About this app
What is Wild Hike?
A former Connecticut funeral director who stole clients’ prepayments to fund his excessive gambling habit will spend the next seven and a half years in state prison.
Philip Pietras, 52, admitted to stealing from more than 170 people, many of whom are senior citizens who sought to limit the emotional and financial burdens placed on their loved ones by prepaying for their funerals. But instead of placing those funds, meant for caskets and burial services, in escrow accounts, Pietras pocketed the money to gamble.
Pietras accepted a plea deal from the state, and prosecutors expect him to enter a guilty plea on Oct. 23 and be formally sentenced on Jan. 22, 2027.
How to play Wild Hike
The operational infrastructure available to these new firms, however, remains underdeveloped. Gonzalez contrasts prediction markets with equities, where trading businesses can use prime brokers, clearinghouses and standardised systems such as FIX.
“When it comes to prediction markets, none of that exists,” he said. “Everyone that’s building in the prediction market space mostly starts from ground zero.”
Platforms were generally constructed for one person operating one account, rather than trading organisations requiring separate permissions and controls. According to Gonzalez, some teams still share a single login.
About Wild Hike
For selling the winning ticket, the Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh convenience store, located at 310 N. 36th St. in Quincy, collected a $500,000 retailer bonus.
Powerball will next be drawn this Saturday (Sept. 19) with an estimated jackpot of $298 million up for grabs. The cash option is at $126.6 million.
Tonight (Sept. 18), the Mega Millions jackpot is $244 million, with the cash at $103.5 million.