Today's newly elected pope is hardly the only winner.
Thousands worldwide placed bets on Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger through the Web _ and a few hundred even correctly guessed he'd take the name Benedict.
Paddy Power, an Internet-based bookmaker in Ireland, has taken bets on John Paul's successor for the past five years. After today's selection of Ratzinger, Paddy Power was collecting _ or paying out _ on more than ten thousand bets totaling more than 260-thousand dollars.
The biggest winner was someone who put down more than a thousand dollars Saturday on a Ratzinger victory at odds of six to one, which meant a 73-hundred dollar payout.
Somebody else scored a thousand dollars after correctly guessing the new pontiff would take the name Benedict.
%@AP Links
On the Net: www.paddypower.com
