Lies – Gaming Master

Kalshi sues Rhode Island and sends cease-and-desist letter to ‘Kalshi Lies’ group

admin — Sat, 06 Jun 2026 03:51:09 +0000

Image Credit: Kalshi

Prediction market platform Kalshi is defending itself against increasing legal scrutiny. The company filed a lawsuit against Rhode Island authorities and also sent a cease-and-desist letter to FairPredicts, a group that has been running an ad campaign with the tagline “Kalshi Lies.”

Kalshi has attempted to preempt enforcement actions from state regulators by suing authorities in federal courts. The company believes it has a better chance of success there than in state courts, which may be more sympathetic to state regulators’ arguments.

The lawsuit against Rhode Island states that it “believes Rhode Island will imminently bring an enforcement action against Kalshi with the intent to prevent Kalshi from offering event contracts for trading on its federally regulated exchange.”

Rhode Island Sues Kalshi and Polymarket

Whether it was pre-planned or a response to the lawsuit, Rhode Island’s Attorney General announced that it was suing Kalshi and Polymarket later that day.

“There is no substantive difference between sports betting and ‘events contracts’ in this context; Kalshi and Polymarket know that, and we know that,” said Attorney General Peter Neronha in a press release.

“The problem here is that Rhode Island State law heavily regulates gambling, for good reason, and we allege that Kalshi and Polymarket are evading our laws.”

Currently, Rhode Island residents can wager on esports at Kalshi and Polymarket, but not at a legally regulated sportsbook. Rhode Island only offers one option for sports betting, Rhode Island Sportsbook, although it recently announced that Bally’s will also be granted a license to launch its online platform.

That could see legal esports betting made official as Bally’s offers odds on major events in other states.

Kalshi Encouraging Addictive Behaviors, Claims AG

The complaint filed by Neronha alleges that “Kalshi and Polymarket not only function as betting platforms, but also adopt the design and terminology of traditional gambling operations.”

“For example, Kalshi prompts users to gamble with leaderboards and constant updates on how other users are placing bets. Such design choices have long been known to encourage addictive gambling behavior.”

Kalshi signed up as a member of the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) earlier this week. That would appear to be an admission that the company is operating a gambling platform, as state regulators allege. However, the NCPG created a special category for the company, officially classifying it as its first and only Financial Services & Trading member.

In a press release, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour stated, “As prediction markets continue to evolve, we are deeply committed to setting a new standard for responsible trading by investing in the tools, education, and protections needed to promote healthy participation and customer safety and hope that over time all trading platforms with significant retail participation follow suit.”

Kalshi Lies Campaign Prompts C&D Order

In addition to the legal actions in Rhode Island, Kalshi lawyers were also busy on Thursday issuing a cease-and-desist order against FairPredicts.

The group, which has not revealed its funding source, has been running an ad campaign with the tagline “Kalshi Lies.”

It alleges that Kalshi is misleading users and is actually acting more like a sportsbook with the majority of trades conducted through its in-house trading arm, Kalshi Trading, and other institutional market makers.

You aren’t trading against your neighbor. You’re trading against trillion-dollar market makers.

Our ad campaign is live across Washington, DC highlighting the TRUTH about Kalshi. pic.twitter.com/mgB1Nr3fbz

— FairPredicts (@FairPredicts) May 20, 2026

In Kalshi’s cease-and-desist letter against the group, it claims they are the ones spreading lies. The letter states that FairPredicts is involved in the “publication, dissemination, and paid promotion of false, misleading, defamatory, and commercially disparaging statements”.

Kalshi Not The House, Claims Company

The company reasserts that it is not the house; Kalshi Trading is only one of many market makers that provide liquidity on the exchange. It also says that the trading arm is overall in a net negative.

Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana said she suspects casino interests are funding the campaign.

“Smells like a casino-led effort,” Diana stated. “Prediction markets are fair, transparent, and open. Casinos limit winners (unfair), price with algorithms (opaque), and set the odds themselves (closed). FairPredicts or UnfairPredicts?”

Kalshi warns that if FairPredicts does not immediately stop its campaign, it will pursue further legal action against the group. Its legal fight with Rhode Island means it is now involved in court cases in over 20 states.

Circuit Split Could Lead To Supreme Court Hearing

In New Jersey, state regulators have said they will take the case to the Supreme Court after the Third Circuit ruled in favor of Kalshi.

In the Ninth Circuit, meanwhile, on Thursday, a judge denied Kalshi’s and Polymarket’s motions for a stay pending appeal. This sends civil enforcement actions back to state courts in Nevada and Washington. Nevada is the only state to have successfully restricted Kalshi thus far. It also restricts Polymarket, as well as Crypto.com.

With a circuit split in the rulings, that could accelerate a Supreme Court hearing. A Supreme Court ruling could eventually clarify whether prediction markets, particularly those on sports, fall under federal or state law.

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IEM Cologne Major has massive $1.25 million prize pool, but the real money lies elsewhere

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 23:22:49 +0000

Image credit: ESL

The IEM Cologne Major is set to be one of the biggest Counter-Strike 2 events of the year. Starting on June 2nd, it will take place at the LANXESS Arena in Germany and feature a $1.25 million prize pool.

This puts it in the top 10 Counter-Strike 2 tournaments by prize pool. But there may be a bigger source of income for participating teams.

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Esports Needs to Copy IEM Cologne Major’s Sticker Revenue-Sharing System

IEM Cologne is a massive tournament spanning three weeks. Stage 1 runs from June 2nd to June 5th, with the eight qualifying teams advancing to Stage 2. They join eight directly seeded teams in two groups of eight, competing from June 6th to June 9th. Stage 3 turns to best-of-three matches, with the top eight teams advancing to a single-elimination bracket.

These eight teams will join directly seeded teams: Team Vitality, FURIA, Natus Vincere, FURIA, Falcons, MOUZ, Aurora, The MongolZ, and PARIVISION.

The team that places first will get $500,000 of the prize pool. The runner-up team gets $170,000. Third and fourth-place teams get $80,000. Teams that place fifth through eighth get $45,000.

However, that’s not the only way teams make money at IEM Cologne. The event will run Valve’s new sticker revenue-sharing system. Sticker capsules will be sold over the tournament’s three weeks, allowing players to support their favorite teams in-game.

StarLadder Major Berlin saw $11 million in sticker sales revenue in 2019, proving it to be a lucrative endeavor for qualifying teams. PGL Stockholm and Antwerp collected $70 million combined. Last year’s BLAST.tv Paris Major allegedly made $110 million, not even including Vitality’s Champions capsule. Given how sticker sales revenue was split, each Contenders team received $4.5 million plus $250,000 per player, Legends earned $3.5 million per team and $200,000 per player, and Challengers got $2.6 million per team and $200,000 per player.

For the IEM Cologne Major, the sticker revenue model has some big changes. Tournament organizers now retain 5% of the 50% pool, previously reserved for organizations. The remaining 45% is shared among teams, split based on their Valve Regional Standings positions. The highest-ranked team gets 2.85%.

This still allows lower-ranked teams to see a fair amount of money. Why is that important? Because you need these newer and smaller teams to remain active in the esports scene. More often than not, teams that aren’t considered the biggest in the world don’t earn enough prize or sponsorship money to thrive, removing many teams from the ecosystem.

This has been a huge topic of discussion in the esports industry, with FlyQuest even promising to donate to underrepresented teams and esports scenes that need funding earlier this year. Other scenes have felt the pressure, with the high salaries of Dota 2’s best players draining the scene dry.

Counter-Strike has often been respected for its support of smaller teams and Tier 2 tournaments. Having money for participating teams beyond the prize pool encourages teams to invest in their players and inspires those players to push themselves to qualify. You’ll get all-around better tournaments and a lot more talented teams in the mix.

Instead of franchise leagues that cater to teams that paid to participate and leave others out of the tournament and without support, Counter-Strike’s esports scene has the mentality that anyone should be allowed to qualify for a major if they’re good enough.

Said one fan on Reddit: “The longevity of the Tier 2-3 scene is primarily driven by the decentralized tournament circuit and the high volume of liquidity from skin markets. Unlike franchised leagues, this open ecosystem allows smaller orgs to maintain operations through niche sponsorships and regional betting partnerships.”

“How is Tier 2 CS2 so alive unlike other esports scenes?” Reddit thread

This is definitely something the esports scene needs right now as the hype starts to die down and the money fizzles out.

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