.
Before Donald Trump’s forces captured Maduro on Saturday morning, some traders appeared to have anticipated the shock move by placing bets on “prediction markets”.
These are gambling platforms that allow individuals to wager on a range of markets that have been created by the host website. They are typically binary bets, punting on yes/no or higher/lower outcomes.
Last Friday an anonymous trader on Polymarket appeared to invest $30,000 (£22,343) on the market: Maduro out by 31 January 2026. After Maduro’s capture was announced on Saturday morning, the trader seemed to have made profits of $436,759.61.
