Bodog Founder Won’t Risk Visit to States

Bodog Founder Won’t Risk Visit to States

Calvin Ayre bristles at the notion that he’s in “exile” from the United States.

The Canadian-born founder and chief executive officer of Bodog Entertainment Group, owner of top online poker programs such as bodogpoker and one of the top global players in on-line gambling, knows it would be risky for him to set foot in the United States now that law enforcement officials there are putting the heat on companies in the business.

Two British on-line gambling executives were arrested in the U.S. over the past three months as they stepped off airplanes. U.S. media reports have suggested Mr. Ayre could face the same fate, so he is essentially in exile.

“I’ve never lived in the U.S., ever,” he said yesterday from Bali, Indonesia, where he is working on a documentary for a U.S. movie channel and filming segments for his new BodogFight reality television show. “It’s a uniquely American perspective, that if you can’t come to the States you’re in exile, no matter where [you’re from].”