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Odds Man Out

Name: Odds Man Out
Brand: Simon & Schuster NZ
SKU: 9798895658345
Price: 65.0 NZD
Availability: InStock

The Untold Story of How Professional Sports Crushed the Pioneers of Online Betting

By Jay Cohen

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Brief Description

Three San Francisco traders become internet gambling pioneers after launching the first truly online sportsbooks, but the fix is in as the professional sports leagues flex their muscle to game the system and turn its founders into fugitives, proving that no bet’s a sure thing. Before... Read More

Format: Hardback

$65⁰⁰

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Odds Man Out

$65⁰⁰

Three San Francisco traders become internet gambling pioneers after launching the first truly online sports books, but the fix is in as the professional sports leagues flex their muscle to game the system and turn its founders into fugitives, proving that no bet’s a sure thing.

Description

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.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9798895658345

Publisher: Post Hill Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 13 August 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: Post Hill Press

Contributors:

Foreword by Benjamin Brafman

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 549g

Pages: 384

Collections

Computing & Technology Cooking & Food Education & Reference Finance & Economics Finance & Investment Jay Cohen Non-Fiction Pre-order Books Pre-Order Cook Books Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date

About the Author

Jay Cohen is the co-Founder and former President of World Sports Exchange, the first fully online betting site. World Sports Exchange opened in January 1997 and closed in April 2013.

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.

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