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As Election Day approaches, the prediction market Polymarket has drawn attention with its $2.7 billion betting pool on the 2024 presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Currently, Polymarket’s odds show Trump with a 66% chance of victory. However, a recent analysis from blockchain experts suggests nearly one-third of this activity may be due to wash trading, casting doubt on the platform’s reliability as a predictive tool. Possible evidence of artificial trading on Polymarket Blockchain research firms Chaos Labs and Inca Digital, known for digital market security and data analysis, recently reported findings that question Polymarket’s reported $2.7 billion...

Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley has been suspended for at least the 2022 season after gambling on games in 2021. The NFL released a statement Monday announcing his suspension, saying he gambled on games over a five-day stretch in November 2021 when he was on the non-football injury list to address his mental health. Ridley stepped away from football on Halloween, saying he needed to get his personal life in order. In a series of tweets Monday after the suspension was announced, Ridley said he bet $1,500 total and that "I don't have a gambling problem." He also tweeted that...

Jim McIngvale, better known as “Mattress Mack,” may be down, but he’s not out. “The Bengals lost, and it broke my heart, McIngvale told ESPN on Monday. “But you know what, we live to play another day. You win some, you lose some and sometimes you get rained out. I got up this morning, put on my big boy britches and went to work.” McIngvale placed more than $9.5 million in bets on the Bengals to upset the favored Rams in Super Bowl 56. McIngvale wagered $4.53 million on Cincinnati to win the game, getting +170 odds, on Feb. 3....

Subprime Scandal: Now that the president's mismanagement of FHA has led to its insolvency, how will he avoid the embarrassment of a bailout? By squeezing banks, how else? Under Obama, the Federal Housing Administration has increasingly backed new home loans to so-called rebound borrowers who recently defaulted on past mortgages. The agency is allowing lower-income borrowers to get loans just three years after foreclosure with as little as 3% down and lousy credit scores. In fact, a whopping 40% of newer FHA-backed loans are subprime. The risky lending has led to higher delinquencies. In fact, at 17%, delinquencies on FHA...

Solyndra is not the only wild and crazy bet being placed on the political table.

Las Vegas - If Republican Sharron Angle unseats Nevada Sen. Harry Reid on Nov. 2, it would be a defeat not just for the Democratic Party but also for the gambling industry, which has historically helped turn elections in this state. The industry is so dominant here—accounting for 17% of employment and a third of state tax revenue—that Nevada is sometimes said to have just one political party: the Gaming Party.

Traders and hedge funds have bet nearly $8 billion against the euro, amassing the biggest short position in the euro ever, reports FT. Investors increased their short positions against the euro to record levels in the week ending February 2, according to the latest figures from the Chicago Merc. The build-up in net short positions represents more than 40,000 contracts traded against the euro, equivalent to positions worth $7.6 billion. This kind of size suggests that there are major players involved, hedge funds and the like. However, it is not clear to me that shorting the euro is the way...

BOSTON --With 24 hours to go before Massachusetts' special election for a U.S. Senate seat, an Irish bookie already has paid off bettors who wagered that state Sen. Scott Brown, a conservative Republican, would win the seat held for nearly 50 years by liberal Democratic icon Edward M. Kennedy. Enough is enough. It seems that Senator Brown just has to get out of bed tomorrow to win convincingly. As far as were concerned, this race is well and truly over," said Paddy Power, Irelands largest bookmaker. Before shutting down the betting, Mr. Brown had gone from 5-4 odds to 1-5...

In Poker, Psychologists Place Bets On SkillIs it luck of the draw in poker? No, says Michael DeDonno, a doctoral student from Case Western Reserve University. (Credit: Image courtesy of Case Western Reserve University) ScienceDaily (Mar. 25, 2008) — Is it luck of the draw in poker? No, says Michael DeDonno, a doctoral student from Case Western Reserve University. He suggests putting your bets on skills over luck when playing the card game. DeDonno's findings from two poker-related studies with college students have implications for the gaming industry, and possibly even legal cases that challenge the theory of luck over...

THE secret slaughter of at least 10,000 racing greyhounds by one man has been exposed by an undercover investigation. For the past 15 years David Smith, a builders’ merchant, has been killing healthy greyhounds no longer considered by their trainers to be fast enough to race. He buries them in a one-acre plot at the back of his home in Seaham, Co Durham. Last week The Sunday Times covertly filmed Smith on two consecutive days receiving greyhounds from trainers before killing them with a bolt gun, dumping them in the plot and covering over the “graves” using a mechanical digger....

After a year of getting his footing in Sacramento, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came out fighting in his second State of the State address Wednesday night. He threw down the gauntlet to the Legislature and announced he was prepared to make good on the promise of the 2003 recall election to shake things up in state government. His challenge: Help me completely reform state government and dismantle the shameful political system that has failed the people -- or prepare for the biggest political fight in years. "This is a time for choosing," the Republican governor told the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature. And...

Is a Futures Market on Terror Outlandish? Maybe not. There is strong evidence that futures exchanges can predict events better than other forms of analysis. FORTUNE Wednesday, July 30, 2003 By Jeremy Kahn The Defense Department announced yesterday that it is canceling a controversial program to develop a futures market that would allow traders to bet on wars, assassinations and terrorism in the Middle East. The plan, which FORTUNE first reported on in its March 3rd issue (Place Your Bets—On War), was abandoned after Democratic senators assailed it as ghoulish, immoral, and absurd. Senator Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South...

Early into Aldork2000's presidential campaign, it was announced that the DNC was going to "take God back." What better way than to nominate a real Reverend as the Libdem/Chicom Party leader! Out with the old Reverend Al and in with the NEW Reverend Al! If the new Reverend Al makes it through all of the hoops and attempted Arkancides, defeats all of the other Rats during the debates, and gets the most votes of any Rat running in the primaries - he's going to need a running mate! Begin predictions - NOW!

<p>There is a German phrase Dave Rosenberg uses when describing the task he faces in early 2003.</p> <p>Rosenberg is a Yolo County supervisor who also happens to be Gov. Gray Davis' point man in negotiating with California's Indian tribes about casino gambling.</p>