Jay Cohen of World Sports Exchange on the betting exchange that sent him to prison

Jay Cohen launched World Sports Exchange in 1996-97, an online sports exchange licensed in Antigua, and was later prosecuted in the US. In this Business of Betting interview with InGame senior analyst Jeff Edelstein about his book Odds Man Out, he says what today's companies are doing, his company did 25 years ago.

In this episode

• Cohen says customers could buy and sell teams, each side starting around $50 and the winner going to 100, and that in-game betting began in January 1997 (1:56, 2:04, 2:17).

• He says the company was open with the press and licensed in Antigua, and ignored a letter from a law firm acting for the NFL, NBA, baseball and hockey telling it to stop taking US residents (6:42, 7:07, 7:45).

• He went back to fight the charges, took the stand in his own defense, says the judge effectively directed the verdict, and served 18 months in prison (8:43, 11:05, 9:29).

• Antigua won a WTO case against the US, which he says has never complied; he argues companies could still serve the US from offshore under that ruling, but no banking attorney wants to hear it (9:10, 22:34).

• He says he would start the business again rather than live with regret (16:26, 17:13).

• He used to say he never wanted a pardon, but now says he would love one given what is going on (28:12).

Episode from the Business of Betting Podcast with Jeff Edelstein, published on YouTube.