Mr Magic

What is Mr Magic?

Bally’s stock jumped 7% in trading on Monday to $9.84. Shares had fallen 30% in the last month in response to uncertainty in Chicago and warnings about the company’s ability to continue as a growing concern in its Q2 earnings report. Former CFO Mira Mircheva resigned on 4 September, prompting Papanier to take over the role on an interim basis.

The VGT dispute and construction reset are the latest chapters in a long and bumpy road for Bally’s since winning Chicago’s sole casino licence in 2022. Work has been halted for debris overflow and for unapproved contractors, and the company faced an $800 million funding gap that was eventually filled through a financing agreement with Gaming and Leisure Properties. Potential interference with city water lines also necessitated a significant redesign of the hotel plan.

At one point, the IGB ordered a temporary work stoppage at Bally’s permanent casino following reports of alleged ties between an unapproved dumpster service with organised crime.

About Mr Magic

The two companies began collaborating in November 2025. As part of the deal, Polymarket provided data for a dedicated prediction market section on Yahoo Finance. The feature provided market-based probabilities of economic, political, and financial developments alongside Yahoo Finance content. 

The Yahoo Finance prediction market section was taken out in April. The companies have now confirmed that the larger deal is also off, as reported by Bloomberg. 

Yahoo said Polymarket is still an advertising partner and suggested the two could collaborate on other projects in the future. Polymarket has not provided any public explanation for the end of the data partnership. 

What is Mr Magic?

Evolution then commissioned Spectrum Gaming Group to produce a report on its actions and the validity of the Black Cube report. Produced in 2022, the report has long been subject to confidentiality despite Evolution claiming the report exonerated the company.

Playtech on Wednesday published a statement highlighting what it claimed were compliance failures at Evolution, written into the Spectrum report.

Within the report, Spectrum alleged “concerns around the availability of Evolution’s games in certain prohibited markets, the regulatory implications of its practices, and the lack of proactive monitoring of its customers”.