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They made six figures on prediction markets with these really random bets

Nypost · 🇺🇸 public United States · · 890 words · By Will Zimmerman
Financial Gain from Prediction Markets Individual Success Stories Gamification of Expertise
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What to know about Financial Gain from Prediction Markets

They made six figures on prediction markets with these really random bets See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 11
Techniques found 2
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center86%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

They made six figures on prediction markets with these really random bets See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The New York Post on GoogleThe bets just keep on coming.

Common ground

Prediction markets continue to surge in popularity.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Pity: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/06/03/lifestyle/i-made-175000-betting-on-ariana-grande-o…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Appeal to Pity 60% confidence
Evoking sympathy to win support rather than using logical arguments.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to pity helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 4
check_circle Corroborated 2
help Insufficient Evidence 2
schedule Pending 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
verified Verified 1
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Claim 1: “Joel Holsinger, a 26-year-old Brooklynite, began trading on prediction markets and creating content around them in July 2024.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources (New York Post and another article titled 'Betting on Prediction Markets Is Their Job') confirm that Joel Holsinger, 26, began trading and creating content in July 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Amphipoda () is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods () range in size from 1 to 340 millimetres (0.039 to 13 in) and are mos…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphipoda
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician, songwriter and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pisaster ochraceus, generally known as the purple sea star, ochre sea star, or ochre starfish, is a common seastar found among the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Identified as a keystone species, P. och…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisaster_ochraceus
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 2: “Brandon, 26 and a sixth-grade teacher from Pennsylvania, has made over $175,000 dollars on Kalshi by betting on how high songs by pop stars like Ariana Grande will climb on the charts.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The evidence confirms that people use Kalshi to bet on music charts (e.g., Taylor Swift), but there is no mention of a specific person named Brandon, a 26-year-old teacher from Pennsylvania, or his specific earnings of $175,000.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Kalshi is a regulated exchange & prediction market where you can trade on the outcome of real-world events. Buy and sell Event Contracts.Trading on Kalshi involves risk and may not be appropriate for …
https://kalshi.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Join the conversation on innovative trading! #kalshi #trader #moneytok. Kalshi prediction markets, making money online, trading strategies, financial platforms, college student success, side hustle id…
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/rolling-over-profits-on-kals…
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web search NEUTRAL — People all across the world are making predictions on Kalshi, betting on everything from the next democratic presidential nominee to how many weeks Taylor Swift's latest album will stay #1 on the Bill…
https://www.wikihow.com/Is-Kalshi-Legit
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Claim 3: “He’s made about $45,000 to date”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found regarding Paul Sieczka's earnings.
schedule
Claim 4: “To inform his bets, Sieczka uses publicly available sources like PivotalWeather.com and Weather.cod.edu, which is operated by his alma mater’s meteorology program.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 5: “in early 2024, he accurately predicted the hits and sales for her “Eternal Sunshine” album on X. He nailed how many copies the record would sell within 1%”
SINGLE SOURCE
No evidence was found regarding a person named Brandon predicting the sales of 'Eternal Sunshine' within a 1% margin on X.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Dec 16, 2024 ... 1 on Top Album Sales for a 10th ... For all chart news, you can follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and.
https://www.billboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/decembe…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jan 22, 2025 ... This is an AI-generated summary of the content, and is not intended to provide factual context. If you think it may contain an error, please ...
https://www.tiktok.com/@gaytimes/video/7462716988805156129
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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 28, 2021 ... Ariana Grande 1 43. 112 93 101 LOCO Justin Quiles, Chimbala X Zion ... Album sales plus track-equivalent albums plus streaming ...
https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboar…
help
Claim 6: “A weather scientist who studied meteorology at the College of DuPage in Illinois, Paul Sieczka has been chasing tornadoes since 2013 and predicting them on Kalshi since 2022.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found for Paul Sieczka, his education at College of DuPage, or his activities on Kalshi.
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Claim 7: “During this year’s Super Bowl, for example, while the rest of the world was wagering on the outcome of the Seattle Seahawks-New England Patriots bout”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results (The Athletic and another 'Super Bowl LX INSTANT reactions' source) confirm that the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX in 2026.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 season was the Seattle Seahawks' 50th in the National Football League (NFL), their 16th under general manager John Schneider, and their second under head coach Mike Macdonald. The Seahawks fi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Seattle_Seahawks_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 season will be the Seattle Seahawks' 51st in the National Football League (NFL), their 17th under the leadership of general manager John Schneider and their third under head coach Mike Macdon…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Seattle_Seahawks_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West d…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Seahawks
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 8: “On Kalshi and Polymarket, the two most popular prediction markets in America (and America’s news-cycle), total trading volume surpassed $24 billion in April 2026, up from about $1.8 billion a year prior, according to analysis from The Block.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While the evidence confirms the existence of Kalshi and Polymarket, none of the provided search results or Wikipedia entries mention the specific trading volume figures ($24 billion in April 2026 vs $1.8 billion a year prior) or an analysis from The Block.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kalshi Inc. is a prediction market platform based in Manhattan, New York City, that launched in July 2021. The platform is used primarily for sports betting, which constitutes more than 90% of site ac…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalshi
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Polymarket is an American cryptocurrency-based prediction market which offers a platform where individuals can place bets on future outcomes, including sports matches, economic indicators, weather pat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymarket
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Prediction markets, also known as betting markets, information markets, decision markets, idea futures, or event derivatives, are open markets that enable the prediction of specific outcomes using fin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prediction_market
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 9: “His largest position on the evening, that the announcers would not say “What a catch,” hit. By night’s end, he’d profited about $8,800 on his predictions.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific detail about the 'What a catch' bet and the $8,800 profit is found in one New York Post article. No other independent source corroborates this specific bet or amount.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of episodes for The Colbert Report in 2007.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Colbert_Report_epi…
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web search NEUTRAL — “Super Bowl mention markets could hit $5-to-$8 million for people trading or betting on whether or not someone will say ‘Taylor Swift,'” Cheryle Shepstone, director of content and operations at DeFiRa…
https://playactionnews.com/2026/02/03/bettors-raising-stakes…
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web search NEUTRAL — Joel Holsinger bet $2,500 on Gobble. He originally had no intention of placing a bet, as he felt the matter was confusing and had found no clues that could give him an edge in placing a wager.
https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/prediction-market-traders-…
+ 1 more evidence source
verified
Claim 10: “He also studies music tracking sites like LivePopBars and KWORB.”
VERIFIED
Web search results explicitly confirm that Kworb.net and LivePopBars are music tracking/statistics websites.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Welcome to kworb.net! On here you will find all kinds of music-related data. If you want to know how your favorite artist is doing, then this is the place to be.
https://kworb.net/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Charts with real-time iTunes pop bars for tracks and artists in every iTunes store as well as the entire world. Music and chart discussion forums as well.
https://www.livepopbars2.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Kworb is a global music statistics website that tracks real-time charts from Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, and Apple Music. Discover top songs now, all for free.
https://kworb.my/
info
Claim 11: “As of September 2026, he decided he was doing well enough to quit his day job in accounting; since then, he’s made around $250,000.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The claim about quitting his accounting job and making $250,000 is mentioned in the context of Joel Holsinger in one source ('Betting on Prediction Markets Is Their Job'), but the specific figure of $250,000 and the September 2026 date are not corroborated by other independent sources in the provided evidence.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Colts Drum and Bugle Corps (previously known as the Junior Dukes, Legionnaires, and Colt .45) is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Dubuque, Iowa. The Colts are part of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colts_Drum_and_Bugle_Corps
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Human papillomavirus-positive oropharyngeal cancer (HPV-positive OPC or HPV+OPC), is a cancer (squamous cell carcinoma) of the throat caused by the human papillomavirus type 16 virus (HPV16). In the p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HPV-positive_oropharyngeal_can…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English musician, songwriter and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.