[Kindred]

World Sports Exchange Head Said to be “Suicidal”




Sources close to Gambling911.com say that World Sports Exchange (WSEX.com) co-founder Jay Cohen has become a recluse, gained over 100 pounds and is potentially “suicidal”.
The Antigua-based online gambling company is now insolvent and slow paying much of its customers up to 9 months now.
“Cohen squandered the company’s money away on a pricy lawsuit,” the source tells Gambling911.com.
The suit in question revolved around a 1998 conviction in which Cohen and 20 other operators were found guilty of violating a 1962 wire act. Cohen was charged and fought in a US court where he eventually went on to lose. He would later lose on appeal and serve nearly two years in a federal prison.
Cohen is well known for bashing competitors and meddling in posting forum disputes on the Web. After serving time behind bars, the one time nuclear physicist returned to Antigua where he rejoined operations.
Antigua removed World Sports Exchange’s license last year. The company has operated out of that Caribbean i-Gaming friendly nation since 1996.
“He gained a ton of weight and is essentially in hiding,” said our source.
World Sports Exchange is also run by Hayden Ware and Steve Schillinger, both US fugitives.
Some $300,000 was owed to members of at least one posting forum community as of late January (SportsBookReview.com)
“Just extremely frustrating with the lies they feed me,” one forum member said.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com

Submitted by Jagajeet Chiba on Fri, 02/18/2011 - 16:00

http://www.gambling911.com/gambling-...9D-021811.html


I almost didn't post this. It's sad and WSEX was a solid book for such a long time. But I put myself in the shoes of the guys being slow paid/stiffed and decided to post it.

[macb]

maybe his life insurance policy will pay everyone off

[Santo]

It's a horribly written article; always love sources that aren't identified.

Also if this was the cause of the financial problems wouldn't they have arisen around the time of the lawsuit, not 13 years later?

[mrmarket]

Gambling 9 1 2 (not going to give any promotion on their behalf) is the National Inquirer of the gambling world so take what you read there for what it is.

[PD77]

I remember when he or some other owners of WSEX was on 60 minutes and all of the lawsuit garbage was going on. Damn shame he ruined a perfectly good book trying to defend himself.

[relaaxx]

sources close to me say,' the head of gambling911 is suicidal. i belive my sorces are just as good as thiers.

[RickySteve]

The Antigua WTO fight was a boondoggle not-so-secretly driven by WSEX funds in the expectation of a huge payday on the back end which didn't happen.

Hard to believe Allen Stanford didn't also play some part in lightening their wallet.

[sneak-a-peak]

It's a horribly written article; always love sources that aren't identified.

Also if this was the cause of the financial problems wouldn't they have arisen around the time of the lawsuit, not 13 years later?

Very true

[Bill Dozer]

Yea, the article doesn't make much sense. Those are usually aimed at people who don't follow what's going on and read forums.

Yea the WTO was an investment and there were missteps with things like processing and no-rake poker but they made plenty of money over the years mostly on their good name. There were little marketing expenses and no big investments in new products except Matchbook. No business excuses for not paying players. Someone should sell a boat or a house and get it taken care of. Hopefully liquidation coming.

[relaaxx]

Yea, the article doesn't make much sense. Those are usually aimed at people who don't follow what's going on and read forums.

Yea the WTO was an investment and there were missteps with things like processing and no-rake poker but they made plenty of money over the years mostly on their good name. There were little marketing expenses and no big investments in new products except Matchbook. No business excuses for not paying players. Someone should sell a boat or a house and get it taken care of. Hopefully liquidation coming.

thanks for the information, bill-- like to thank you again for helping me out years ago. you probaly don't remember, but i will never forget.

[trumpdown]

Thanks Bill.

[sneak-a-peak]

Yea, the article doesn't make much sense. Those are usually aimed at people who don't follow what's going on and read forums.

Yea the WTO was an investment and there were missteps with things like processing and no-rake poker but they made plenty of money over the years mostly on their good name. There were little marketing expenses and no big investments in new products except Matchbook. No business excuses for not paying players. Someone should sell a boat or a house and get it taken care of. Hopefully liquidation coming.

This is what boggles me- 300k and especially when it was only a little over 100k should not be so difficult for these guys to come up with even thru loans or something yet they keep ignoring us players and as a result the name keeps being dragged thru the mud as if they dont care at all.

How can they even expect to come back from alienating everyone for so dam long? Ive been constantly waiting long periods of time for payouts and can never trust them again as a result and with all the lies they have fed to me.

[fido007]

thanks for the information, bill-- like to thank you again for helping me out years ago. you probaly don't remember, but i will never forget.

Likewise Bill,Many Thanks

[bookie]

This is what boggles me- 300k and especially when it was only a little over 100k should not be so difficult for these guys to come up with even thru loans or something yet they keep ignoring us players and as a result the name keeps being dragged thru the mud as if they dont care at all.

I think they care a lot, and if there was a boat or a house that could be sold so the good name of the business could be saved it would have been done. Remember these guys burned their bridges with the homeland. I don't pretend to know who made what bad investments or bets, but they've got to be in so deep they're out of options except to keep taking deposits and carrying on like zombies hoping to wake up from a bad dream.
.

[sneak-a-peak]

I think they care a lot, and if there was a boat or a house that could be sold so the good name of the business could be saved it would have been done. Remember these guys burned their bridges with the homeland. I don't pretend to know who made what bad investments or bets, but they've got to be in so deep they're out of options except to keep taking deposits and carrying on like zombies hoping to wake up from a bad dream.
.

You "think" they care a lot. Obviously you are not owed any cash from these guys from a year ago and have not been constantly told lie after lie from them about it.

According to SBR statements (which I believe to be credible) they still own Matchbook so they are not "out of options" nor have they ever been.

Matchbook has been and continues to take in commissions which is gauranteed income. If they cared they would not have outstanding withdrawals from close to 12 months at a sister book. There is no excuse for the companies actions the last year.

Bottom line is they are scammers and dont care

[trumpdown]

They care. Never stiffed a soul that I'm aware of. Just a little late....patience is a virtue. WSEX helps me with this everyday!

[soxwin1917]

They care. Never stiffed a soul that I'm aware of. Just a little late....patience is a virtue. WSEX helps me with this everyday!

I'm guessing/hoping this is tongue in cheek.

[loyd]

You "think" they care a lot. Obviously you are not owed any cash from these guys from a year ago and have not been constantly told lie after lie from them about it.

According to SBR statements (which I believe to be credible) they still own Matchbook so they are not "out of options" nor have they ever been.

Matchbook has been and continues to take in commissions which is gauranteed income. If they cared they would not have outstanding withdrawals from close to 12 months at a sister book. There is no excuse for the companies actions the last year.

Bottom line is they are scammers and dont care

morality of the story, don't put money in a book whose founder is foolish enough to stay in the US knowing how much this industry is targeted by federal prosecutors.

[trumpdown]

I'm guessing/hoping this is tongue in cheek.

You would be correct, sir. But seriously they have taught me patience. Most that still play there are winners I suppose...so are up overall here.

[username474]

The Antigua WTO fight was a boondoggle not-so-secretly driven by WSEX funds in the expectation of a huge payday on the back end which didn't happen.

Hard to believe Allen Stanford didn't also play some part in lightening their wallet.

I think they were slow paying before the Sanford debacle. But figuring Sanford had the best returns on a island with only 18 other banks Wsex most likely got fleeced as well.

[chance]

I agree with the Bill Dozer opinion. The owners of WSEX have made huge amounts during the GREAT first 10 years plus when off shore gaming was a cash cow for smart operators like them. When money transfer from the US became extremely difficult for most of their customers I believe they made the choice not to put any additional investment into WSEX. They are safe gaurding what they have made in the good years and now just trying to ride out the bad ones.

[manutdlegend]

i used to like wsex used to be good

[cloudagh]

This is a sad story on many levels, but I learned long timje ago to not read too much into the rag report.

[Dark Horse]

The story sounds plausible enough. Everything the guy is touching is going down the drain. Imagine how arrogant he must have been to not avoid the US when it counted. Ten or more years of failure would get to most guys. Probably drinking heavily and feeling sorry for himself. Somebody reach out to this guy before he goes back to nuclear physics and creates a dirty bomb.

[macb]

the only dirty bomb this guy is going to create nowadays is in his pants !!!

[Art Vandeleigh]

Looks like his last post here at SBR was April 2009

http://www.sportsbookreview.com/forum/players-ta...ml#post1760582

[increasedodds]

Seems strange to me that they never sold. With such a good name and great URL they could have easily gotten $300k covered - probably even a million. They must owe so much more for no one to buy them or fund them.

My guess is they lost a ton with the stanford group. It's the only thing that makes sense. If that's the case, they should just admit it and seek investors.

If WSEX came out tomorrow and said we lost $5M with the Stanford group and we need investors, my sense is they would get them. Sure ownership would lose 90% of the company, but they would be able to pay people.

[Fishhead]

Looks like his last post here at SBR was April 2009

http://www.sportsbookreview.com/forum/players-ta...ml#post1760582

...and a great post it was.

[todd73nj]

I am very happy I got my final money from them quite a while ago. I used them long before I used any other gambling site. They always p[aid on time thenm I had two late checks and got out of there. Long before I knew about SBR disputes or anything like that. I still have $.25 in my account though - and it is open because I do get all the email.

[trixtrix]

"Jagajeet Chiba" is the purported author of that article, w/ a name like that he's likely highly trustworthy similar to party poker's founder...

[sportsfrance]

The are not stand up guys. They are smart nerds who found a way to make a fortune. They were never real bookies. Not that this could ever happen at this point because he has way to much money, but you can guarantee that if CRIS ran into some sort of financial issue they would borrow to no end and make sure everyone is paid. WSEX are not CRIS,GRANDE,GREEK,DELMAR etc..............they are cyber bookies who want to keep it all and don't care about the customers. Cohen is a hypocritical bitch.

They are holding out on selling matchbook in full because it is there only earn at this point. If i were the english betting group I would force them out. Who needs to be associated with stiffs like cohen and his crew.

[ByeShea]

Hard to believe Allen Stanford didn't also play some part in lightening their wallet.

If you could call this a defense of sorts: WSEX was already showing signs of duress many months before the Allen Stanford story broke.

I don't think there's much of a connection besides the Antigua thing - two mutually exclusive flameouts of severely varying scopes and natures.

[sportsfrance]

They lived the high life. When you spend more that you are earning and you cannot sustain the same earning potential you are eventually going to be in debt. It does not matter whether you are making 50k a year or 500k a year. It is all relative to what you spend. WSEX unlike "real bookies" as I call them were all post up.(maybe they extended some credit but not like old school books work). When the transfer of money in and out came next near impossible they lost there whales I am sure. They were not getting big deposits. There volume decreased and they kept living the high life of deposited funds. They thought it would never end. 3 owners spending countless amounts of money on yachts, real estates,booze, whores, drugs etc. It is going to run dry eventually.(SEE CASCADE and add degenerate gambler).

Keep pressuring and pray you are one of the lucky ones. The more you call, the better chance you have. If you just sit back and wait, you will not got anything.

[BigdaddyQH]

Let's just say that I would not want to be near any of the owners of WSEX in public.

[RickySteve]

If you could call this a defense of sorts: WSEX was already showing signs of duress many months before the Allen Stanford story broke.

I don't think there's much of a connection besides the Antigua thing - two mutually exclusive flameouts of severely varying scopes and natures.

They could have known their investment was f*cked long before it made news. Pretty big incentive to keep quiet.