Investigative Journalists - America's Favorite Photos Voting Math Probe

Any Investigative journalists out there looking for a story? Save some hard-pressed families from wasting time (AND MONEY) on false hopes. This is not my skill set, but has great potential for an impactful investigative article that I would love to read. https://americasfavoritephotos.com/ would be an interesting investigation. Contestants sponsor their favorite photo. They and anyone they recruit get 1-2 free votes a day by sending 1 allowed daily email. Any supporter can buy more votes at $2. each. The end point: There is a dog photo version and others. After contestant photos go through rounds and rounds and rounds of “voting” from regional to general “semifinal to finals” the submitter of the photo getting the most votes wins I think, $10,000. I’ve been sucked in twice by family to “vote” by daily free email as they ascend to the "semifinals" . I have mostly resisted offers to sell me more votes. In my limited experience, "players" come from the needy end of the spectrum. The two individuals I have supported were desperate to fund cancer therapy for themselves or loved ones. Interestingly, in order for whoever is behind these "contests" to make a lot of money, it doesn't seem to require doing anything illegal. What the promoters have done is simply obscure the numbers of photos, “semifinals”, votes, and voters involved (all of which are directly related to the odds of winning), while encouraging the purchase of 2-dollar votes, often for a good cause. At least the odds of winning your state’s lottery are known. To me the story lies simply in uncovering the numbers, doing the math, and identifying: Who is behind it 2 . Money In vs. Money Out Actual odds of winning per $2 investment and comparison with other forms of legal gambling (Lotto?) Who were the “winners” and how did they amass the winning numbers (votes &/or money) This may well not be criminal, but should or could there be any room for regulation, like the gaming industry? Or at least some required transparency. I’m betting someone is making a LOT of money. Attached is my previous query of ChatGPT on the topic. https://preview.redd.it/rjhc1delep9h1.jpg?width=612&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5fd353718d6df510e9a8bdcae9a875903a212ff