Odds Man Out: The Untold Story of How Professional Sports Crushed the Pioneers of Online Betting
Language: English
Published by Post Hill Press, 2026
- Hardcover
- New
Seller: California Books, Miami, FL, U.S.A.California Books
AbeBooks seller since October 27, 2023
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Add to basketSeller Inventory # I-9798895658345
- Title
- Odds Man Out: The Untold Story of How Professional Sports Crushed the Pioneers of Online Betting
- Author
- Cohen, Jay
- Publisher
- Post Hill Press
- Publication year
- 2026
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 13
- 9798895658345
Before the Supreme Court unleashed legal sports betting with its 2018 landmark decision, an unlikely trio of traders from the Pacific Stock Exchange, took a huge gamble and wagered their lives on a bet that online gaming was in America’s future. Now Americans, in 2024 alone, wagered nearly $150 billion on sports—with professional sports leagues, casinos, and betting apps all cashing in. But, before this gold rush, these same leagues fought viciously to keep sports gambling illegal.
The revolution began in the mid-1990s, the early days of the internet, when three San Francisco traders dared to pursue a bold, new business venture. Jay Cohen, an options trader who had never placed a bet, found inspiration watching colleague Steve Schillinger turn the fever of the OJ Simpson trial into a wildly popular futures market. With Schillinger and twenty-one-year-old Haden Ware, Cohen set up World Sports Exchange (WSEX.com) in Antigua, a Caribbean Island paradise where sports betting ventures were legal and regulated.
WSEX’s futures sports exchange platform and innovative live betting features quickly became the industry’s crown jewel. But their explosion into the gambling scene would soon unleash a powerful backlash—the first federal prosecution of internet sports betting. While Cohen willingly returned to the US to fight the charges, his partners stayed behind to handle their booming business while battling the Department of Justice, professional sports leagues, and an army of lawyers, politicians, and lobbyists. Cohen and WSEX fought back and convinced Antigua to challenge the US in the courts of the World Trade Organization, setting off a decades-long battle for justice.
Odds Man Out is an insider’s account from WSEX founder Jay Cohen, detailing a sixteen-year rollercoaster ride that ended in tragedy. Were Cohen and his colleagues criminals or ahead of their time? As today's sports leagues ultimately decided to cash in themselves and embrace an industry they once demonized, Cohen’s story exposes how a Goliath wielded power and influence to crush the pioneers of internet betting.
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About the Author
On February 28, 2000, Cohen was the first person to be convicted in federal court for violation of the 1961 Federal Wire Act for operating an online gambling company despite being in Antigua, where the business was licensed and regulated. Cohen served eighteen months in Nellis Federal Prison in North Las Vegas, Nevada. He was released in March 2004.
Cohen was instrumental in Antigua’s decision in March 2003 to initiate the dispute resolution process of the World Trade Organization to challenge the US’ prohibition on the cross-border supply of online gambling services.
Prior to World Sports Exchange, Cohen worked as an options market-maker for Group One Trading on the floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange.
Cohen moved to Europe and renounced his citizenship in 2012. He currently lives in Eastern Europe with his wife and son. He grew up in Long Island and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley where he majored in nuclear engineering.
Cohen and World Sports Exchange have been featured in The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and on CNBC, HBO Real Sports, 60 Minutes, and ESPN.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
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