Irish Bookie Pays Out Early on Modern Warfare 2

It's not quite Christmas yet but Irish bookmaker Paddy Power is paying out early on bets for the top-selling game for the holidays in the U.K., saying there's no way anything is going to beat Modern Warfare 2.

Paddy Power listed its odds for the U.K.'s best-selling videogame over the holidays back in October, unsurprisingly placing Modern Warfare 2 at the top, with 13/8 odds, followed by Assassin's Creed 2, FIFA 10 and Halo 3: ODST. The were a few shakeups in the final odds list, with both Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games and Wii Sports Resort moving into the top five at 6/1, but the game at the top never wavered.

Odds for Modern Warfare 2 had apparently been as high as 2/1 in September but closed at 2/7. Paddy Power's full list of closing odds for the top-selling holiday videogame in the U.K. is as follows:

• 2/7 Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• 9/4 FIFA 10
• 6/1 Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games
• 6/1 Wii Sports Resort
• 10/1 Assassin's Creed II
• 14/1 New Super Mario Bros Wii
• 25/1 Wii Fit Plus
• 33/1 Halo 3: ODST
• 33/1 Need For Speed: Shift
• 33/1 DJ Hero
• 33/1 Football Manager 2010
• 50/1 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• 66/1 James Cameron's Avatar: The Game
• 66/1 PES 2010: Pro Evolution Soccer
• 80/1 Planet 51: The Game
• 80/1 Guitar Hero 5
• 100/1 Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
• 100/1 Tekken 6
• 100/1 Left 4 Dead 2
• 100/1 The Saboteur
• 100/1 Ghostbusters: The Video Game
• 150/1 Brutal Legend
• 150/1 Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time
• 150/1 Rogue Warrior
• 150/1 Saw: The Video Game
• 200/1 Rabbids Go Home (Rayman Raving Rabbids)
• 200/1 WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010

"Three out of every four bets placed on the Christmas number one videogame were backing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," the bookmaker said in a statement. "With this level of support I don't think we're taking too much of a risk by paying out early." Paddy Power will pay out over $17,600 to bettors who put their coin down on the game.

Source: GamesIndustry