Bodog Poker Withdrawing from 20 Countries
Bodog poker sent out e-mails this weekend asking customers in 20 countries to withdraw all funds from their accounts. The original e-mail was short on details, but follow up e-
mails confirmed that Bodog Poker was experiencing problems with payment processing in those markets.
The e-mail went out to Bodog Poker players in the following countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Speculation on poker forums is running rampant, but Bodog has kept mum on the details. A Bodog spokesperson did, however, give the following statement to a reporter from PokerNewsReport.com:
“(Bodog is going to) concentrate on our strengths and where we can offer the best product. The Bodog brand is known for its high level of customer service and spreading ourselves too thinly to try and cover a huge amount of smaller markets was proving logistically difficult. Bodog.co.uk will concentrate on growing existing markets.”
One popular, and unconfirmed, theory is that Bodog is exiting the tightly regulated EU markets in favor of the unregulated Asian market.
Bodog is apparently still in good financial shape, but has been through some struggles lately. Within the last couple years they’ve withdrawn from the Italian, French and Spanish markets.
Given the Maryland indictment against Bodog founder Calvin Ayre, it’s unlikely they’ll have much chance at entering the American market any time soon.
What do you think is behind Bodog’s big departure? Share your thought on our Online Gambling Newswire Forum.
Tags: Asia, Bodog, Calvin Ayre, Poker News
Are You Prepared to Profit 
If you can’t be in the bigger EU markets you might as well concentrate on the Asian market. It seems like a good bet!
They closed down office in costa rica, antigua, fired 70 employees from the UK office, are closing down plenty markets, ceo stepping down, didn’t get a license in th UK, founder indicted with 3 more guys, processing problems with affiliates and players with bovada and are not making headway in asia.
No question, there have been a lot of changes lately which were all part of a planned restructure and a number of people based in the UK were moved to Manila as this is now the location of the Bodog brand headquarters. Also, just to keep the facts straight,
1)Bodog UK was granted a UK license which has simply not been activated yet.
2)Bovada is owned by a different company than any of the Bodog brand licensees so they have nothing to do with any decisions made at bodog.co.uk (or any other bodog branded sites).
Hope this helps,
Becky
Hey guys! Just to confirm, everything is cool over here in Bodog world and what you’re seeing in the forums is definitely just rumors…I’ve actually been posting the statement from bodog.co.uk management to put out some of the forum fires.
Here’s an article posted at CalvinAyre.com that explains what’s going on in a bit more detail:
http://calvinayre.com/2012/08/06/business/bodog-poker-withdraws-from-20-countries/
Lemme know if you have any questions!!
Becky
Thank you for the info, Becky! Please feel free to keep us in the loop with these updates.
You got it!!