Of course, there is the other viewpoint, where most ppl who trade NUGT already knew about the upcoming reverse split, so they made sure to end up without the extra shares the day prior to the split, in which case, the NUGT market makers would have to buy up very little shares at the end of the day prior to the split.
Which means, the other offensive tactic is to trip up those ppl who think NUGT will soar after the split. I mean, if the market maker paid cash for very little to no shares, there would be no incentive to mark NUGT up after said split date...