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April 25, 2008 - Calvin Ayre. I don't know whether the name is more synonymous with Bodog, patent disputes or blog rants. Okay, let's be fair. Calvin Ayre is indeed an online gambling mogul of sorts and has certainly been very successful at what he does. I'm just not sure what that is. His online casino, sportsbook, poker room and lifestyles site have been a hit with the largest niche in the online gambling industry, and ever since the passing of the UIGEA, Ayre has been increasingly behind the scenes.

As for me, I wasn't that surprised to hear the recent news that Calvin Ayre has decided to step out of any "operational" role at Bodog, and has begun the process of transferring ownership of the Bodog Lifestyles brand to the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, otherwise known as the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. My only surprise was that Ayre hadn't already been arrested, considering the U.S. crackdown on high profile online gambling CEO's.

For as long as anyone can remember, Bodog was at the top of all the major search engines for all the major online casino gambling related keywords, not to mention the fact that Bodog's name was being successfully branded on a global scale. While there are plenty of more online casinos than payment processors, it still wouldn't be a stretch by no means to say that Bodog had become as synonymous with online gambling as Neteller itself.

By the year 2006, Ayre's online gambling empire was generating over $7 billion in annual turnover, and Ayre was named a billionaire on Forbe's famous billionaire list. At this stage, Bodog was promoting music, live fighting, and anything else deemed the "men's lifestyle". It was also at this stage that the U.S. Department of Justice made it known that Ayre was on their list for possible prosecutions. In fact, if Ayre had been so mindless to catch a plane that stopped in the U.S., you can bet there would have been U.S. authorities waiting to escort him off the plane.

As such, Ayre stayed out of the U.S., and kept himself busy with blogging and complaining about a patent dispute with 1st Technologies (which 1st Technologies won). Now, Ayre apparently wants to spend his time taking part in more worthwhile causes. In a Bodog press release announcing the news of Ayre's departure, it was said that Mr. Ayre would be leaving the online gambling scene to focus his time on the charitable works of the Calvin Ayre Foundation. Well, we'll see about that All I can say is that I want you to prove me wrong Calvin Ayre...like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.

Originally published: April, 2008 | Categories: Gambling