Bovada.lv is a brand new online gambling site powered by Bodog. They’re possessed by Mohawk Morris Gaming Group (MMGG) who was licensing Bodog software, brand name, and support providers since 2007. Together with Bodog currently growing in lawful markets, they no longer need to their new name related to United States gambling. Because of this, the new Bovada.lv brand was created on December 14, 2011 for US players, while non-US players still utilize Bodog branded sites. Below, we cover their history in good depth.
Starting as a Software Company
The history of Bodog/Bovada starts with a software firm called Cyberoad based in 1997. This company powered three of the Internet’s first online sportsbooks: mayansports.com, thebigbook.com, and granprixsports.com, each launched in 1998.
These gambling sites were unique, having a payment method named eBanx that allowed bettors to finance their account with credit cards, and money out with e-checks. Since you are able to learn in our background of sportsbook.com (another competitor from the exact same era) this was unusual. Most online gaming sites back then relied upon Western Union or cash brokers, making online payment processing a huge plus.
Sometime in 1999, Cyberoads purchased ebanx, though there was a strong indication that they owned ebanx. The mastermind behind this is thought to be Calvin Ayre, a”consultant” to both Cyberoad and eBanx, while his company El Moro Finance Ltd. (BVI) was a secured lender. However this played out (there are multiple sides to the story), in late 2000 after raising a lot of cash with a plan to go public, Cyberoad failed. El Moro Finance Ltd. (BVI) ended up obtaining its own assets, which were then assigned to a subsidiary named eSportz that showed up in late 2000 claiming to have been in the company of providing software since 1995.
From Software Company to Gambling Site When Cyberoad neglected, the 3 sportsbooks it powered were without software. Grand Prix and the Big Book were based in precisely the exact same office in Costa Rica, however they had separate possession. The Big Book ended up purchasing Grand Prix after which signed on to use the same software, now branded as eSportz. Mayan Sports, however, was located in the Dominican Republic and seemingly did not come to terms with eSportz. This caused a major controversy which entailed the production of Bodog.
In early 2001, Mayan Sports was offline when many of their customers got an email from a then unheard of sportsbook named bodog.com, asserting their username and password could currently do the job here. As it turns out, Bodog was a self-operated brand by eSportz that shared an office with their principal client, ” The Big Book. For years to come, Mayan could accuse Bodog of getting stolen their clientele.
Calvin Ayre / Cole Turner
The theft allegations by Mayan Sports escalated in after years when it was found the Bodog founder and CEO, then using the alias Cole Turner, was actually Calvin Ayre. This was hugely controversial since in the moment, the industry was not yet conscious that he had been behind El Moro Finance Ltd. (BVI). The true story came out afterwards that he had raised funds for Cyberoad as a”consultant”, it collapsed, and a company he commanded acquired all of the assets, at which time he started using an alias (Cole Turner).
This wasn’t the first questionable business dealing involving Calvin Ayre.
Calvin AyreThe self-told narrative about his past is that he was born to Canadian grain and pig farmers in 1961. After college and several failed business ventures, he sold everything he owned to raise $10,000 from 1994 to begin a software company that would eventually become Bodog. What’s often omitted from the narrative is that his dad was detained in 1987 for smuggling 750 lbs of marijuana. While Calvin was not charged or detained, he was referred to by the judge as a co-conspirator who”undoubtedly played a part.” In another run with all the legislation, in 1991 that he had been civilly charged with insider trading, but settled for a $10,000 fine and was banned from the Vancouver Stock Exchange before 2016.
When it was discovered that Cole Turner was really Calvin Ayre (the owner of Bodog and eSportz), this made Mayan Sports and lots of Cyberoad investors mad. It’s fair to say that Calvin Ayre had no shortage of enemies within his early career. But looking ahead to now, Bodog has always been an honest and reputable gaming site that has paid all winners. Mayan, on the other hand, was a rogue gambling site (D+ rated now ). It is difficult with the details about implicate Calvin Ayre of much, but based on track records conducting a gambling site, Calvin Ayre’s reputation is spotless from the point of view of Bodog account holders along with their obligations.
The Big Book Closing To get back on the right track with the deadline of Bovada history, as mentioned, the business that began Bodog, eSportz was powering The Large Book and sharing an office. Each company used the exact same payment and accounting firm as well. The story of the falling out with Bodog involves a woman called Viktoria Zazoulina (called Vika) who had immigrated from the Ukraine to Vancouver, BC, Canada in early 1990’s.
Vika took a position with Kazootek Technologies Ltd. in their beginning (ardently thought to have been a different Calvin Ayre firm ) that did all the financial accounting for the ebanx payment method. Vika started as a professional accountant and had such a great (sensed ) work ethic her managers increased her cover and covered her education towards a CGA designation (Canada’s term for CPA). She eventually reached the cap of the business and hired her buddy Tatiana Kostiouk (known as Tanya).
With time, both Vika and Tanya became enrolling officers in most of the company’s Kazootek Technologies Ltd. (meaning they had access to all bank accounts). By this time, Vika was a genuine immigration success story earning over $100,000 per year. However, on June 15th of 2001, life shifted. This was the date on which Vika and Tanya signed the first of many tests utilized to embezzle large sums of money from customers, the majority of which believed them near friends. As they stole and got away with it for decades, their confidence grew. They registered a new employee, Greg Tanner, to help start a competing company, which used technology stolen from Kazootek and finance money from their clients.
