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Calvin Ayre: Bodog Founder and Self-Made Billionaire

Born in Lloydminster in Saskatchewan in 1961, Calvin Ayre was raised on a small farm by his parents. They were strict and hard-working and very much wanted Calvin to learn the value of hard work. Their lifestyle was very modest and there were times when they struggled to make ends meet. In order to instill a good work ethic into the only son, they gave him piglets. It was his responsibility to raise them. Once they were big enough, he took them to market for sale and was allowed to keep the profits of his labor.

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Image source: Bill Beatty / CC BY-SA via Wikimedia Commons

Put Himself Through University

When Calvin Ayre was around 12 years of age, the whole family moved to Salmon Arm in Columbia. The father had decided to forsake farming and instead became a seller of water purifying systems. Though their son received top grades at the high school he couldn’t attend university as the family was in no financial position to pay. So, after leaving high school, Calvin worked by selling the abundant fruit of Columbia to the folks back in Saskatchewan. He had purchased an old truck for this purpose and soon made enough money, that he was able to put himself through college. Finally, he graduated from the University of Waterloo with a BA in General Science. After this, he headed straight off to Seattle and studied his MBA in financial management.

Financial Shortcuts

His first job after university was with a heart valve manufacturing company, Benicar Medical Supplies. This was during a period when the company was experiencing severe financial difficulties. But Calvin Ayre had made it known that he wanted to save the company and stop the business from going bankrupt, even it meant bending the financial rules a little. And that’s just what he did. He sold 300,000 shares in the company, though skipped the part whereby you need to provide the correct legal paperwork or even producing a prospectus. In the end, he was fined over $10,000 and was banned from being able to list any companies on the Vancouver Stock Exchange.

The Creation of Bodog

In 1992, Calvin Ayre found inspiration after reading an article about a bookie called Ronald Sacco. This guy had set up a betting shop on the island of the Dominican Republic so that he was able to take sports bets from mainland America. Of course, sports betting like this was illegal in the US, but Sacco, being based in a country where it was legal, had no problems. It should be noted, that the US government does have a long memory, and will get you in the end, even if it’s years layer. Such was the fate that befell Sacco. But at the time, this business and the way Sacco operated caused a light bulb to switch on in Calvin’s mind.

Calvin Ayre was quick to realize that gambling was a gold mine waiting to e exploited. e decided to put both time and effort into making gambling software for casinos and gambling sportsbooks. In fact, such was his dedication, that he taught himself how to design software by reading through the Cisco Systems Manual. Being one of the first to actually produce preparatory software for the gaming industry meant that his software was an instant hit with customers. Using this as a launching pad, Calving decided that it was time to create his own online sportsbook and online jackpot site.

Take a look at the Bodog Casino nowadays

The Company Name

As Calvin sat at his computer searching various domain registries for a suitable company name, he typed in 5 digit names but to no avail. Eventually, just by chance and frustration, he typed “B-O-D-O-G”. Repeating this out loud a few times, and he decided that he’d found the companies name.

The online sportsbook, Bodog was officially launched in 2000. The site was designed for the casual bettor and it covered a huge range of different sports. You could wager from just $1 to up to $5,000. In order to stand out, a marketing scheme was developed which placed Calvin Ayre squarely in its center. He became the face of the company and the website was filled with pictures of him Partying with celebrities and having a blast on his yacht with bunches of supermodels. The idea was to sell the dream. That ordinary people, like Calvin Ayre, could reach the stars by betting with Bodog.

Bodog Thrives

With the sportsbook doing amazing business, Calvin branched out into casino table games. He was one of the first to offer welcome bonuses. He made Bodog into a one-stop gambling portal for all your gambling needs. This move caused a massive increase in overall profits. Always on the lookout to expand his business, Calvin started the Bodog Marketing Conference in Los Angeles. This was a venue where the gambling industry could get together. Sportsbook executives and the owners of gambling programs could meet up and exchange ideas and discuss the latest marketing trends. The event was so successful that it’s become an annual must-go-to on the calendar. He also hosted “Bodog Fights” which was a mixed martial arts competition.

Great Self-Publicist

Realizing that corporate events are also a great means of generating publicity, Bodog started taking his brand to other areas of entertainment which were outside the area of gambling. First, the was the record label “Bodog Music” which has artists like Wu-Tang Clan, Bleed the Dream, and Pitbull on their books. Then came a number of TV series, starting with “Bodog Battle of the Bands”. Unsigned bands would compete for a prize of $1 million recording deal from Bodog Music.
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The company was now one of the top players in the gambling industry space. By 2065 revenues were in the region of $210 million. The company was busy processing more than 1 million bets each day. As for Calvin, his personal wealth soared and he was by now a self-made millionaire.

Man Rich Treasure - Free photo on Pixabay — Calvin Ayre built his own empire

Calvin Ayre Faces Hard Times

Just a year later, in 2006, the US Government passed the “Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act”. This caused the company to close it’s doors to US-based gamblers. Calvin Ayre offloaded his US company arm to the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group who were based in Quebec. This was a tough decision and it caused Calvin to more or less disappear for a number of years, as he licked his wounds.

As we previously mentioned, the US government has a long memory. In 2012, Calvin was indicted by the US Attorney in Maryland on charges of money laundering and illegal gambling. This stemmed from his time before the UIGEA came into force. As a result, Calvin found himself on the Homeland Security Investigation’s most-wanted list. As a direct result of this, Calvin decided to avoid visiting the US for a number of years. Five years later, and the US decided to drop all charges. Well, kind of. In fact, Calvin Ayre paid $60 million in order to make the charge go away.

His Most Recent Endeavors

Though he has no plans to return to the US, he is in fact free to do so. He keeps himself busy with a large number of charities. His main focus now is on his work as the Economic Envoy of Antigua and Barbuda. The job requires him to oversee economic cooperation between these two countries and the rest of the world. He is presently bringing these locations up to date on the implementation of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies, so that, even though they are very small places, they will be able to comfortably rub shoulders with much bigger countries. Calvin Ayre is happy to serve in this new position. As he says, “It’s nice to have an opportunity to give back to my adopted homeland.”

Calvin Ayre: Philanthropy

Being a billionaire hasn’t stopped Calvin Ayre from being generous. The Calvin Ayre Foundation focuses on child welfare, animal health, education, emergency response, and social development. And though the foundation is actually based on the island of Antiqua, it services eight other countries around the world.