Jay Cohen's Odds Man Out: Inside the WSEX Founder's Memoir

Updated July 2026.

Jay Cohen, the co-founder of Antigua based sportsbook World Sports Exchange who became the first offshore bookmaker convicted under the 1961 Federal Wire Act, has published a memoir called Odds Man Out detailing his prosecution, his 21 months in federal prison, and how the online sportsbook features he pioneered in the 1990s became standard across today's multibillion dollar legal betting industry. The 384 page book, co-written with attorney Benjamin Brafman, was released in the summer of 2026 and has drawn fresh coverage from Reason, Gambling Insider, Yahoo Sports and Casino Beats.

Key facts: Jay Cohen and World Sports Exchange

• Cohen co-founded World Sports Exchange (WSEX) in Antigua in 1995 with business partner Steve Schillinger, after working as a stock trader on the Pacific Stock Exchange, per Gambling Insider.
• He was indicted in 1998 and convicted in 2000 under the Federal Wire Act of 1961, one of the first prosecutions of its kind targeting an offshore online sportsbook.
• Cohen served 21 months in federal prison after his conviction and Supreme Court appeal were both rejected.
• WSEX eventually closed in 2013 as better financed competitors entered the market, according to Reason's account of Cohen's case.
• Cohen renounced his American citizenship and now lives in Eastern Europe, unable to return to the United States because of his wire fraud conviction.

Who is Jay Cohen?

Jay Cohen is a former Pacific Stock Exchange trader who, in the mid 1990s, co-founded one of the first licensed offshore online sportsbooks, World Sports Exchange, in Antigua and Barbuda. He holds a nuclear engineering degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and had previously run a futures market among traders on the O.J. Simpson murder trial's outcome before turning that idea into a full sports betting operation with Steve Schillinger.

What was World Sports Exchange (WSEX)?

WSEX was an Antigua licensed online and phone based sportsbook that let customers place traditional moneyline and spread bets as well as live traded futures on in progress games, an early version of the in play and prediction market products that dominate the industry today. Coverage from the period, cited in Cohen's memoir and in retrospective reporting, credited the operation with reaching a betting volume that at points reportedly exceeded the combined handle of Las Vegas and Atlantic City sportsbooks, drawing attention from HBO's Real Sports, the Wall Street Journal and 60 Minutes.

Why was Jay Cohen prosecuted?

United States prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged Cohen with wire fraud under the 1961 Federal Wire Act, arguing that WSEX's acceptance of bets from American customers by phone and online violated the law even though the business was licensed and legal in Antigua. Cohen has long argued the case was effectively driven by pressure from major professional sports leagues worried about legalized competition to their own relationship with Las Vegas sportsbooks, a claim he repeats at length in Odds Man Out.

What happened at Jay Cohen's trial?

Cohen's case was heard before Judge Thomas Griesa, whom Cohen has described as elderly, unfamiliar with how the internet worked, and predisposed against gambling. According to Cohen's account, the judge issued a directed verdict of guilty and excluded evidence Cohen considered exculpatory, including material related to Antigua's legal licensing of the business under World Trade Organization commitments. Cohen has said a juror later told him privately that the jury believed he was innocent but felt the judge had left them no realistic alternative but to convict.

How long was Jay Cohen in prison?

Cohen served 21 months in a United States federal prison after his conviction. Both his direct appeal and a subsequent petition to the Supreme Court were declined, exhausting his legal options to overturn the verdict.

What is Odds Man Out about?

Odds Man Out, co-written with defense attorney Benjamin Brafman and published in 2026, is Cohen's 384 page first person account of building WSEX, the federal investigation and trial that followed, his time in prison, and his life afterward as a stateless former American entrepreneur. Cohen has been candid that the book is one sided, framing his prosecution as a miscarriage of justice engineered by threatened sports leagues rather than a balanced retelling, and outlets covering the release, including Gambling Insider, have noted the memoir's grievance driven tone directly.

What does Jay Cohen say about today's legal sports betting industry?

Cohen has been vocal about the contrast between his prosecution and the industry that followed the Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Murphy v. NCAA, which struck down the federal ban on state sports betting and opened the door to the legal, licensed sportsbook market operating across dozens of states today. Reflecting on how quickly attitudes shifted once sports betting became legal and heavily marketed by the same leagues that once opposed it, Cohen said: "Whatever happened to all your hangups about this? I mean, they're just gone, completely gone."

"We thought it was the right time. We didn't say, 'Hey, we're early here.' We thought we were doing everything right." Jay Cohen, co-founder of World Sports Exchange, quoted by Gambling Insider on the launch of WSEX in the mid 1990s.

Did WSEX invent features used by modern sportsbooks?

Reporting on Cohen's case credits WSEX with popularizing several features that are now standard across the legal sports betting and prediction market industry, including point and click online betting, live in game wagering, and futures markets tied to real time game events. Those same live traded futures mechanics are the conceptual ancestor of the event contracts now offered by CFTC regulated prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, an irony Cohen has pointed to directly in interviews around the book's release.

What happened to World Sports Exchange?

WSEX operated for roughly 18 years before shutting down in 2013 as larger, better capitalized operators, many of them based in jurisdictions with clearer regulatory relationships to major markets, out competed the original offshore pioneers. By the time WSEX closed, the legal and competitive landscape it had helped create through years of litigation and industry attention looked very different from the one it had originally entered.

Where is Jay Cohen now?

Cohen renounced his United States citizenship following his prosecution and now lives in Eastern Europe, according to Gambling Insider's coverage of the book's release. Because his wire fraud conviction is classified as a crime of moral turpitude, he cannot return to the United States. Reporting on his current circumstances describes him struggling to find steady employment despite his engineering degree and entrepreneurial background, and he has said he has no formal connection to the modern legal sports betting industry his early work helped shape.

Milestone	Year	Detail
WSEX founded	1995	Launched in Antigua by Jay Cohen and Steve Schillinger
Federal indictment	1998	Charged with wire fraud in the Southern District of New York
Conviction and sentencing	2000	21 months in federal prison after a directed guilty verdict
WSEX shuts down	2013	Closed after roughly 18 years of operation
Murphy v. NCAA	2018	Supreme Court strikes down federal sports betting ban
Odds Man Out published	2026	384 page memoir co-written with Benjamin Brafman

Why does Jay Cohen's story matter to the iGaming industry today?

Cohen's case is frequently cited in industry history as an early cautionary tale about the legal risk facing offshore operators serving the American market, a risk that shaped how later generations of sportsbooks approached licensing and market entry in the United States. His memoir arrives at a moment when the industry he helped pioneer is not only fully legal in much of the country but expanding into adjacent prediction markets that echo the futures products WSEX once offered, giving his account renewed relevance for operators, regulators and historians tracking how the sector's legal foundations were built.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Jay Cohen in the gambling industry?

Jay Cohen is the co-founder of World Sports Exchange, an Antigua licensed online sportsbook launched in 1995, and the first offshore bookmaker convicted under the United States Federal Wire Act.

What is Odds Man Out about?

Odds Man Out is Jay Cohen's 2026 memoir, co-written with attorney Benjamin Brafman, recounting his founding of World Sports Exchange, his federal prosecution and prison sentence, and his life since as a stateless former American.

How long did Jay Cohen spend in prison?

Cohen served 21 months in federal prison after his conviction for wire fraud, following a trial in which the judge issued a directed guilty verdict.

Why was WSEX significant for online sports betting?

WSEX is credited with popularizing point and click online betting, live in game wagering, and futures markets on game outcomes, features that became standard across the modern legal sports betting and prediction market industry.

Can Jay Cohen return to the United States?

No. Cohen renounced his United States citizenship after his prosecution and cannot return because his wire fraud conviction is classified as a crime of moral turpitude, according to Gambling Insider.