About Charles Jay
Charles Jay – Publisher, Total Action Extra
CHARLES JAY grew up around the gaming business, was raised in the boxing business, and along the way has developed a colorful background through a wide range of experiences. Jay was a veteran of 17 years actively in the boxing industry, as a writer, publicist, matchmaker, booking agent, manager, and promoter. He was engaged as editorial consultant for USA Network’s “Tuesday Night Fights” for seven years, and also did some on-air work for USA. He also served as color commentator for, among others, Sunshine Network and Prime Network, and has called 13 world championship fights for national and/or international television.
He has been the host of numerous radio programs, including “Sportswatch with Charles Jay” on KDWN in Las Vegas, “Total Action” on WAXY 790 in Miami, and “Charles Jay’s Winning Edge”, syndicated into 55 markets by the American Radio Networks. For the past 18 years, he has been a professional sports handicapper, and is frequently called upon to add expert analysis by radio programs across the country. CJ was a special events consultant to the casino industry from 1993-95, and helped to launch Casino Magic in Mississippi as a major venue for special events and sports promotions. Also, he’s been a casino/sports gaming columnist for a number of leading publications, including Sports Form, Casino Player, Florida Player, and The Gambler. In fact, at one point he was probably one of the most widely-circulated casino gaming columnists in the world, with particular recognition for his blackjack advice columns.
In March of 1999, he became editor-publisher of “TotalAction”, a sports/gaming/entertainment website devoted to all forms of gaming, including that pertaining to casinos, pari-mutuels, and the lottery. On the same site, he operated “The Fight Page”, which became one of the world’s premier boxing portals, and was best-known for his hard-hitting “insider” boxing stories, many of which have broken world “exclusives.” In the process, he became widely known as one of the world’s leading proponents and experts on the subject of boxing reform, having been asked to appear on numerous panels and speak at officials’ seminars. He was the author of “Operation Cleanup: A Blueprint for Boxing Reform” and “Operation Cleanup 2: Unfinished Business” – two critically-acclaimed electronic books that represent arguably the most comprehensive and in-depth examination of the boxing industry and boxing reform issues ever put into publication. In 2004 he also published a third electronic book – “Body Shots: Outside the Ring and Inside the Game of Pro Boxing”.
In 2003 he was the recipient of the “Dignity” Award, in the category of “Best Sports Writer,” as bestowed by the Retired Boxers Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to rendering assistance to ex-fighters in need. In an official letter of notification, the RBF referred to “the courage you have demonstrated in your writing and the integrity that is apparent in all of your journalistic pieces”.. He was named in a May 24, 2003 story at major boxing website SecondsOut.com as one of a select group of the world’s “essential” boxing writers – a listing that includes legendary London Times columnist Hugh McIlvanney, Pulitzer Prize/National Book of the Year nominee Thomas Hauser and Fleischer Award winners George Kimball of the Boston Herald and Ron Borges of the Boston Globe. Writer Kenneth Isenberg’s specific reference – “Boxing’s eloquent muck raking insider turned super sleuth” and “a social commentator in boxing letters.”
Jay operates a company that works within the sports and gaming industries. His organization, Total Action, provides media services, such as content development and specialized marketing, to entities utilizing a web presence in their sports and gaming activities. He is currently working on two books about blackjack, as well as a book about sports betting. He has compiled specialty odds for various online sportsbooks, including Diamond Sportsbook International (DSI), its sister operation, BetCRIS.com, BetUS.com and SuperiorBook.com. He gained notoriety for his odds on various special events, including the Academy Awards, the NFL Draft, and the Super Bowl, for which he posts dozens and dozens of different odds propositions (for entertainment purposes only, of course).
In 2004, Charles Jay made an entry into politics, winning the presidential nomination of the Personal Choice Party. He appeared on the state ballot of Utah with his running mate, adult film legend Marilyn Chambers, and garnered nearly a thousand votes from that state alone, in addition to write-in votes from around the country. He campaigned on a platform that included, among other things, a very strong pro-gambling plank. He took part in the largest multi-party presidential debate in history in October 2004 at East Tennessee State University. In the end, he finished sixth in the presidential balloting in Utah, but placed fourth in the state-wide “mock election” among junior high and high school students, finishing behind only George W. Bush, John Kerry and Ralph Nader and defeating the Green, Libertarian, Socialist and Constitution Party candidates. He was also the 2008 presidential nominee of the Boston Tea Party, appearing on the ballot in Florida, Colorado and Tennessee.
Charles Jay is a graduate of the University of Miami (Florida) and currently lives in the South Florida area.
