Published on: January 10, 2025, 08:43h.
Last updated on: January 10, 2025, 08:43h.
Former World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) champion James Bord is close to acquiring Scottish Championship soccer team Dunfermline Athletic.
The British poker player, who won $1.1 million in the WSOPE European main event in London in 2010, is leading a group of investors in a bid for the 75% stake currently held by German soccer investment group DAFC Fussball GmbH.
The Scottish Football Association (SFA) is expected to approve the sale to Bord and his co-investors, US citizens Wai Yin Kelly Kung and Justin Royce Harkema. According to The Daily Mail, the parties will meet next week to finalize the purchase of the team, which competes in the second tier of Scotland.
The consortium already has a minority stake in Spanish La Liga 2 team Cordoba CF.
Who is James Bord?
Bord is a former Citigroup banker who transitioned from finance to pursue his interests in poker and sports betting. Besides winning the WSOPE, he operated a training and staking company for players called the Poker Farm.
He is the founder of Short Circuit Science, a San Francisco-based company specializing in sports-data analytics, medical-prescription technology, and climate adoption analysis.
At Dunfermline, Bord aims to replicate the success of his former mentors, both of whom went on to own major soccer teams.
In the 2000s, Bord worked for Tony Bloom, founder of Star Lizard, a successful gambling syndicate and advisory service in soccer betting.
Bloom, also a renowned poker player known as “The Lizard,” used his analytical skills to elevate Brighton F.C. from the third tier of English soccer to the Premier League.
Following ‘The Lizard’
Bord later joined another sports betting fund operated by Matthew Benham, who also worked with Bloom. Benham eventually took over Brentford F.C. in 2012 and guided them to the Premier League in 2021, showcasing the impact data analysis can have on soccer.