Crab Trap

What is Crab Trap?

Perhaps the hand that poker itself has shown is pocket kings, but every cowboy has to ride into the sunset one day and that day has arrived for the Poker page on the CalvinAyre.com website.  

It is said that all great poker players have an exit strategy, and that theory should hold for all those who bring the game to fans and players, too. Calvin Ayre has been at the personal and professional forefront of poker coverage for many years.  

For so long, CalvinAyre.com has been a beacon in the poker reporting landscape but as the outgoing incumbent of this position of privilege, I haven’t been at the centre of this role for so long as to claim anywhere near all the credit.  

About Crab Trap

The latest 2025 contribution report indicated that $127 million was awarded, with $53.3 million specifically allocated to sport-related organisations.

Caroline Lamb informed a recent review that the current responsibility of annually processing over 500 ClubGRANTS applications within a short time frame imposed significant constraints. 

Lamb described this task as “practically limiting the authority’s ability to most effectively monitor compliance” across the scheme. 

What is Crab Trap?

The initial batch of FSPIs launched with NHL performance gauges, triggering a wave of filings from exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers seeking to launch futures-based funds for each professional hockey team. One issuer even filed plans for leveraged ETFs tied to the NHL indexes.

A similar scenario is playing out on the back of the MLB index introduction. Both LeagueShares and RexShares filed plans for ETFs tied to the FutureSports MLB indexes.

If approved, the funds would hold baskets of the CME-traded derivatives. LeagueShares went a step further by adding a filing for 2x leveraged MLB futures funds.