Odds Man Out

About this item

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. 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