It’s been known for some time that World Sports Exchange was having payment issues but they always seemed to find a way to get financing to keep the company in business. Since its inception, the website was always stock full of betting options, particular in game markets for major games and tournaments but lately that changed. Starting about 2010, long term markets were discontinued for many sports and in game markets were becoming less available. Still major events always had markets open. It thus seemed quite odd when there was no Masters market last week. Looking into it I also determined that there were other issues as well. The live support is no longer functional and upon calling the company on the 1-888 numbers I received a message “your call is now first in line and will be answered by the next available representative.” After 20 minutes it became quite clear that no one was going to pick up the phone. Emails also went unanswered. I spoke to numerous other WSEX customers who have had the same experience lately and by all accounts no payouts are being sent. As a result the only logical conclusion is that the company is probably in the process of closing shop.

WSEX began operation in 1997 when three members of the Pacific Stock Exchange joined forces and decided that a sports betting website could offer the same type of day trading and long term markets that a traditional stock market could. Setting up shop on the island of Antigua, World Sports Exchange became an immediate favorite for remote bettors who loved to bet on long term markets for events like the NFL and NCAA championship or live betting on events like football games and golf tournaments. Traditional betting options were also available with competitive lines. Moreover, the company offered betting on the next at bat for select baseball games. I recall one of the owners telling me that someone had bet $100 on Brett Boone to hit a triple at 100/1 odds for a Sunday night game and they probably soiled themselves when Boone hit the ball to the wall in his first at bat and despite considering going for 3rd decided to hold up at second base. WSEX advertised at all the big U.S. based posting forums and in newspapers and was a favorite of almost all bettors who had an account with them. Their customer service was among the best and payouts were immediate. The company made headlines in the late 1990s when the company’s CEO, Jay Cohen, returned to the U.S. to face charges that he was violating the Wire Act. Cohen hired the best attorneys and made the case that as a company licensed in Antigua, WSEX was not violating the law since bets were received and processed on the small island so the laws of Antigua should apply. By all accounts the jury was prepared to side with Cohen but instead found him guilty after the judge told the jury that the evidence he presented was without foundation. Cohen spent 3 years in prison and returned to Antigua after his release.

WSEX continued to operate successfully but was under the watchful eye of the DoJ as a result of Cohen’s decision to challenge them as well as the company’s involvement in the WTO case where Antigua took the USTR to the WTO courts and won. It was a major victory for the country but it also clearly upset the U.S. government who put the country’s banking system on its rogue list.

WSEX first found itself in financial trouble after the passing of the UIGEA. It’s not quite certain what precipitated the cash flow issues although there is no question that the shutting down of NETeller to American customers was a major reason. After NETeller cut off American and Canadians, customers found it difficult to get payments to the company and more importantly found it very difficult to get payments from the company. Almost all of WSEX’s clients were located in North America so NETeller was the preferred method for payments in and out. But after NETeller no longer became an option, U.S. customers were essentially left with checks as the only option for withdrawals. WSEX’s real financial woes started in 2009 when Antiguan banks were targeted by many U.S. institutions for various reasons (the Stanford Bank scandal and the UIGEA implementation being the main ones). So U.S. banks started to refuse checks and bank wires from Antiguan banks leaving WSEX to rely on 3rd party processors to process the payments. And many in the industry told me that some of those processors were less than reputable likely stealing money from the company before they disappeared. As well, WSEX’s ventures into a fantasy sports exchange, their no commission poker room, and their partnership in a P2P betting exchange all cost the company dearly. As a result the company ended up with cash flow issues and a backlog of payment requests since processors couldn’t keep up with the payment requests. WSEX was quickly downgraded by sports betting rating companies precipitating more clients to request payouts and the cycle continued. By many accounts WSEX still owes somewhere north of $250,000 to clients.

At some point WSEX was saved from bankruptcy by investors who changed the structure of the company somewhat but it never fully got WSEX out of debt. The company gave up its Antiguan betting license (likely due to the $100,000 annual licensing fee) and got a license in Cyprus instead although their physical location is still in Antigua. According to the website the company is incorporated in Nicosia, Cyprus and is owned and operated by Euro Sports Exchange Limited in London England.

OSGA continues to contact owners of WSEX and we hope that this once proud and reputable sportsbook can still provide proof that the company is a going concern. But for us to believe that we need some proof, like actually picking up the phone and offering markets on major events . . . and paying customers.

—- UPDATE —-

About four hours after this was posted, WSEX updated their website. It now has a statement where their home page had been for over 15 years.

Dear WSEX customer,
We have been forced to halt business activities at this time due to inadequate capitol resources.   The financial position of the company is currently under review and we will keep you informed as to the future plans for WSEX and the repayment or transfer of your balances.

We sincerly apologize for this unfortunate situation and will be doing everything we can to rectify it as soon as possible.

-WSEX Management
———————

Contact Hartley via email at Hartley[at]osga[dot]com.

Read insights from Hartley Henderson every week here at OSGA and check out more from Hartley’s RUMOR MILL!

Unfortunately for ‘Donny’, he was not an OSGA member prior to the start of the contest and thus only qualifies for a grand prize of $250.’jjlbtnj will receive the 2nd place prize of a $200 Free Play at Elite-rate Ucabet and ‘dallas12′ will also grab Free Play from Ucabet.

“We only had one player who picked Michigan for the National Championship and had a chance to win it all. It would have been cool to see him beat out ALL of those players that had the tourney favorite“, said Jim Quinn, OSGA president. “As it was ‘Bayonne’ still came in 7th, without having the tourney winner. Prettty Impressive.”

Contestants were awarded points in the bracket style contest and many were still alive going into the last weekend of the tourney, as the Final Four winners yielded 16 points and the tourney champion 24. The most points that could be accumulated were 184. ‘Donny’ finished with 118. Last year’s winner had a whopping 138 points while previous winners had over 150 total points. The contest was a wild ride for many players who saw crazy swings in the standings each week due to the stunning upsets of Gonzaga, Georgetown and Kansas State in the early rounds. In fact, heading into the Final Four, this was the first year ever that the National Champion might not have been picked, as no player had Witchita State beyond the 2nd round.

Here is the prize breakdown. All winners will be contacted via email.

Donny – $250 Cash Grand Prize
jjlbtnj - a $200 Free Play at Ucabet
dallas12 – a $100 Free Play at Ucabet
KimN – $75 Cash
tommyb – $50 Cash
Places 6-10 – a $25 Free Play at JustBet
jakesbombers
Bayonne
ddsmj
Danishwop
bosshoss

Congratulations to all who participated in the contest.

Look for great contests throughout the year and become a member today at osga.com, where ‘Members Get More’.

In January, Antigua announced that it was preparing to use the $21 million settlement the WTO gave it years ago and would apply it by suspending U.S. intellectual property rights (TRIPS).  Apparently the plan is to produce cheap versions of software, movies and music and sell it at a ridiculously low price with no reimbursement to U.S. companies who have trademarked and copyrighted those products. The hope is that doing so would cause such an outcry in the U.S. by companies like Sony and Microsoft to settle the dispute that the U.S. would either agree to allow Antiguan gambling companies access to the U.S. market or more likely that the U.S. would give Antigua a better deal in other areas of trade that would benefit their economy. The two sides apparently met in February and March to try and work out a settlement but neither side was close to what they believed was an equitable agreement. If Antigua does indeed proceed with the option it would likely be done through Slysoft, an Antiguan software company which would ensure it wouldn’t have to deal with countries that have tough anti-piracy laws.

I spoke to a former trade representative under the Bush administration who still has close ties to the current USTR and he informed me that if Antigua does indeed use TRIPS its method for retaliation that “Antigua would pay dearly.” Without going into great detail, the former representative said that the current government is prepared to go after the two industries that Antigua values most – high tech and tourism. Nkenge Harmon, a current U.S. Trade Representative has gone on record warning Antigua against using the TRIPS option.

“Government-authorized piracy would undermine chances for a settlement. It also would serve as a major impediment to foreign investment in the Antiguan economy, particularly in high-tech industries,” Harmon stated.

But the threat against tourism is new and if applied would have devastating consequences to the Antiguan economy. Tourism accounts for half ofAntigua’s GDP and a large number of those visits are by Americans. In fact Antigua has boosted its efforts to attract American tourists by increasing the number of ads and promotions to get U.S.citizens to fly to the tiny island. But if the U.S. does indeed take actions to prevent that (possibly by stopping advertising from Antigua or even issuing a travel advisory), the ramifications could possibly lead the country into bankruptcy. At the same time, the Antiguan government has indicated that the U.S. actions have practically ruined their economy anyways, since most online gambling operators have left and since they invested so much into setting up remote gambling that these actions may be a last resort anyways to help save Antigua’s economy from collapse.

Ironically the USTR won a case against China at the WTO around the same time that Antigua won their case against the U.S., where the WTO agreed that China wasn’t doing enough to protect intellectual property rights and ordered China to do more to protect the TRIPS agreement. China in turn has hinted at the Antigua case (namely the U.S.ignoring the ruling) as a reason not to comply. The fact that Antigua is prepared to use TRIPS as its retaliation measure just makes China’s argument more compelling.

Antigua has done everything in its power to get the U.S. to come to the table with a reasonable offer to settle the dispute but by all accounts the USTR refuses to cooperate fully because they believe the WTO ruling was wrong. So far there has been no harm nor foul on the USTR’s parts but if they actually use Antigua’s tourism industry to hit back at the Caribbean island, then all gloves are off and any sympathy or support internationally for the U.S. in this dispute will quickly disappear.

Contact Hartley via email at Hartley[at]osga[dot]com.

Read insights from Hartley Henderson every week here at OSGA and check out more from Hartley’s RUMOR MILL!

“This is better than a Super Bowl game tied with less than 2 minutes to play,” a colleague said to me, “and it’s definitely more exciting than the Academy Awards.”

Then when the Cardinal Protodeacon finally announced in Italian that Argentina’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the new pope, the room completely broke out into a series of groans and expletives. Actually it wasn’t at the time of the announcement that the words were uttered, since no one understood a word of what the cardinal was saying, but rather when the new Pope’s name was flashed on the screen. It was as if the home team threw an interception in the dying minutes of the game while driving for a score. “Oh well better luck next time,” one of my colleagues said as he turned off his live stream of CNN and went back to work.

Sportsbooks throughout the world wrote over $2 million in “pope bets,” including Paddy Power which wrote about $750,000 in bets, Betfair which had over $500,000 in bets and William Hill which was over $100,000. Unfortunately for those books it appears that there was some last minute inside information since the odds on Bergoglio fell from 50/1 to 25/1 in a day likely eating into most of their profits.

While many who heard about the betting likely thought that the activity was restricted to a bunch of degenerates, the truth is that the Vatican was aware of the betting as well. As many probably heard this year the Vatican put in descramblers at the conclave to disable cell phones and PDA devices and one of the reasons, according to some websites was as a result of the betting. While the papal candidates themselves may not have placed a bet (although a dime at 50/1 would certainly help a struggling parish), there were concerns that others in the room were prepared to send text messages or make phone calls to friends who could use the information anyway they wanted, including getting a bet down. Apparently it happened in the election of Pope Benedict which was a reason for the choice to descramble signals at the Vatican.

“The popes vowed to secrecy,” a priest told a reporter on the web, “but others in the room wouldn’t have had the same requirements.” And without outright saying it the priest hinted that in the last papal election insiders were relaying the information by various methods to friends who used the online sportsbooks to win a papal wager. Benedict was always the favorite in the last election but his odds drifted to 5/1 before settling at 3/2 odds just before the announcement – a clear indication of insider betting.

This probably shouldn’t be too surprising though. Betting after all is human nature. It’s existed forever and is seen as a noble way of settling disputes. In the Old Testament, lots are cast to decide issues on 70 occasions and they are cast 5 times in the New Testament. And on only one occasion, John 19, where the Roman soldiers cast lots, was gambling seen as negative. And really it’s only the new evangelical churches that are so strongly opposed to gambling. Of course most of the evangelical preachers are also opposed to drinking, smoking, partying, dancing etc. In the Catholic Church, on the other hand, gambling is accepted and many churches exist as a result of bingo nights and raffle tickets. In fact it’s probably a safe assumption that around 250,000 years ago some caveman wagered 2 rocks with another caveman that he could spear the mastodon faster than the other caveman could.

It’s that reason that I and so many others in the gambling industry get upset when politicians spew nonsense about the dangers of gambling and suggest that they are trying to ban gambling expansion for our own good. The truth is that Catholics gamble, Jews gamble, Muslims gamble, Hindus gamble, and Atheists gamble and yes even some Protestants gamble. And there’s nothing anyone can or should do about it. In the Western world we live in a democracy and as part of that freedom we can spend our income as we like including betting on awards shows, the presidency and even the pope. And for those who profited from the insider information and got their bets down on Pope Francis, God Bless them and well done. While they probably enjoyed a huge steak dinner to celebrate their winnings on Friday, my colleagues and I had macaroni and cheese. But that’s what gambling is all about – you win some and you lose some but there’s nothing more enjoyable than at least having a chance.

Contact Hartley via email at Hartley[at]osga[dot]com.

Read insights from Hartley Henderson every week here at OSGA and checkout more from Hartley’s RUMOR MILL!

Q: The top question has been “When?”, as in “When can I start betting legally online in New Jersey?”

A: Not for some time. Some analysts have said that it will take 18 months to 2 years  to get online gambling up to its full potential. However, there are revenue figures in the budget that starts in July and some operators, like Poker Stars should be able to get ready very quickly. However, there need to be rules and regulations in place, vendors found and tests run. Look for online gambling in some form this year, but limited and not until after the summer tourist season ends.

Q: “Do I need to live in New Jersey or can I just just play in New Jersey?”

A: Players need to be physically located within the borders of New Jersey to play online. In addition,as it stands right now, players will have to physically go to Atlantic City to  open accounts.

Q: “What games are there going to be?”

A: The law is written so that anything offered at brick and mortar casinos in AC is allowed to be offered online. This includes casino games, as well as poker.

Its companion question is usually, “Can I bet on sports online in NJ?”

The answer is No. You can’t bet on sports, yet, in casinos or racetracks in the state, so you cannot bet sports online either.

Q: “So now I am allowed to play online with a place in Costa Rica or England, right?”

A: Again, No. NJ residents are only allowed to play at casinos based in Atlantic City.

Keep in mind that many of the smaller operational questions have yet to be figured out by lawmakers and the industry. There is speculation that accounts will be able to be funded with ACH payments, debit cards and credit cards, but these have not been clearly outlined yet. Nor have any limits, initial games or registration information been given. From what we have been able to tell, they don’t even know how much a license is going to cost yet! So clearly, this is a HUGE victory in a state with 9 million residents, but online gambling will take some time to unfold in New Jersey.

He identified the odds-on favorites that would win, but most likely would be a bad value to wager on. He also looked for Value at the Oscars in several categories, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and his best bet in the Best Hairstyle and Makeup category. The heavy favorite for Best Director was Steven Spielberg for Lincoln but Hartley was able to identify the decline in popularity amongst that various film industry groups and picked Ang Lee at 4-1 odds for his work in Life of Pi. In his handicapping of the categories that included Lincoln Hartley also noticed The odds on Argo creeping up in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. He picked Argo which unfortunately, lost some value as the awards approached, but won at better than 1-1 in a category where the favorite is usually -200 or worse.

The smaller category of Best Hairstyle and Makeup was the best bet of the night. Hartley noted, “The best bet at the Oscars is always to wager against movies like The Hobbit, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Xmen etc. in minor categories when going against a best picture nominee; hence my pick of Les Mis for best makeup.” This year Hartley’s angle proved profitable as the huge favorite, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey got beaten out by Les Miserables at favorable odds of 5/2.

On his sweeping the board last night Hartley said, “It seemed clear from other awards that the Academy loved Argo and didn’t care for Lincoln (save for Daniel Day Lewis). When making my picks I assumed they would thus award Argo at every chance and avoid Lincoln. The odds on Argo and Django for screenplay were way too high given the director shuns of both Affleck and Tarantino and there was no way the Academy was going to give the award to Spielberg for one of his poorer directing jobs. It thus made sense for the Academy to award Lee for his other works as well as Life of Pi. That said, I was told that a large number of voters chose to leave that category blank in protest of Affleck’s shun.”

For a complete breakdown of Hartley’s ten for ten run in the 85^th Oscars read his article, Looking for Value at the Oscars, which was posted on Wednesday before the Oscars and gave bettors and office pool players plenty of time to get the top Oscar picks at the best prices. Look for Hartley again next year at the 86^th Oscar awards and read his Insider column every week for betting industry insights.

Prizes were awarded for each quarter and the final score. The prize for having the correct square for the first and third quarters was a $25 Free Bet at WagerWeb and the halftime prize was a $50 Free Bet. The final score was the big one with a $100 cash prize going to the player with the winning square.

A 7-3 score in favor of Baltimore cashed square number 30 for ‘irbyjenn’. David Akers 2nd quarter field goal with 1:45 left in the half took the $50 Free Bet from ‘Go Broncos’ and awarded it to ‘jcolem65’ whose square #54 came in with the Ravens ahead 21-6. The wild and darkness-extended 3rd quarter cashed for ‘ltmoore’ and square #61 as the Niners came back to just a 5 point deficit at 28-23. It looked like ‘rosey’ had the $100 prize all wrapped up until Baltimore took a safety with just 4 seconds left. And when the final gun sounded at 34-31 Ravens, ‘morikag’ won the $100 prize.

This was a new contest with some new software for the Off Shore Gaming Association. OSGA Members were given a three day head start to get their squares with an ‘early-bird’ registration. “We were glad to see so many members jump on this new contest utilizing their membership benfits and the early-bird registration,” said OSGA President Jim Quinn. “Unfortunately, this new software had some bugs, but we think it ended up being fair and fun contest for everyone involved.”

A speical thanks goes out to WagerWeb, the sponsor for this new contest. Look for the OSGA’s Annual College Basketball Bracket Challenge, now in its 12th year, after selection Sunday on March 17th.

A reliable predictor for the Oscars, the Globes saw Argo take best picture, Hugh Jackman as best Actor and Ben Affleck take the award for Best Director, even though he did not even get a nomination from the Academy. None of these winners were listed as the favorite to win the Oscar at elite-rated Bovadaprior to the Globes. Already Argo has dropped from 10-1 to 4-1, yet Hugh Jackman has remained at the same odds, even after his Globes win.

“There are always some line moves on the Academy Awards odds following the Golden Globes and this year we had two pretty big ones. The first being Argo odds dropping from 10/1 to 9/2 for Best Picture and the huge surprise and upset in Christopher Waltz who won Best Supporting Actor Sunday night went all the way down from 25/1 to 4/1 and even at those short odds is still seeing money,” said Kevin Bradley, Sports Book Manager at bovada.lv.

Prior to the Globes only Bovada had odds listed for the Academy Awards, but now that the first awards have been handed out look for online sportsbooks around the world to begin offering prop betting for the Oscars. Check out our Academy Awards betting odds page where we list several of the world’s largest sportsbooks offerings, updated daily.

This year the free football contest was bigger than ever with nearly 250 players vying for $900 in cash and free betting accounts. ‘MEME’ was on top of the leader board for quite some time but unfortunately had Notre Dame winning the National Championship. ‘8550937’ took Alabama to win the big game and was rewarded with the First Place prize of $250 cash. Had ‘8550937’ been an OSGA member, he would have cashed for 2X the prize amount, $500.

The second place finish for ‘MEME’ did result in some cash as well. Since ‘MEME’ is an OSGA Member he received 2X the runner-up prize and was sent a check today for $200. He was the only player to cash and not have the correct National Champion. ‘Robertyes’ came in 3rd place and is eligible for a FREE $100 betting account at OSGA Elite-rated Diamond Sports. ‘JASAallen’ took 4th place and will be sent a check for $50 and ‘Hank’ tied with ‘tigersfan’ but had a much closer tie-breaker and thus is eligible for the 5th place prize of a FREE $50 betting account at Diamond.

This years’ College Bowl Challenge had many ups and downs and while ‘Bama repeating as the BCS Champion was always a strong possibility, their win did affect the leader board in a big way. Four of the top 6 players heading into the last weekend had Notre Dame winning the BCS. Only one hit the board.

“We put in the twist to add points to each win several years back,” stated Jim Quinn from OSGA. “This one thing has changed everything for our College Bowl Challenge and it makes it exciting for everyone near the top of the leader board right up until the final gun of the final game.”

This has been another great year for the OSGA College Bowl Challenge and we congratulate everyone who played (even our own OSGAJim who finished with 15 wins – almost .500!). We also would like to thank the contest sponsor, Diamond Sports, who always comes through for players. OSGA is looking forward to their ‘Members Only” SuperBowl contest and the annual NCAA Tourney Contest in March.

The OSGA sponsors several football contests that run for the full football season. This year OSGA’s popular Progressive Pick ‘Em saw the Progressive part of the contest hit for the first time ever. In fact, it was hit two times. The last time a player hit the pool and picked every game on the board correctly was in week 11. A correct card for this past weekend’s games would have paid $1800 in betting money at Bookmaker. But 14 wins was the most that any player could muster, thus the Progressive prize was split amongst the top finalists. ‘sirduke542 collected 50% of the pool for going 174-81 over 17 weeks. ‘PD’ and ‘piper3545’ split the next prizes as they tied for second place and collected $315 each. PD also finished as a runner up in last year’s contest! ‘player’ came in fourth collecting $180 and ‘touchdowntexans’ finished in 5th this year with a prize of $90.

The OSGA Progressive Pick ‘Em was two contests in one! Each week there was also a prize winner of a $500 free betting account at Bookmaker for the player with the most wins straight-up for that week. While the Progressive Pick ‘Em is a contest that features a large progressive pool ($5100), it also is a tough grind where just one bad week can knock a player out of the money. In fact, sirduke542 never captured any single week’s prize, yet finished atop the standings to become the overall winner.

The 2012 OSGA Last Man Standing contest was also a huge success with nearly 150 players participating. This was the third time OSGA offered the Last Man Standing Contest, and this year the contest went deeper into the season than ever before. Each week players had to pick just one single winner – again, straight up. But, throughout the course of the entire NFL season, no team could be selected twice. This “one-and-done” event was co-sponsored by Ucabet who offered up huge Free betting accounts for the top four finishers including a $1000 free gambling account for the Last Man Standing. In all, Ucabet offered up a $2500 prize pool.

Last year’s contest finished up early with 5 players all going out in week 10 of the NFL season. This year the contest lasted with several players still alive in December. The Last Man standing was ‘piper3545’ who won a FREE $1000 betting account at Elite-rated Ucabet with Miami over Jacksonville in week 15. ‘bulubulu’ came in second place losing with Giants as they slid downhill, yet still got a $750 betting account.  ‘ddsmj’ and  ‘Doc728’ both went out in week 13 and thus split the remaining prizes, each get a $375 betting account at Elite-rated Ucabet.

As the contest wore on players busted out in droves, with more than half of the players eligible for the consolation prize – a $25 Free Play at Ucabet – for players who were out in the first four weeks.

“This year we were very happy to see the OSGA Last Man Standing Contest get so deep into the season. We handed out many free accounts and the Last Man Standing was great for us and the players.” said a Ucabet spokesperson.

This has been another great year for the OSGA Progressive Pick ‘Em and Last Man Standing Contests. OSGA is looking forward to crowning a winner in the 10th Annual Bowl Challenge next week and their annual NCAA Tourney Contest in March.

“Our contests were both bigger and better than ever in 2012 ,” stated Jim Quinn from OSGA. “We are fortunate to be able to work with some great sportsbooks to be able to offer  these contests for our fans, visitors and members and hope to do it for years to come,” added Quinn.