bodog owner arrested

[jaypasco]

[pittviper]

Really... that's wierd... because today in a canadian newspaper there was an article about him, and how he is the newest billionaire from owning bodog... now he is arrested.. had never heard of him before, now twice in one day.. Ironic!

BOL
PV

[TigerCat_Tania]

Originally Posted by pittviper

Really... that's wierd... because today in a canadian newspaper there was an article about him, and how he is the newest billionaire from owning bodog... now he is arrested.. had never heard of him before, now twice in one day.. Ironic!

BOL
PV

Which paper?

[jaypasco]

yea, he made forbes billionare list and probably brought some heat on himself for some comments he made towards us gov.

[pittviper]

well.. I didn't actually read it in the paper lol... It was in the Hamilton Spectator, I read it online with my parents account, that way I don't have to pay for it... .. haha..

BOL
PV

[TigerCat_Tania]

Originally Posted by pittviper

well.. I didn't actually read it in the paper lol... It was in the Hamilton Spectator, I read it online with my parents account, that way I don't have to pay for it... .. haha..

BOL
PV

It's not in the Spectator... just checked...

[pittviper]

really are you sure.. maybe it was just online... check the first section what ever it is...

BOL
PV

[TigerCat_Tania]

PV, Can you post the article that was in the Spectator since it seems that you read it online... it's not in the actual papers...

[pittviper]

Sure i'll post it.. it says that it's on the front page, but I'll post it anyways.. lol..



Cyber bookie beats the odds
Forbes Magazine's newest billionaire is Canadian-born cyber bookie Calvin Ayre, 44.
Canadian joins billionaire club
By Tim Harper
What are the odds? If anyone would know, it would surely be Calvin Ayre.

The Lloydminster, Sask., native is Canada's newest billionaire and cover boy at Forbes Magazine in the United States.

Ayre, 44, moved into one of the most exclusive clubs as the founder of the online gambling behemoth Bodog.com which he operates out of Costa Rica because what he's doing has never been licensed by a government in Canada.

The University of Waterloo grad, who financed his education by selling Okanagan Valley apples on the prairies, now makes a cool billion based on wagers on sports events such as the NCAA March Madness hoops tournament, NFL games and his online casino.

He'll even take wagers on the last one off the island on Survivor.

Recent pictures of Bodog events include shots of Ayre with sports icons Mike Ditka and Reggie Jackson, actor Colin Farrell, musicians Bif Naked and Snoop Dogg, even (oops) O.J. Simpson.

He started the company 10 years ago with $10,000. By the end of 2005, it was estimated Bodog.com had taken in $6- billion US in wagers.

"Instead of doing things for money, I do things for love," he said from San Jose yesterday. "If you do it out of love, you'll do it a lot better than if you do it for money.

"I never thought I'd make this kind of money ... oh, maybe a couple of million ... but I've carved out an excellent lifestyle because of this business."

Ayre, who calls himself "heavily single," grew up on a Saskatchewan pig farm, born to what he calls a family of entrepreneurs.

He ascribes his success to marketing, calling himself the best marketer in the industry.

"I have the strongest brand in the world in this industry," he adds.

"There's no secret to it. It's just mainstream marketing, being creative and linking the right values to our brand."

But online gaming is not a licence to print money and most analysts agree it takes a certain savvy and marketing know-how to turn such a site into such a success story.

Money accrues to the house by a commission charged to the bettor. But to make the business truly profitable, it must pay very close attention to the "line," or the odds against one team winning, so as to avoid ending up with big paydays to the bettors.

Ayre says he makes most of his money from poker and casino gambling.

Ayre is one of four Canadian additions to the Forbes billionaire list in 2006, bringing Canadian membership in such rarefied ranks to 21.

In his magazine cover, Ayre is pictured holding a stack of poker chips beside the headline, Cyber Bookie Calvin Ayre Sticks it to Uncle Sam.

"He has an interesting story and on-line gaming produced four new billionaires this year,'" said Forbes spokesperson Meghan Womack yesterday.

"Plus, it's illegal in the U.S. which adds a twist."

In Canada, Ayres says, governments have maintained a "hands-off" approach to online gaming. The United States is more aggressive in dissuading the industry from operating within its borders.

"Costa Rica provides me with a very healthy environment in which to operate," he admits.

The Canadian billionaires list is dotted with familiar names.

Burlington's mutual fund magnate Michael Lee-Chin, 55, landed at No. 365 on the list with a worth of $2.1 billion US. Others include Charles Bronfman, Jean Coutu, Paul Desmarais, Wallace McCain, Ted Rogers, Jim Pattison and Galen Weston.

The publishing magnate Kenneth Thomson and his family tops the list of Canucks with bucks, worth $19.6-billion US, ninth-richest in the world, but still worth just a fraction of the $50-billion US fortune owned by Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder, who is ranked as the world's richest man for the 12th straight year.

The new Canadian additions include:

* Robert Miller, 60, of Montreal, president and CEO of Future Electronics, likely the country's most reclusive billionaire. The family portfolio includes factory outlet malls in Quebec and Florida.

* Murray Edwards, 46, a Calgary oilman and founder of Canadian Natural Resources, is also profiled in Forbes. The magazine says his ambitious plan to harvest and process the Alberta tar sands under an oil recovery project named Horizon, could "either multiply his $1.4-billion US net worth or put a very big dent in it."

* David Cheriton, a 54-year-old Stanford University professor and computer networks expert, is worth $1-billion US, Forbes says, after providing seed money to a pair of students at his school who founded the search engine Google. Cheriton, born in British Columbia and raised in Alberta, last year donated $25-million Cdn in Google stock to the University of Waterloo computer science program where he earned his Masters and PhD degrees.

Collectively, Forbes says there are 793 billionaires in the world, up from 691 a year ago.

Together, they are worth $2.6-trillion US, up 18 per cent from a year ago.

Almost half of them (371) live in the United States, and more of them live in New York (40) than any other city.

Only 78 are women. Only six of the women on the list call themselves self-made billionaires.

[TigerCat_Tania]

Thanks PV, I took apart the first sections of the paper to use for catching paint while I worked today; so I guess I missed it... LOL

[Toronto_Mike]

wow he's Canadian but yet Canadians can't have an account on BoDog, what the hell?

[skippy]

Originally Posted by Toronto_Mike

wow he's Canadian but yet Canadians can't have an account on BoDog, what the hell?

He is doing you a favor.

I think there are some casinos in the Caribbean that caters to tourists only. Locals are NOT allowed to enter the premises. Its for their own good, so they don't lose what little money they have. They are more than happy to relieve the tourists of their money.

[Will]

so why was he arrested?

[jaypasco]

drugs and whores probably

[TigerCat_Tania]

Costa Rican police raided his house... that's all I can find out so far... the tagline at the bottom of the channel I am watching just flashed it...