Christmas Gift Rush

What is Christmas Gift Rush?

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.

How to play Christmas Gift Rush

It has been a challenging few years for Entain, having cycled through four CEOs in short succession. In November 2023 Entain agreed to pay a financial penalty totalling £585 million, plus a £20 million charitable donation and £10 million in Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and HMRC costs. This related to a bribery case initiated by the CPS into the company’s historic operations in Turkey.

Troubles continued as it faced declining growth within its digital business. Reports of failed integrations amid a frenzy of acquisitions further dampened Entain’s reputation and the operator subsequently committed to a major turnaround effort to cut costs and return its digital business to growth.

Efforts to update its legacy tech were also set in motion, and short-lived CEO Gavin Isaacs told iGB at ICE in January 2025 that his biggest challenge in the role was to modernise its core platform.

How to play Christmas Gift Rush

Entain is trying to respond by simplifying itself. It has agreed to sell an initial 20% stake in Entain CEE for €425 million, implying an enterprise value of about €2.1 billion. The company says proceeds from the transaction and any future exit will be used to reduce debt and, subject to leverage objectives, return excess capital to shareholders.

The strategy is less about rapid growth and more about showing that a cash-generating business with falling debt and improving operations is undervalued.

By looking at four major gambling companies – Entain, Flutter, DraftKings and MGM Resorts International – it becomes clear why the sector should not be treated as a single trade.