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What is Misery Mining?
“People will lose money faster on exchanges for lots of reasons,” Marantelli says. “It inherently increases spend, volatility, lots of things. And you’re playing against a sharper audience than you’re playing against at the DraftKings sportsbook.”
He compares the effect with sportsbook cash-out features, which gave customers more apparent control over their bets but may also have encouraged greater spending. The crucial difference is that an exchange customer can be facing a specialist whose entire business is identifying inaccurately priced contracts.
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.
What is Misery Mining?
Santos is not the only individual disciplined for trying to game the prediction market system. Ben Midgley, a Republican candidate for the governorship of Maine, admitted purchasing under $1,000 worth of contracts related to his campaign. He accepted a $5,434.30 fine and a three-year suspension.
Meanwhile, Laurie Buckhout, a candidate for a North Carolina congressional seat, was fined $2,589.96 and suspended for three years after buying under $1,000 of contracts linked to her race.
Also, Stephen Cloobeck, a billionaire and 2026 California gubernatorial candidate, purchased approximately $10,000 in contracts tied to his campaign. He was fined $31,770 and suspended for three years.
How to play Misery Mining
Sun International vowed to retain and redeploy employees to other areas of the business where feasible.
During H1, Sun International also implemented its new “Casino Lite” model, aimed at improving profitability at smaller, underperforming properties.
The model focuses on enhancing adjusted EBITDA and operating margins by optimising operations, both in terms of gaming and hospitality.
