Bodog Activity in the US

Bodog has been around since the year 2000, after the fearless leader Mr. Calvin Ayre had built up some experience with online casinos by working at others that were just starting out. Remember, online gambling was so new at the time, that this was a brand new business model. Several governments are still at a loss as to how to proceed with this new beast. People are torn between allowing it or not, and then if so, how best to regulate the industry.

Calvin Ayre has based his business offshore since its inception almost ten years ago, first in Costa Rica, and now in Antigua. The benefits of those locations is that they don’t require taxes to be paid on business transactions that do not involve Costa Rican money, even though the business is actually physically on their land.

That is how Mr. Ayre has managed to reach billionaire status, since at least before he was kicked out in 2006’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. He went from being on the cover of Forbes magazine, to practically losing his business, since almost 95% of his total revenue was coming from American citizens. As soon as the UIGEA passed, Bodog had to stop dealing with American money in any way shape or form, or face prosecution. While online casinos had been illegal before, American citizens had been getting around it by wiring money through Paypal, or transferring money from offshore accounts.

The US, instead of realizing the potential for revenue (budget deficit anybody) decided to try to eradicate any online gambling activity, since it couldn’t figure out how to impose their tax law on foreign businesses. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like either the internet or gambling will be going away any time soon, and in the meantime, the US is losing millions of dollars in potential online casino tax money.

Also, in the meantime, if Calvin Ayre steps foot on American soil, he can be sure to be arrested on sight. He was just being smart. And he still is.

Back to August 2008 Archive.