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How to play Holly Jolly Cash Pig
Future proceeds from Entain’s full exit of Entain CEE will be used to reduce group reported leverage below 3x, with excess capital returned to shareholders, the company said.
Analysts remain bullish on the operator’s future following its H1 earnings report. A Goodbody note dated 13 August hailed “another positive update, with H1 adjusted EBITDA landing comfortably ahead of expectations”.
UK&I continues to be a “standout performance” said the note, as Entain sits comfortably ahead of its peers and appears to be seizing market share, amid fallout from the UK’s remote gaming duty tax hike in April.
About Holly Jolly Cash Pig
In an interview with the Financial Times over the weekend, Done cautioned that additional tax hikes could result in widespread betting shop closures, harm related sectors such as horse racing and accelerate the decline of the high street.
Betfred currently operates approximately 1,094 retail shops across the UK. Done highlighted the concrete risks of Machine Gaming Duty – taxes on gambling machines – doubling from 20% to 40%, a move reportedly under consideration by Chancellor John Healey ahead of the Autumn Budget.
Betfred’s retail business still heavily depends on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) and in-shop gambling. Despite the maximum stake limit being cut to £2 in 2019, FOBTs account for roughly half of Betfred’s shop profits. Done emphasised that without these machines, retail betting wass “impossible”.
How to play Holly Jolly Cash Pig
The biggest new uncertainty in US sports betting is prediction markets. The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans will legally wager $29.5 billion in betting handle through US regulated commercial sportsbooks during the 2026 NFL season, broadly unchanged from the $29.4 billion handle recorded in 2025. These figures refer to the amount wagered, not sportsbook revenue.
Robinson calls prediction markets “the main event”. His argument is not simply that US customers are moving from sportsbooks to prediction markets. The more important point is that sportsbooks no longer have the relatively protected market that was once assumed.
Kalshi, Robinhood, Crypto.com and DraftKings’ own prediction-market operation are all competing for activity around sporting events. Beynon says prediction markets are having a larger effect on valuations than on fundamentals so far.