[Cyclone]

Here is an article that came out today (from BBC News):

New frontiers for online gaming
By Helen Soteriou
Costa Rica


Calvin Ayre is extremely likable. He is down-to-earth, funny, and has a certain cheeky charm about him.


He thinks like Richard Branson - but behaves like a young Hugh Hefner.

"I throw wild parties," he says. "I have lots of incredibly beautiful people around me, and I love travelling, but I am able to do that because I worked hard for many many years and made a lot of good decisions."

His billionaire lifestyle could be lifted straight out of a James Bond film.

His multimillion dollar home in Costa Rica is complete with guard house, high-tech surveillance, and secret panic room. He is flanked by servants, and burly security guards drive him around in bullet-proof Hummers.

Troubled times

Calvin Ayre is able to live this way because he is the founder of Bodog.com - one of the world's most lucrative online gambling sites.

Except Mr Ayre is a billionaire no more - at least according to Forbes magazine's most recent "rich list". His wealth was dragged down by new US laws prohibiting transactions between American financial institutions and online gambling sites.

Gambling websites and their owners have fallen on hard times.

One of the largest online gambling sites, Betonsports, has shut down its US market operations, and the US Department of Justice has charged its executive David Carruthers with criminal racketeering and wire fraud.

Peter Dicks, a non-executive director of another British company Sportingbet, was also arrested as he touched down on US soil - although all the warrants against him and his company have now been cancelled.


Gamblers will gamble, and the internet allows for the highest levels of access to that desired form of entertainment... It is never going away. Ever
Calvin Ayre

With the US being the largest online gambling market in the world, many companies lost more than half their business, with some losing 80%.

The results meant dismal reading for investors in the companies. PartyGaming, one of the industry's bigger players, saw pretax profits fall 57% in 2006 to $138.9m as a result of its reorganisation following the US crackdown - although revenues were up 13% to $1.1bn.

Calvin Ayre refuses to disclose the revenues currently generated by his online gambling arm. He will only say that across all his entertainment products across the world, total revenues are about $300m a year.

New shores

The gambling industry, meanwhile, seeks new markets - although replacing the US could take a while.

"I don't know how long it would take for a territory, a set of territories to come close the kind of contribution the US system made," says Ed Barton from Screen Digest. "But we are talking years rather than months here."

Bruce Gamble, CEO of the online gambling recruitment consultancy Pentasia, said that the market is still very buoyant in Europe and Asia.

"Some companies with major US exposure have restructured their companies, which have caused some redundancies," he says. "But they have re-hired staff with skills to enter new emerging territories."

Publicity-hungry

Calvin Ayre argues that Bodog's brand - which includes an international music label, a publishing division and a television production unit - will differentiate his firm from competitors.


Ceaseless attention to publicity and media savvy, he insists, is also part of the plan.

"Once you know Bodog, you know me and what I represent," he says, "so there is a bold concept about what Bodog stands for."

He is not worried about the current downturn - or by whispers in the industry that the next big thing will be interactive TV and mobile phone gaming.

"Gamblers will gamble, and the Internet allows for the highest levels of access to that desired form of entertainment," he says.

"It is never going away. Ever.

"I think people like us are going to be combining that entertainment opportunity with other forms of entertainment and I think that is the model of the future, but it is not going away."

[Shuswapper]

Internet gambling may not be going away, but Mr Ayre surely is.

[increasedodds]

No way. The guy wont step foot in the United States. He won't even fly over the United States. He goes around in his lear jet.

Sean

[jjgold]

He will be in prison very soon for the rest of his life

[jumper]

i respect calvin ayre,and bodog is currently the most solid,fast paying book left.their poker site is better offering more options than poker only sites.wish more gambling facilitators had balls like him.even forum operators have run for cover deeper and faster than calvin

[increasedodds]

JJ, who's gonna put him in Prison? Certainly not the DOJ unless he chooses to go somewhere stupid.

Sean

[slash]

i respect calvin ayre,and bodog is currently the most solid,fast paying book left.

WHAT??

[jumper]

free fed ex,1 per week,immediately processed and delivered in 5 business days,as per my experience this week.i dont know,maybe wsex and the greek are as good,but i know royal charged me out the ass for ** around the end of january,$89 fer each $980 and we all know how long it takes to get a check from them,maybe they have since revisited their payout options,since a friend of mine was ok with their fed ex option last week

[sportsfanatic]

I wish Calvin would have just stayed quiet and stayed under the radar instead of getting in the face of the U.S. goverment all the time. When he appeared on Forbes cover and then did the 60 Minutes interview, I knew he would be getting the gambling industry in trouble. Why? Media exposure matters to politicians and you knew right away that some political scum like Frist and Kyl would try to get political points with the Christian right in America.

[jjgold]

Ayre has broken every usa law imaginable, he will easy get 50 years when caught

[sportsfanatic]

free fed ex,1 per week,immediately processed and delivered in 5 business days,as per my experience this week.i dont know,maybe wsex and the greek are as good,but i know royal charged me out the ass for ** around the end of january,$89 fer each $980 and we all know how long it takes to get a check from them,maybe they have since revisited their payout options,since a friend of mine was ok with their fed ex option last week

Wholly crap, $89 for each $980? Your losing 9% on each withdrawal. That plus the vig, how do you make any money?

[increasedodds]

You can not break a US law if you are not in the United States. You certainly can not be arrested for it unless you are in the United States.

It is not like the US does not want to arrest him. If they could they would have by now. The guy will never set foot on US soil again.

Sean

[Shuswapper]

The noted legal expert "increaseodds". No question he is breaking US law. Have you ever heard of something called "extradition? Ninety percent of countries on earth will gladly ship him back to the States. He'll be setting his shackled feet back on US soil sooner than later. Canada, probably, is where he will arrive from. But first they will grab all the property he has here. He's always bragging about it; they know where to find it. I really have to laugh at these posters that always leap to Ayre's defense. I'm sure he's done a lot for them. Not!

[Lenny7]

JJ, who's gonna put him in Prison? Certainly not the DOJ unless he chooses to go somewhere stupid.

Sean

Sean
You are so simple and so stupid!
Dude, you are trying to hard to make a name for yourself! Learn to shut up!

I agree with jj, this clown will be in prison soon for a long time!

[The HG]

Media exposure matters to politicians

Understatement of the month. "Media exposure" is to politicians what "juice" or "vig" is to gamblers. Having seen some back room politics up close, I now know you rarely know exactly (or sometimes even roughly) why something does or doesn't get done (at first, that is. of course over time some stories can become clearer) in politics. But I do know, unfortunately, it usually really is as insidious as you might expect (or fear).

It's hard to say whether the actions of Ayre or anyone else in the offshore industry had any impact at all on the passing of the law. It's hard to say what exact confluence of factors drove the passing of the law, and what could have averted it. But it's clear that flamboyantly challenging the government is always a bad idea, Ayre should conduct himself with more composure and savvy, for his own sake.

Although now, as far as the industry as a whole is concerned, it's probably beneficial to have as many people as possible sticking their necks out, forcing the government to act on its positions. Kind of like how people who openly possess and use pot in protest of anti-pot laws put themselves at great risk, but help out their cause to a certain degree by doing so.

[pags11]

I like his confidence, but never say "never"...

[Shuswapper]

A far more insightful article than tha green-as-grass reporter from London has written.

[increasedodds]

Lenny and Shu, I'll bet you a nice dinner he's not in prison within 2 years.

90% of countries won't extradite him. Booking bets is only illegal in about 5% of countries and most of those are in the middle east. Almost all countries require a law be broken there to extradite. He can very happily live in Antigua or England. If I were him, I would not use Canada as Canada is the US's bitch.
Sean

[increasedodds]

Any of you - please show me one arrest for booking bets that was not made in the US or Dominican Republic.

Point out just one.

Sean

[increasedodds]

And please show me one conviction for booking bets offshore that got more than 2 years?

Sean

[Shuswapper]

Sean. Nobody else bragged on Forbes. BetonSports guys are looking at lengthy sentences. And it will be Canada he is returned from. He has a lot of family here. It's also no secret the RCMP are working with DOJ and Interpol to get Ayre and his henchmen. I predict his arrest will be the biggest media splash online gambling will ever see. I wonder if he'll still think that "Even bad press is good? A real schmuck.

[increasedodds]

BOS guys have not been convicted.

Calvin has broken no laws in Canada in years and likely doesn't go there anymore anyways.

As long as he remains in Costa Rica, Antigua, and Europe, he will be fine.

The DOJ has wanted him for at least 3 years. Do you think it is more likely that they have just chosen not to arrest him or do you think he stays in countries where they can not.

Why do you dislike the guy so much? I think he's a brilliant marketer.
-Sean

[pavyracer]

He will be in prison very soon for the rest of his life

He is having a party at the Bash JJ. You were so wrong!

[Hawaiiman]

As it relates to him vs the industry... Calvin is a fascinating guy. Met him in the late 90's at a party. Brilliant. Lives like an emperor. Pulls you in to his energy and it's powerful. A similar feeling was shaking Clintons hand one time. Your gut tells you though, he will do what ever it takes, at any cost. What will be interesting to see is what happens to the guys like Edward Courdy and Mike Garone who are working with the feds. With CA's ego and connections those guys must not be able to sleep. The govt will play them like puppets. CA won't ever leave his kingdom. Fascinating story.

[teaserpleaser]

He will be in prison very soon for the rest of his life

Probably sooner than later...

[shari91]

He will be in prison very soon for the rest of his life

brilliant - 4yrs later, still nothing

[fury]

[teaserpleaser]

He will be in prison very soon for the rest of his life

Probably sooner than later...

[shari91]

teaser, you realise JJ's post is over 4 years old, right?

[fury]

teaser, you realise JJ's post is over 4 years old, right?

Good stuff

[gregm]

I actually like Calvin Ayre . com much better than alot of bodogs marketing through the years. Whatever people make of the comparisons to Richard Branson, Branson made virgin a brand and gave it an aura, Ayre seems like he could do so much more than just maintain a very loose affiliation with a sportsbook like bodog. He should be in brick and mortar stuff with real estate investment stuff with casinos, restaurants, hotels and nightclubs.

Nobody in Asia, and unless he works with a bank in the US, or Costa Rica or Europe is going to care about the US claims against him.I would love to travel to a nightclub or a casino and hotel and gamble in Thailand or Costa Rica or even a really interesting casino/hotel in Macau, it blows my mind their is no "strip" in Costa Rica or Thailand with nice hotels, casinos, nightclubs/restaurants. Thailand and Costa Rica are such beautiful countries and great places to visit.

The web site has done a much better job than alot of bodog marketing in the past with the igaming news, some great articles, updates. Bodog becky is really a doing a great job and having somebody like that with a great personality is a brilliant way to market that brand with the parties and all they do. I just would like to see more brick and mortar stuff, a bodog or calvin ayre casino, hotel, nightclub /restaurant or something in asia or costa rica. Online gambling is alright but it will never compete with the excitement of live gaming.

[tkim8404]

Whether Calvin loses American clients or not he's still set for life.

[gregm]

You have to read this original article with some context of the current state of these companies 4 years down the road, Partygaming/bwin is certainly not dying without US customers. I loved seeing their sponsorship with real madrid and bayern, I am surprised bodog doesnt have sponsorship with soccer clubs.

I just wish I could play with bwin, I could use there video feeds. Great site

[k13]

He will be in prison very soon for the rest of his life

Hopefully.

[Monte]

One of the idiots who brought so much attention towards gambling, he deserves jail for this alone.