Paddy Power

Paddy Power is an Irish bookmaker founded in 1988 in Dublin, Ireland. The company conducts business through a chain of licensed betting shops in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and by operating Ireland’s largest telephone betting service. On the internet, it offers sports betting, online poker, online bingo, online casino and online games. It merged with Betfair to create Paddy Power Betfair on 2 February 2016. As of November 2011, Paddy Power was the largest bookmaker in Europe by total share value. Its group income was €444m in 2010. For the 2018 World Cup, Paddy Power was called out for its controversial polar bear graffiti stunt, with a Russian polar bear being emblazoned with an England flag. Paddy Power claims the stunt is for awareness of the plight of polar bears in the Russian Arctic.