Bodog’s Woes
Anybody that follows the online gambling forums knows that Bodog has seen better days. Bodog was founded in 1994 and has never met such a challenging time in their entire existence.
Bodog has had several issues that go beyond the UIGEA. One is that they had their domains registered in the U.S. In September 2007 a judge awarded nearly $49,000,000 to 1st Technology LLC. Bodog had few assets in the U.S. and so their prized domain names were awarded as collateral as a part of that suit. This left Bodog in a situation where players were unable to find their site. Bodog went with Newbodog.com and later that month settled with Bodoglife.com. It would prove to be very difficult for Bodog to have the massive marketing and internet presence they once had when their recognizable domains were lost.
Another issue is that Calvin Ayre, founder and former CEO, decided to antagonize U.S. law enforcement. He always had the vigilante “catch me if you can” attitude but he couldn’t keep a low profile. This gave the U.S. government an added incentive to pursue Bodog. Calvin Ayre has since turned over the North American operations (essentially just the U.S. since Bodog has never accepted Canadian players) to Morris Mohawk Gaming but that hasn’t turned the heat off.
It was reported late in July that over $24,000,000 was seized from a U.S. processor after a two year investigation into Bodog’s processing. The processor was making check payments to U.S. players on behalf of Bodog and several other U.S. facing gambling sites. After the seizure Bodog announced that this was not a direct asset seizure of Bodog. While this is true it certainly hurt in more than one way.
First Bodog’s share of the loss had to be substantial. Some in the forums have speculated it was around $15,000,000. Considering the slim margins this would be the profit on roughly $300,000,000 in sports wagers. While some say that Bodog can afford to take a hit like that it still has to hurt them financially. Another problem this brought out in the open was that Bodog and its processors are targets of a massive federal investigation. While there are plenty of processors willing to process payments to U.S. players there aren’t many that want to get involved with Bodog fearing they will become targets themselves. This has presented Bodog with many problems.
Players have been complaining constantly about Bodog’s cashout delays. They are among the longest in the industry. The only way to cash out of Bodog for U.S. players is by check. Right now it is taking about 2 months to receive a check. While players that don’t win will never notice the delays because they don’t cash out serious players have run out of patience and are leaving.
What does this mean to players and affiliates?
To players with some patience this is a great opportunity to play somewhere that has extremely soft games. The sharks are running for the doors but the fish are staying since they don’t know there are problems. With football season almost here the games will only get better. Also players outside the U.S. are not having any problems at all getting paid. Affiliates shouldn’t miss a beat either. It will take some patience but the checks will come. Affiliates promoting Bodog through PAS have nothing to worry about as you will get paid for Bodog at the same time you get paid for all of the other rooms you promote through us regardless of whether we have been paid yet. This is certainly not an ability to pay issue for Bodog, this is only a processing delay.
Bodog has also had issues in non gambling related ventures. Bodog’s Mixed Martial Arts venture was a failure and many feel the music venture will be a money pit as well. Combine this with reports of massive customer service layoffs in a Bodog division and things are really rocky right now.
There have been some rumors floating around that Bodog may leave the U.S. market very soon. Barring some really major news don’t expect that to happen. Even if it does happen it would be shocking to the industry if they left before this football season ended and that is 6 months down the road. Keep in mind that since the U.S. is Bodog’s biggest market leaving would be an absolute last resort. This is especially true since Bodog has been unable to get white-listed in the UK, doesn’t take Canadians and hasn’t been successful in attracting European players. For now expect the status quo.
Pokeraddict
