Bettors Lose Millions Predicting the New Pope as Polymarket Edge Fizzles Out

Bettors on crypto prediction platform Polymarket have, in recent months, developed an enviable reputation for beating the bookies.So it came as a surprise on Thursday when they got the outcome of the papal conclave very wrong indeed.Winner Robert Francis Prevost wasn’t among the favorites, with bettors only giving the US-born cardinal around a 1% chance of succeeding Pope Francis ahead of the result.Polymarket bettors, like traditional betting markets, gave Cardinal Pietro Parolin the highest odds, at 28% source: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/05/09/bettors-lose-millions-predicting-the-new-pope-as-polymarket-edge-fizzles-out