Star Spangled Gamblers

3-Part Episode — Keendawg returns to discuss why Andy Beshear, Kentucky's Democratic Governor, is favored for re-election, but why lottos on his Republican challenger might be a good bet — Pratik reports on new evidence that Kalshi was behind the CFTC's enforcement action against Polymarket — MagaVacuum explains how to gain a betting edge while traveling to campaign events Timestamps 4:24: Intervi...

After another review with a 30-day public comment period, the CFTC rejected Kalshi's proposal to offer election contracts. Mick Bransfield and Pratik Chougule do a deep dive into the outpouring of public comments that led to the CFTC's decision. 0:00: Introduction begins 2:14: Kalshi's incentives and how they shape its strategy toward political betting regulation 3:46: Kalshi's policy on transpare...

After listening to our recent episode about calls in the forecasting community to cancel him, Richard Hanania offered to appear on the show. Richard and Pratik Chougule discuss: — Cancel culture in the rationalist community — The conservative judiciary and how it could legalize prediction markets — The odds of Vivek Ramaswamy and Donald Trump to secure the GOP nomination — Balancing the incentives...

Ben Freeman and MAGA Vacuum return to the show to discuss their observations from the Iowa State Fair and their predictions on who will win the state's GOP caucuses. Timestamps 3:12: Interview begins 3:48: What is the Iowa State Fair and why is it significant for the Republican primaries? 5:31: Trump supporters trolling DeSantis 6:06: Trump's appearance 6:28: Ramaswamy rapping 7:30: DeSantis's pro...

Rule3O3 and Pratik Chougule discuss whether the political forecasting community should cancel Richard Hanania in light of his edgy writings on race, sex, and other hot-button issues. Timestamps: 0:53: Jonathan Zubkoff wins the CSPI/Salem Center forecasting tournament 2:58: Manifest conference 5:04: Crime markets on Manifold 6:58: Open invitation to Hanania to appear on SSG 10:23: Who is Hanania? 1...

Intro: Pratik Chougule  Part I: Jonathan Zubkoff (Zubby Badger) discusses the possibility of a government shutdown and how it will likely be averted Part II: Mick Bransfield discusses the new judge, David Ezra, who will be overseeing the PredictIt case at the district court Part III: Pratik responds to mailbag from Domer on overconfident marks in political betting markets and argues for recruiting...

Intro: Pratik's thoughts on the first Republican presidential debate Part I: Pratik interviews  PlayUSA columnist Steve Friess about his reporting on why political prediction markets missed the 2022 Senate races, and why the policymaking community is skeptical of political gambling. Part II: Jonathan Zubkoff (Zubby Badger) discusses the circumstances in which Trump will attend a Republican debate...

Intro: Pratik Chougule discusses a recent Manifold meetup he attended and the importance of attending in-person forecasting community events Part 1: Rule3O3 joins the show for the first time to discuss epistemic humility in political betting and how to realize the promise of political prediction markets. Part 2: Ben Freeman and Pratik Chougule continue their conversation on 2024 Republican preside...

Longtime PredictIt trader Ben Freeman argues that the markets are overly pessimistic about Ron DeSantis's odds of winning the Republican nomination and makes the bull case for buying at current prices. 1:23: DeSantis's comments about betting markets on John Stossel's show 6:24: Ben Freeman introduces himself 8:16: Ben's experience as a Trump White House intern 12:13: Why DeSantis prices have dropp...

Mick Bransfield and Pratik Chougule do a deep dive into the Fifth Circuit's decision to grant PredictIt a preliminary injunction and what it means for traders as well as the broader political betting community. Bransfield and Chougule also speculate on why PredictIt still isn't rolling out new markets. 4:53: Summary of Fifth Circuit ruling 14:51: CFTC attorneys and their legal strategy against Pre...

Part I (3:46): Adrian Smith responds to CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam's concerns that election markets could turn the CFTC into an "election cop."  Part II (27:01): Iabvek and Pratik side bet on whether Ron DeSantis will even win one county in the Republican primaries Part III (36:37): Mick Bransfield discusses whether Kalshi "killed" PredictIt and/or Polymarket and how the FOIA process works at the...

Gaeten Dugas, Iabvek, and Pratik Chougule debate and place side bets on the question of when Ron DeSantis drop out of the race.  In part II, Pratik addresses a mailbag question on the question of whether prediction markets and political gamblers have failed to disrupt the political discourse. Timestamps: 5:25: PredictIt's victory at the Fifth Circuit 7:12: DeSantis's political future 41:47: Mailba...

The CFTC's review of Kalshi's election contracts has shown that policymakers in America have deep concerns about risk political betting poses to democracy. UK-based political gambler and election compliance specialist Adrian Smith joins the show to discuss what lessons can be drawn from Britain's longstanding, liberal regulations on political betting. In part 2, Atlantic Sentinel Nick Ottens retur...

Mick Bransfield and Pratik Chougule do a deep dive into Kalshi's latest attempt at the CFTC to offer election markets.   StarSpangledGamblers.com Twitter: @ssgamblers

WineMom, Gaeten, and Title Belt Champ The Winner discuss: — Dating advice for political gamblers — Trump's nicknames for DeSantis — When Trump will show up to a Republican debate and who he will attack

— Gaeten Dugas and Pratik Chougule debate their side bet on whether Trump will show up to the first Republican debate in August — Abhi and Pratik discuss whether PredictIt will offer new markets and how to trade on this question on Insight Prediction — Atlantic Sentinel  editor Nick Ottens explains how countries can leave the European Union and why the odds of Italy and Poland exiting are very low

In part 1, Pratik Chougule and Jason Pipkin discuss the odds that Trump will stop running for the Republican nomination for president before the South Carolina primaries. In part 2, Atlantic Sentinel editor Nick Ottens does a deep dive into Spain's July elections and whether Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez can survive as prime minister. Nick and Pratik discuss the odds on BetOnlineAg's next leader ou...

Pratik Chougule, TheWinner, and MagaVacuum discuss: — Ron DeSantis's weird behavior, why he's overpriced in the betting markets, and how long to hold short shares. — The right price to pay for Tim Scott and other longshot candidates for the Republican nomination. — Side bets and the future of the political gambling community.

— Pratik Chougule on market manipulation and pump-and-dump schemes in political prediction markets — Gaeten Dugas on why he's betting against California Senator Dianne Feinstein resigning this year — Nic Horton assesses the likelihood of an Arkansan vice presidential nominee, discussing the odds on former Governor Asa Hutchinson, Senator Tom Cotton, and the current Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders...

Naman (@nmehndir) and Abhi (@aenews_PI) discuss their side bets on the odds of Russia nuking Ukraine by the end of June as well as the odds of a nuclear explosion by the end of the year.  Both debate Pratik on the likelihood of an offensive nuclear war by 2050.

— Pratik Chougule analyzes Victoria University's response to the CFTC. — Gaeten Dugas explains why he's making the largest bet of his career on George Santos not resigning from Congress.  — Zeus O'Dea considers why the right is losing educated voters across the western world and whether this reality is being priced in on betting markets.

Pratik Chougule provides an update on the ongoing lawsuit between the CFTC and PredictIt now that the Fifth Circuit has rejected the CFTC's motion to dismiss the case and Victoria University has responded to the agency's questions. Zoltar and Fred Norris debate their side bet on whether Fox News will be able to maintain its primetime ratings after Tucker Carlson's departure.  StarSpangledGamblers....

Joe Biden announced his campaign for re-election, but the markets still give him less than an 80% chance of securing the Democratic nomination for president. Perhaps foremost among trader concerns are questions about Biden's health.  To investigate the issue, Tessa Barton, a computational photographer, AI Research Scientist, and political gambler, has compiled a video database of Biden. Tessa come...

As part of our continuing coverage of longshot Republican presidential candidates, Arkansas politics expert Nic Horton joins the show to discuss Asa Hutchinson's presidential bid. Nic explains why Hutchinson probably isn't going to be the longshot that breaks out.  In part 2, professional gambler Zeus O'Dea discusses the possibility of a Jeremy Corbyn comeback in the UK and what it means for the f...

Argentina's upcoming presidential elections are looking like a volatile and uncertain contest between a number of colorful candidates. Among others: an incumbent with a track record of racist comments overseeing 100%+ inflation, a Harvard Business School grad, and an anarcho-capitalist tantra instructor.  Latin America based financial analyst Ian Bezek returns to the show to assess the odds on Sma...