Whacked

How to play Whacked

The web of lawsuits and court rulings involving prediction markets has greatly complicated the issue of jurisdiction. Kalshi has been forced to limit trading in multiple states, most notably Nevada, and the CFTC has gone to unprecedented lengths to protect its licencees. This includes suing nine states directly and issuing emergency orders to reject state mandates.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig is currently the lone sitting commissioner for an agency that traditionally features a bipartisan group of five. Selig has repeatedly defended both the legitimacy of prediction markets as financial assets and the role of the CFTC in overseeing them. The CFTC under his direction has embarked on a series of rule proposals regarding prediction markets, although detractors argue that the proposed changes still allow for sports contracts and in some ways could be seen as a tightening of the belt to make a Supreme Court review look more favourable.

“It’s not a question of whether innovations like blockchain, artificial intelligence, and prediction markets will transform our markets. It’s a question of where this innovation will take place and who will write the rules,” Selig said during a meeting of the CFTC’s Innovation Advisory Committee on 20 August, which featured the CEOs of Kalshi, Polymarket, DraftKings, CME Group and more.

How to play Whacked

Push Gaming is targeting players who value pace and predictability

That Mega sits close to the game’s overall ceiling. Flaming Streaks caps out at 1,150x the bet on a low-volatility math model, with the top RTP configuration reaching 96.35%. Those figures place the game firmly in low-risk, frequent-return territory rather than the volatile, big-multiplier design that defines much of the modern slots market.

The significance is in the pairing. By building both bonuses around guaranteed payouts and a capped jackpot structure, Push Gaming is targeting players who value pace and predictability over the drawn-out variance of high-ceiling releases.

About Whacked

Two other leagues, Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, have each signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CFTC that allows participating teams to partner with the operators.

“We don’t think we have to be first in this, we feel like we’re going to be right,” Goodell said. “The best thing to do is be patient and make sure you keep the integrity of the game number one.”

Matt is primarily responsible for long-form feature coverage on complex sports betting scandals. He also provides coverage on finance, M&A and other technological developments.