Daniel Negrenu took to the Web to announce that he’s now a model ambassador for Kalshi, a web-based platform that permits folks to make predictions on real-life occasions in politics, tradition, in addition to sports activities.
To have fun the partnership, Negreanu is placing up $30,000 “out of (his) personal pocket,” to ship somebody to the $25,000 World Sequence of Poker Tremendous Foremost Occasion that’s scheduled to happen within the Bahamas later this yr. He made the announcement by way of his X web page.
Negreanu will randomly select one individual from those that newly signed as much as Kalshi utilizing the promo code “dnegs.”
“I’ve been buying and selling on Kalshi for months, and I completely find it irresistible,” he stated.
Discover he stated “buying and selling,” and never “wagering” or “betting.” Though the platform appears to be like and acts like a sportsbook, Kalshi insists its trades are legit monetary derivatives. At the very least that’s what the location’s legal professionals are telling the federal Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC), in addition to Massachusetts, who’s suing the location, claiming it’s performing like a sportsbook.
A number of states have additionally issued cease-and-desist letters to Kalshi to cease it from taking sports activities bets. CEO of the corporate, Tarek Mansour, in contrast the battles his website are combating with Negreanu’s lengthy and lustrous poker profession when asserting the partnership.
“Kalshi’s combat for prediction markets has adopted an identical path,” Mansour stated in a press launch. “We’ve failed and been rejected extra occasions than I can keep in mind, however we didn’t waver in our dedication to the imaginative and prescient: Develop the world of economic markets, regardless of the price, regardless of the hardship.”
Proper now, the location operates in all 50 states and is Federally regulated as a monetary alternate. Though on first look it appears to be like like bets are being made and brought by the location, essentially, its members are buying and selling “contracts” with different members, and never with Kalshi.
That permits it to keep away from being labelled as a sportsbook — for now.
A few of the issues its members are “exchanging contracts” on this week are whether or not or not The View and Jimmy Kimmel Reside! might be cancelled, a few of the phrases that Trump will say in the course of the Charlie Kirk memorial service, if the U.S. Authorities will shut down subsequent month, if singer Cardi B may have successful track this yr, and even when the U.S. will affirm the existence of aliens.
Regardless of locking up arguably the most important faces in poker, the location doesn’t provide any “contracts” on the sport or its gamers.
