On July 14th, SiriusXM host and veteran White House reporter Julie Mason invited Pratik Chougule to discuss gambling on politics. Mason expressed skepticism about prediction markets on politics. She characterized
Improving Forecasting through Political Betting Freedom
Mission
The Coalition for Political Forecasting aims to liberalize regulations on political betting in order to serve the public interest.
About CPF
The Coalition for Political Forecasting is a community of researchers, traders, and philanthropists that sees real-money prediction markets and other betting platforms as advanced forecasting tools that can help humanity navigate an uncertain future.
The Coalition seeks to advise the policymaking community on how betting on political events can improve democratic institutions, promote economic stability, and facilitate innovative research.
Who We Are
Pratik Chougule
Executive Director
Pratik Chougule has been involved with political betting for more than twenty years as a trader, political analyst, and content creator. He is the host of Star Spangled Gamblers, a podcast focused on political betting.
His commentary and analysis on political prediction markets has appeared in a variety of publications including Forbes, The Washington Post, and Washingtonian. Chougule graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School. He is an “oracle” on PredictIt, the highest echelon of trader on the site.
Mick Bransfield
Research Director
Mick Bransfield is the Research Director at the Coalition for Political Forecasting and a prediction market analyst. He is the founder and principal of Kingston Chase Consulting, a data analytics firm specializing in prediction markets.
Bransfield has consulted in the prediction market sector. Previously, he led multiple initiatives at Freedom Partners and managed several issue advocacy campaigns. His website, mickbransfield.com, focuses on the development, regulation, and accuracy of prediction markets across disciplines, benchmarking them against expert opinion and statistical models. He holds a Master’s in Business Analytics from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and McIntire School of Commerce, and a bachelor’s degree in American Politics from UVA’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Jeffrey Pritchard
Legal Director
Jeffrey Pritchard is the Legal Director for the Coalition for Political Forecasting. He is a New York licensed attorney with experience in regulatory compliance and legislative drafting.
Pritchard serves as a legal analyst on prediction market litigation for gaming news outlet Comped.com. At the New York State Office of Cannabis Management, he drafted legislation and regulations implementing the legalization of cannabis in New York. Previously, at the New York State Education Department, he provided legal counsel on policy matters and litigation related to the licensure of pharmacists, nurses and other professions. He also served as Assistant Counsel at the NY Legislative Bill Drafting Commission, where he drafted legislation for dozens of state legislators from both parties. He holds a J.D. from Albany Law School and a B.A. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Albany.
Board of Directors
Flip Pidot
Flip Pidot is a leader in the development, operation and study of event futures and political prediction markets, as head of the political swaps platform American Civics Exchange, producer of the prediction market content network OldBull.tv, and formerly market curator at leading political prediction market PredictIt. Flip is also founder and CIO of Sharp Square Capital, a CFTC-regulated fund manager specializing in event futures.
A graduate of Notre Dame and University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Flip also holds a Series 3 license and is a CFA Charterholder. He is chairman of the Finance Committee of the City of Glen Cove, NY, a former corporate fraud examiner, and was a 2016 Congressional candidate in New York’s 3rd District.
Solomon Sia
Solomon Sia is a prediction market user and enthusiast and an active participant in the Effective Altruism community. Sia holds a Masters in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Blog
By Pratik Chougule, Mick Bransfield, and Solomon Sia In its proposed rule on events contracts, the CFTC issued a strong denunciation of war markets, but explicitly opted not to define
By Pratik Chougule, Mick Bransfield, and Solomon Sia The definition of gaming as it pertains to event contracts is ambiguous. While we favor as a policy matter a relatively narrow
By Pratik Chougule, Mick Bransfield, and Solomon Sia Although we would favor a more laissez-faire approach to event contracts than what the CFTC has pursued, we believe that a lack