Hope no one has money in Bodog

BleedDodgerBlue

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not sure why you would....but forbes is reporting

link to story:
http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/07/30/calvin-ayre-bodog-biz-beltway-cx_jn_wb_0730ayre.html




The U.S. government recently seized $24 million from bank accounts linked to Bodog, the giant, illegal-under-U.S.-law Internet gaming operation founded by Canadian tycoon Calvin Ayre.

Federal filings make very clear that a serious criminal investigation of the Bodog enterprise is ongoing. At a minimum, word of the seizures is likely to rattle the confidence of U.S.-based online gamblers that they will receive their winnings, not only from Bodog but from the industry's other remaining participants.

Detailed in court filings in a Baltimore federal court, the Bodog-related seizures from such well-known institutions as Wachovia (nyse: WB - news - people ), Bank of America (nyse: BAC - news - people ), SunTrust Banks (nyse: STI - news - people ) and Regions Bank, a unit of Regions Financial (nyse: RF - news - people ), increase the possibility of criminal action against Ayre himself. There already has been published speculation in his native Canada that he is under secret indictment somewhere in the U.S.

The U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore, which launched the two lawsuits to take the $24 million, did not respond to a request for comment.

The flamboyant Ayre--media reports often call him a "playboy"--is now believed to be in Antigua and Barbuda, a country in the eastern Caribbean. He has denied being on the lam. A request on Wednesday for comment from Ayre, sent through the Web site of his Antigua-based Calvin Ayre Foundation, was not immediately returned. Nor were call and e-mail messages sent to public relations contacts listed on Bodog's Web site.

In early 2006 Ayre rocketed to international prominence--and the cover of Forbes magazine' annual issue on the world's billionaires--for his stewardship from Costa Rica of Bodog Entertainment Group and his open flouting of authorities in the U.S., his major market. The story headline: "Catch Me If You Can." The operation was said at the time to be handling $7.3 billion yearly in poker, casino and sports event wagers.

But since then, Ayre has been the subject of law-enforcement raids abroad and growing regulatory scrutiny, especially in the U.S. In late 2006 President Bush signed a law strengthening the prohibition on online gambling. Ayre fell off the Forbes worldwide billionaires list after just one year, amid a decline in his industry's fortunes.

In overall actions against the industry, federal prosecutors in New York have charged executives of Neteller with illegally processing online gaming transactions. This summer, Canada's ESI Entertainment Systems, an Internet payment business, entered into a "deferred prosecution agreement" with the same prosecutors. The company admitted to criminal wrongdoing and agreed to disgorge $9.1 million in criminal proceeds for its role in processing $2 billion in Internet gambling payments for hundreds of thousands of U.S. customers. Criminal cases have been started against various online gambling shops.

Ayre has been trying to put legal distance between himself and the operation he founded in the 1990s. For years its business was run through Internet servers belonging to Mohawk Internet Technologies, located on the Kahnawake Reserve Indian reservation in Quebec, Canada. In September 2007 Bodog said its North American operations would be licensed to Morris Mohawk Group, also located on the reservation and run by tribal chief Alwyn Morris.

Three months ago, Ayre, now 47, said he had transferred ownership of Bodog itself to Morris Mohawk Group. "It's true; I'm packing it in," Ayre wrote on a Web site.

Court filings in Maryland say that in January and February a total of $14.2 million was seized from accounts in the name of JBL Services and Transaction Solutions at Wachovia, Regions Bank, Bank of America and Sun Trust Bank. In July, filings say, another $9.9 million was found in eight accounts at Nevada State Bank, a unit of Zion Bancorporation (nasdaq: ZION - news - people ), in the name of Zaftig Instantly Processed Payments, doing business as ZipPayments.com. The companies are described as helping to facilitate parts of the Bodog operation.

The court papers detail an elaborate international structure put together to allow Bodog to collect money and write checks to winning gamblers in the U.S. One affidavit by Randall S. Carrow, a special agent with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division, said that $248 million involving entities linked to Bodog was processed through Wachovia Bank, from which $11 million of the $24 million was seized.

In a statement to Forbes, Wachovia said the bank cooperated with law enforcement, doesn't knowingly allow Internet gaming operations to open accounts, and the funds ending up at the bank were in accounts of a third-party credit card servicer. The statement also hinted that various accounts might have been kept open at the request of investigators to aid their efforts.

According to Carrow's detailed sworn statements, the IRS's Criminal Investigation Division started looking at Bodog in 2003 and opened a formal probe in 2006. The extensive sleuthing has involved close examination of public and bank records, the enlisting of unnamed cooperating witnesses and informants, and undercover efforts to make bets on football and collect winnings.

Ayre, says Carrow's statement, is president of Middleton Financial, a Nevada corporation described as a key cog in the U.S. Bodog machinery, as well as Stratham Finance, said to be based in Malta. Other entities linked to Ayre in the court filings are Gateway Financial Services, EBanx Ltd., Gregor Financial Ltd. and Calvtek Industries. The filings list dozens of businesses involved in processing Bodog transactions.

The ongoing federal pressure to disrupt Bodog's financial transactions may be bearing fruit. Carrow's affidavits say several checks issued from Bodog to its undercover gambler bounced.

A break in the inquiry came in May, one of Carrow's affidavits says, when an undercover operative for "another state's gambling commission" received a check that didn't bounce from an account at Nevada State Bank, which is headquartered in Las Vegas. That led to the $9.9 million seizure this month. The bank had no immediate comment.

Carrow's affidavits were filed in connection with the U.S.'s successful efforts to get a federal judge to authorize the seizures. But to keep the money permanently, federal prosecutors must file a civil lawsuit and allow a challenge by anyone with a claimed interest. No one fought the $14.2 million seizure, and it was ordered forfeited to the feds. The lawsuit over the $9.9 million--its official name is United States of America v. $9,869,283.05--was just filed.

Even before the advent of Bodog, Ayre carried considerable baggage. Close family members were convicted of drug trafficking. (Ayer himself was never charged.) In 1996 Ayre was banned for 20 years from the British Columbia securities industry for stock market offenses. By that time, he was already moving into online gaming.

"One of the things that drives me is the excitement that I could fail," he told Forbes in 2006. "What better buzz can you get?"
 

IX_Bender

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I fear an end to the so-called salad days...


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MadJack

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old news.

bodog is fine financially.
 

Zerwas

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So, we should better withdraw our money quickly!?

I dont really know how serious this is!?
 

MadJack

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So, we should better withdraw our money quickly!?

I dont really know how serious this is!?

that happened months ago and calvin is no longer with bodog. financially they are fine and the feds can't touch them where they are.
 

MadJack

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they just renewed a yearly advertising contract with madjacks and they contacted ME before i sent them a renewal notice.

I hardly doubt they would pay a year's advertising in advance if they were having serious problems.
 

Zerwas

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so the feds was only able to touch their money because calvin was involved and now calvin isnt with bodog anymore!?
 

MadJack

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from the article above

Three months ago, Ayre, now 47, said he had transferred ownership of Bodog itself to Morris Mohawk Group. "It's true; I'm packing it in," Ayre wrote on a Web site.
 

MadJack

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but it's your money so do what makes you most comfortable.
 

Zerwas

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ok, if that true.

Thanks for the info!

I always liked bodog, hopefully they stay in business...and keep on paying me. ;-)
 

The Judge

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that happened months ago and calvin is no longer with bodog. financially they are fine and the feds can't touch them where they are.
Jack, it was not Ayre's $24 million that was seized, it was BoDog's.

Just sayin'
 

chump

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Jack: Did they make you wait a month or two before sending payment?? LOL

I won't play at mediocre books anymore, not worth it.
 

MadJack

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Jack: Did they make you wait a month or two before sending payment??
no, that's why I'm not worried and doubt they are. They contacted ME before I contacted them :shrug:

Seems to be it's business and looking forward.

I can only go by personal experience.
 

SixFive

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BDB, I think you're a cool poster and actually do what you say for a living, but you sure are negative.

How about posting some threads in general about poker strategy, tells you can pick up online, stuff like that. Seems you always are posting bad news here. Maybe even your screenname on stars so we can look you up sometime. Just sayin...

Thanks!
 

BleedDodgerBlue

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BDB, I think you're a cool poster and actually do what you say for a living, but you sure are negative.

How about posting some threads in general about poker strategy, tells you can pick up online, stuff like that. Seems you always are posting bad news here. Maybe even your screenname on stars so we can look you up sometime. Just sayin...

Thanks!

Hey 6/5....no problem....everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Let's start with Bodog. This isn't old news. 14 million was confiscated in January and 10 million was confiscated this July, so its still ongoing and not all of it old. Jack's said before that he doesn't care about anyones opinion of sponsors so I have one. And it's not good. There are a ton of sportsbooks out there and of all the complaints about slowpay and no pay, they have a good majority of the complaints. Every book has problems but you hear more complaints about Bodog than some others. They can blame it on the processors all the want, but who cares who's fault it is. Why do you want to use a book who uses a crap processor. Ever hear any complaints about no pay or slow pay from wsex, betjam, pinny, the greek, 5 dimes......maybe, but not nearly as often as bodog. Read the article....they are still sending out bad checks.

Maybe I'm negative. Most poker players are in some sense at least cynical. But being informed isn't a bad thing. They have some of their accounts being held right now. Read or don't read whatever you want into that. Having information isn't a bad thing. If you want to play there, have at it. But you should at least be informed that something is going on with the DOJ and them. Maybe it will never effect you, but I would want this information if I didn't have it. I won't apologize for posting it.

It also has a negative impact on online poker. Bodog to my knowledge still has poker. I've never played there, but with the online poker community in the worst time its ever been at, do we really want forbes magazine running stories about how a poker site is bouncing checks and having funds seized. Coupled with the 60 minutes expose on the AP and UB scandal its not looking good.

And I understand that Jack has a vested interest in Bodog only as a sponsor. If he thinks something was wrong he would tell you. I think he's a pretty stand up guy for the limited interactions I've had with them. But if I was in need of an influx in money, the first thing I would do is advertise more and perhaps create bonuses or something to get money coming in. Again, Jack is probably more on top of this than I am, and if he thinks it's fine than so be it. With any book, buyer beware and I see no problem posting the article so you can make your own informative decision. That's what message boards are all about.

As for my poker ability I'm far from an expert. I suck at no limit and live off mid stakes limit games that are drying out. I'm attempting to learn no limit, but still won't play above NL $400 at the time. If you want strategy, post at 2 + 2....There's plenty better than me to help you although if you had a question I'd be more than happy to try and answer it.

I don't give my screenname out sorry. It's just a personal decision I've stuck with forever.

gl
 

SixFive

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thanks for the feedback. I do go to 2 + 2 sometimes, but in all honesty, if I ever read another thread that has

1)here's what I was dealt
2)this was the betting
3)utg went all in
4)hijack went over the top
5)I'm on button with top set


then, there's never a conclusion :mj07: reading 2+2 strategy is like reading a cliffhanger and never getting to see the ending. Hate that chit!!

Guess i'm more interested in people that I semi-know (like you). Why no screenname? u a recluse? :SIB

I also don't know chit about bodog, and it really doesn't interest me because I'm not betting offshore now. I hope it's ok and all, and it's good to have info. Your info just all seems negative except in the NBA forum with all the crack plays. Thanks.
 

The Sponge

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thanks for the feedback. I do go to 2 + 2 sometimes, but in all honesty, if I ever read another thread that has

1)here's what I was dealt
2)this was the betting
3)utg went all in
4)hijack went over the top
5)I'm on button with top set


then, there's never a conclusion :mj07: reading 2+2 strategy is like reading a cliffhanger and never getting to see the ending. Hate that chit!!

Guess i'm more interested in people that I semi-know (like you). Why no screenname? u a recluse? :SIB

I also don't know chit about bodog, and it really doesn't interest me because I'm not betting offshore now. I hope it's ok and all, and it's good to have info. Your info just all seems negative except in the NBA forum with all the crack plays. Thanks.

You own stock in Bodog or something? Warning other posters to be on their toes and being called negative is absolutely ridiculous.
 

The Sponge

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Good afternoon, An article was recently released on Forbes.com that creates several misimpression's that the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group feels compelled to clarify for our customers.

As most of our customers already know, all operators outsource payment processing functions to third parties and these payment processors are subject to regulatory constraints wherever they operate, and, occasionally in the US, are subject to legal action because of the uncertain legal environment there.

However, the seizure of funds from these US payment processors was mischaracterized in this article, which refers to two specific legal cases against US processors. Rightly or wrongly, the article does not make a clear distinction between these cases, which, as a result, paints a misleading picture.

The facts are these: the first of these cases ? relating to a seizure of funds from a processor known as JBL Services ? happened some time ago and has absolutely nothing to do with the current payment processing challenges being experienced in the US. The constraints being experienced by payment processors in the US are universal in that region and not specific to any particular processor or site. Also, note that not one single player failed to get paid when this processor was disrupted.

The second case refers to a payment processor known as Zippayments.com and seizure of funds from this processor?s bank accounts in Nevada. The article falsely implies ? but notably does not go so far as to state - that $9.9M seized from Zippayment?s Nevada bank accounts were funds on account for ?Bodog?. This is simply false.

Processing partners with whom the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group does business are sophisticated organizations that are perfectly clear as to the actual facts of these cases and their contexts. They are unfazed by such media hype and Morris Mohawk wishes to ensure that its customers are similarly informed. Customer deposits are safe and every player has and will always be paid.

Alwyn Morris
C.E.O.
Morris Mohawk Gaming Group
 
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