The Wizard Cat

How to play The Wizard Cat

In March, William Hill told staff it plans to permanently close approximately 200 of its retail shops in the UK, around 15% of Evoke’s retail estate.

Last month, meanwhile, Betfred announced plans to shutter 132 of its UK betting shops, reducing its workforce by over 600 employees.

Betfred CEO Jo Whittaker said: “We have tried hard to protect all our sites and the colleagues who work in them, but the combined impact of higher employer National Insurance contributions, wage inflation, increases in gambling taxes and wider economic uncertainty has left us with no choice.”

How to play The Wizard Cat

Jefferies described market makers as the ecosystem’s “liquidity backbone”. They post executable bids and offers, manage inventory and provide prices when customer activity is heavily weighted to one side.

The analysts estimated that an operator capturing a one-cent spread and managing its exposure successfully could generate net economics of approximately $1.69 on a $100 trade. Returns are not guaranteed: adverse price movements and unresolved inventory can offset or exceed income from spreads, rebates and liquidity incentives.

The operational infrastructure available to these new firms, however, remains underdeveloped. Gonzalez contrasts prediction markets with equities, where trading businesses can use prime brokers, clearinghouses and standardised systems such as FIX.

What is The Wizard Cat?

Overall, it’s been a busy stretch for the board since the start of 2025. In that time the regulator has issued five multimillion-dollar anti-money laundering fines to entities on the Las Vegas Strip, an unprecedented run of sanctions for America’s gambling capital.

Four of the investigations – those involving Resorts World Las Vegas, MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment and the Venetian – centred around AML violations related to illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, who was placed on the state’s exclusion list in April. The other case involving Wynn Las Vegas did not pertain to play from Bowyer.

Wynn forfeited $130 million to the federal government for a slew of proxy betting violations, which was “believed to be the largest forfeiture by a casino based on admissions of criminal wrongdoing”, per federal prosecutors.