Wild Wild Vegas

How to play Wild Wild Vegas

More than a year after then-Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers faced menacing threats from an exasperated bettor, questions remain about whether the proposed bans will serve as a meaningful deterrent to agitated sportsbook customers. An investigation later determined that the bettor resided overseas.

Since the Supreme Court’s PASPA decision in 2018, there has been an uptick on harassment against athletes from bettors. The collection of incidents, in the view of the industry, is typically construed as both troubling and prevalent. Against a backdrop of alarming threats in numerous sports, perhaps the most disconcerting occurred at the hands of Benjamin “Parlay” Patz, a California bettor.

Approximately 15 months after the high court’s ruling, Patz sent a series of explicit messages to four members of MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays, threatening to “sever” their necks open. Accused by federal investigators of targeting more than 300 accounts of pro and college athletes, Patz pleaded guilty in 2021 to transmitting threats in interstate or foreign commerce. Although a judge ordered Patz to undergo mental health treatment and abstain from gambling, he did not sentence the bettor to prison.

How to play Wild Wild Vegas

Yahoo Finance has ended its dedicated prediction market integration with Polymarket, cutting short a high-profile partnership less than a year after launch.

The investing and news site announced last week that it halted an arrangement in which it used Polymarket prediction market data for a dedicated hub on the website.

That relationship ended in April, just six months after it started. Yahoo Finance confirmed the end of that agreement to Bloomberg but noted that Polymarket remains an advertising partner.

How to play Wild Wild Vegas

By looking at four major gambling companies – Entain, Flutter, DraftKings and MGM Resorts International – it becomes clear why the sector should not be treated as a single trade.

Flutter has arguably the strongest online franchise of the four. Its share price fell from $282.33 on 18 September 2025, to $89.56 on 18 September this year, with a market valuation of $15.54 billion.

FanDuel remains the leading US sportsbook, while Flutter’s international businesses provide additional sources of growth. But that quality comes with high expectations.