About this app
How to play Gator Hunters
Potentially boding well for the Macquarie forecast are at least two factors. First, there are signs of turnover increases across a variety of yes/no exchanges. Second, volume surged to start September with those spikes arriving even before the NFL season kicked off.
As Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon points out, prediction markets generated $4.3 billion in taker volume during the first week of September without any help from the NFL, building on momentum from the 2026 World Cup. However, the NFL’s impact was immediate, with taker volume hitting a daily record during Week 1 of the campaign.
With all that in mind, it’s not surprising that Macquarie expects sports event contracts will drive approximately 80% of taker volume this year, but Beynon sees other categories growing over the long term.
What is Gator Hunters?
Kendrick sees a warning in the history of betting exchanges. In their early growth phase, there was sufficient retail liquidity for numerous market makers to profit. As that retail pool weakened, the sharper firms increasingly found themselves trading against one another.
His analogy is a poker table at which the weaker participants sustain the game. If those players disappear, the fourth-best professional at the table can suddenly become a loser because only the three strongest remain.
The US addressable market is vastly larger and customer recruitment remains strong. Marantelli says Kalshi increased its number of clients fivefold during the World Cup, while White Swan predicts that NFL prediction markets could generate between $5 billion and $7 billion of liability in a single week.
What is Gator Hunters?
Prosecutors alleged that Pietras was stealing the funeral money to fund his gambling addiction. Law enforcement found that Pietras made more than 800 casino trips over a 14-year period.
Casino records for his player’s card suggested he lost over $1.2 million at Mohegan Sun. He’s also reported to have gambled extensively at Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Springfield in Massachusetts.
Pietras was charged with dozens of unfair trade practices, larceny, and embezzlement counts. Prosecutors also accused him of violating health and zoning laws by living at his funeral home in Coventry.