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I never knew Bodog was this big back in '05
Again I was looking for something else and stumbled across this. I'm admittedly not an offshore guru but I've tried to keep up through the years, even when I didn't have to utilise their services if I didn't want to. The whole article is broken down into sections and is quite interesting but here's the Bodog part. From September 2005.
When he moved from Canada to San Jose, Costa Rica, in 1995, Calvin Ayre had modest goals for Bodog.com. He settled into a one-room apartment and launched a sports book that was federally licensed by the local government.
"We were small back then. I can remember sitting down here and watching the first bet come in for $15," said Ayre, 44.
"I thought, 'This is a good idea. I'll get to live in the tropics and when the dust all settles, I'll have a couple million dollars.' That's not even a good month for me any more. Bodog has killed my expectations, turning into more than I ever even contemplated."
The projected sports book handle for Bodog this year is $1.2 billion. That figure does not include the casino and poker rooms, which will help push the projected handle to $6 billion.
Ayre said the company's marketing budget is $50 million, and he said Bodog has grown from having about 1,000 accounts the first two years to more than 30,000 accounts.
Bodog is not even one of the sports books that caters to major players. It is known as a book that courts squares, or novice bettors, and expects at least a 5 percent hold. The company fact sheet states its average sports book wager is $68.
"Our target market is recreational bettors, but that doesn't mean we expel the wise guys," Ayre said. "A big bet for us is maybe $10,000."
Books such as CRIS, Hollywood, Millennium, Olympic and Pinnacle, which offer higher limits and are estimated to double or triple Bodog's sports handle, are bigger-volume businesses that expect a smaller win percentage of 1 to 2 percent.
"We're doubling in size every year," Ayre said. "On the growth curve we are at right now, we will by ourselves be bigger than the state of Nevada in sports betting."
Nevada sports books are more strictly regulated than the offshore industry, where anything goes and every type of wager is offered. Bodog can post proposition bets on United States presidential races, reality TV shows and celebrity trials, for example.
"I actually think regulation is bad. An unregulated market creates competition at its highest levels, which means innovation, which is a good thing for the players," Ayre said.
"I don't think the Las Vegas books are really significant to us anymore. I know we don't look at them, but I suspect they pay a lot of attention to us."
There was more of a risk betting offshore in the mid-to-late 1990s, as several books disappeared and left people empty handed. Ayre said the "rip-off joints" have been snuffed out by the most powerful companies.
"People know they're going to get paid," he said, "and they don't give that a second thought anymore."
If you want to read the other sections, you can find them here: http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/...ntentID=153385
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Originally Posted by StraitShooter
nosniboR11 gave RudyRuetigger 9 SBR Point(s) for this post.
there needs to be a kiss-ass emoticon
