Who will be the next Pope? Over 20 billion won bet

Ahead of the 'Conclave', a secret cardinal meeting to elect the next Pope, the amount wagered on major betting sites is at least $19 million (26.4 billion won), according to the British weekly magazine The Economist on the 5th (local time).

This is the amount gathered by three major betting sites: Polymarket, Kalshi, and Betfair.

According to The Economist's analysis of major betting site trends, Cardinal Pietro Parolin (Italy), the Vatican's second-in-command, currently has the highest chance of being elected at 27%. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, known as the 'Francis of Asia', is second with 19%.

Following them are Matteo Zuppi (Italy) at 10%, Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Italy) at 9%, Peter Turkson (Ghana) at 9%, Péter Erdő (Hungary) at 7%, Jean-Marc Aveline (France) at 7%, Robert Sarah (Guinea) at 2%, Mario Grech (Malta) at 2%, and Fridolin Ambongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo) at 1%.

However, The Economist reported that there is also around a 6% chance that someone outside the top 10 cardinals could become Pope. In fact, during the 2013 Conclave, Francis was expected to be in 15th place but was elected Pope.

Reporter Noh Jeong-dong, Hankyung.com dong2@hankyung.com