Pretty good first chapter. Had to cram all that backstory in there so the pace was crazy at times, but it wasn't too bad. The premise is really cool though, so I'm excited to see where this goes.
I liked that his coach does seem to have a conscience, too. He seemed like he genuinely felt bad when he apologized at the end there. It makes him a lot more interesting than if he was just a one-dimensional gambling scumbag, which I guess is necessary since it seems like he'll be a main side character.