GameVelvet: Dominoes, Spades

What is GameVelvet: Dominoes, Spades?

Canada-based Score Media & Gaming may have just scored a game-winning touchdown. In an announcement made after markets closed yesterday, the company behind theScore and Score Bet sports gambling brands has launched an initial public offering (IPO) as it goes live on the Nasdaq Global Select Market (NGSM). The move follows on the heels of Canada’s preliminary approval of single-event sports wagers, which is expected to greatly benefit Score Media, and could quickly lead to the company’s stock price skyrocketing. 

Score Media announced that it is selling five million shares, fewer than previously expected. The company had changed gears with its public launch, announcing last week a reverse split that would cut out some of the available shares while increasing the per-share price. It has already found support, with underwriters Canaccord Genuity, Credit Suisse, Macquarie Capital and Morgan Stanley able to purchase another 15% on top of the initial five million shares. Should they exercise that option, there would be a total of 5.75 million shares available. The underwriters have 30 days to make up their minds, which will give it time to see how the market reacts. 

Several gaming entities have jumped into public trading recently, most notably, DraftKings. It saw a huge response when it launched its IPO last year, and Score Media hopes it can see a similar response. With operations in Canada, Colorado, Indiana and New Jersey, heavy interest is not out of the question, and the company is ready to capture a larger piece of the market. It added in its announcement, “[Score Media] currently expects that the net proceeds of the offering will be used to fund working capital and other general corporate purposes, including the continued growth and expansion of theScore Bet’s operations in the United States and Canada by supporting the multi-jurisdiction deployment and operation of theScore Bet and user acquisition and retention in jurisdictions where theScore is, or will be, operating.”

About GameVelvet: Dominoes, Spades

The investing and news site announced last week that it halted an arrangement in which it used Polymarket prediction market data for a dedicated hub on the website.

That relationship ended in April, just six months after it started. Yahoo Finance confirmed the end of that agreement to Bloomberg but noted that Polymarket remains an advertising partner.

“The new hub will display probability data from Polymarket for key economic, government, & market outcomes,” said Polymarket in a post on X last November. “Each probability view will be paired with related news, quotes, & analysis from Yahoo Finance + its partners. By combining trusted data with in-depth analysis, the hub will empower investors to make smarter, more strategic prediction market investments.”

How to play GameVelvet: Dominoes, Spades

Operators must maintain permanent mechanisms for age verification, self-exclusion, voluntary time and wagering limits, and information on the user’s own gambling behaviour. Self-exclusion must be effective with all authorised operators. 

The text also prohibits bets placed using credit cards, the use of predictive models to identify moments of greater vulnerability, and platform design mechanisms that hinder a conscious decision to stop betting, leave the service, or activate limits and blocks. Operators must maintain permanent alerts about compulsive gambling, indebtedness and asset loss, and adopt verifiable protocols for identifying risky behaviour.  

The proposal establishes criteria for classifying products according to their potential for harm. Among the characteristics considered are instantaneous or short-lived results, continuous repetition at short intervals, use of random mechanisms to determine the outcome, intermittent rewards, near-miss incentives, incentives to recover losses and features that make it difficult to stop betting or induce successive, impulsive, or increasingly valuable bets.