Calvin Ayre's Prediction for online poker regulation in the US

Hi everyone,

Calvin asked me to share his prediction on what will happen with online poker regulation in the US with all those who may be interested. Thought you may want to hear what he has to say...I will tell you one thing, considering I've known him well for five years, he's usually right.

Regulated Online Poker in the US is Wishful Thinking

Becky

Ehhh, I think that it may happen in the next 5 years, I think over 10 years is pushing it.

Thanks for sharing Becky!

Thanks for sharing BoDogBecky. Calvin Ayre is a very astute businessman; I agree that it will take some time for the Feds to implement some sort of regulatory agency to 'oversee' the industry & they will need to tread lightly considering all the recent Wall Street havoc. IMHO, the only reason implementation would arise any sooner than the 5-10 yr prediction is the yahoos who see the industry as a source of tax revenue.

Glad and proud to be Canadian!! Much less hassle, hope we don't follow US lead here...

(PS tell Calvin to IM me Becky, txs)

Have to agree entirely. If they were ever to allow online gambling, it probably would be limited to individual states.

Also, the room would need to be licensed in the USA, (if they licensed rooms in Costa Rico, how would they enforce regulations, to say nothing of collecting fees or taxes from the poker room.

The benefit of continuing to try to get licensed; it could slow them down in an attempt to seek a ban of some sort. When your on defense, its a lot harder to score.

lol hes probably right, sadly, the guy is pretty smart.


but he did say that although it prolly wont happen in the next 5 years, it WILL happen, hopefully sooner than later.

I can see it happening. What would be really interesting is to read the Bill and see the pork attached of who is getting stroked. Those law making guys are dreaming with visions of $$$$ just floating by. Might just fund your health care.

Thank you Becky for the link.

Perhaps all the PPA should be focusing on is how we Americans can fund our accounts. The UIGEA only dealt with that, and it caused the problems we face now. A super sweeping gaming bill will get tied up in committee for about 10 years.

Pleasure and I enjoyed reading all your comments guys! I have another opinion piece for you from Calvin...this one is based on some lobbying data that was just released in the US.

Fiddlers Strut by the Ozark Mountain Choir

Enjoy!

Becky

Someone just informed me that the link above is no longer working, so I'm just updating this thread with the new link:

Regulated Online Poker in the US is Wishful Thinking

Pretty cool...Calvin wrote this article about a year ago and he was dead on! Thanks and enjoy!

Becky

I will change the link in your first post.

Was calvin dead on when he told the US DOJ to go screw and basically started the downfall of bodog as a poker room?

I'm sorry, but the man has too much hubris to have any credibility. He's always been about image, not reliable substance....

As has been published all over on the web, including in the recent playboy article about Calvin in USA Jan 2011 issue, Calvin did not make the quote in Forbes you are referring too- Forbes reporter Matt Miller made it up to sell magazines and enhance his own career off of it.

Anyone with knowledge of the iGaming industry understands that the main push behind the creation of the UIEGA was all the online gaming companies going public in the UK - this was way before the Forbes article was even written - and the audited financial statements these companies were required to file quarterly showing how much money they were taking out of the US market. Senator Kyle has even released letters to this effect.

If you do not want to read Calvin's work that is fine, however, I'm not sure how anyone can argue with his record on predictions. I have seen Calvin make many accurate predictions over the five years that I've known him personally. The article I link up to in my OP was pretty accurate...it could have been written today, but it was actually written one year ago!

Becky

I read the article. Point me to where it says that the famous quote was fraudulent? I didn't see that anywhere in said article. In fact the only mention of Forbes is that he was on the cover of it!

I've hammered you on this point extensively in the past on other forums... odd this is your first attempt to mention that the *quote* is supposedly false. Again, please feel free to post a link to any reputable article that shows it was a made-up quote and didn't come from him, and I'll stop bad-mouthing the guy.

Also, I never blamed calvin for the UIGEA. I blamed him for having the feds crack down hardest on bodog and its payment processors, which in turn has helped the death spiral of the poker room (along with other factors of course) while sites like pokerstars and tilt have flourished.

And much as you are wrong, I can't blame you for trying. Your job is to keep up the *image of the brand.* It's a shame though that he's a douche.

You know what, you are right- I could have sworn the Forbes article title was covered in the Playboy article. Anyway, check out the 8 minute mark of the CTV W5 documentary on Calvin Ayre- the Forbes article title situation is mentioned, and it is mentioned again towards the end of this Racing Post interview. I'll look for some more- these mentions are just off the top of my head.

Thanks,
Becky

MOre fail.

Read the racing post interview. All it says is that there was an article, and has calvin claiming it was inaccurate. I'm looking for a legitimate source that shows it was made up.

If in fact it was made up there should be many articles pointing to that fact as the writer would have been dismissed. Forbes would not stand for that and I am sure would have retracted any and all falsehoods. The story would have been covered by the NYT, WSJ and many others as reporters making up falsehoods in major US publications and newspapers tends to be a big deal around here.

Not to mention, if it had been proven false, you would have the links memorized as you'd be handing them out right and left. I'd be shocked if you point me to anything other than calvin-speak claiming he was quoted out of context. Clearly all we are left with are counter-allegations.

But, like I said, that's your job, to hawk his brand.

So hawk away. I'm looking forward to it.

p.s. Not to mention, if it was really all false Ayre would have sued for slander/libel - and you would have mentioned that, so I assume he didn't. Is that because he can't prove it? or unless, oh wait, he's too worried about getting arrested to step foot in this country and would have to come here to do so.

I like playing poker on his site as much as the next guy, but it's pretty clear to anyone that the sportsbook, taking bets that originate on US soil, is clearly a lucrative, yet illegal activity. I could give a fling F about that, but it doesn't exactly give the guy the moral highground or the benefit of the doubt as to telling the truth.

Its common in the media industry for writers to put words in the mouths of the people they interview....it is also very uncommon for anyone to sue for something like this unless there is a very blatant attempt to slander.

This particular situation was fuzzy, and as Calvin has pointed out on more than one occasion, it was actually good for his branding on the street- this title really has burnished his bad boy reputation which is where he was heading things. This is why he did not react to the title. However, if you read all his interviews, you will see he is consistent in saying that under international law he considered what bodog did as legal, therefore why would anyone be interested in doing anything to him. This is the opposite of the point the title insinuates he was thinking. All companies in the industry at that time (pre UIEGA) felt the same way as Calvin or none of the public companies would have been allowed into the market.

Of course everyone is welcome to their own opinion, but the facts just do not support that Calvin ever took the position of that title. I have known Calvin for years and he just does not talk like that. The bottom line is that Calvin never made that statement and was angry at first when it came out, but that was until he realized that it was, in fact, a good thing from a branding perspective. That provocative title is still working well for him in getting media in Europe and Asia, if you can believe it. The Forbes reporter Matt Miller made that title up to sell magazines and clearly it worked as that was the highest selling Billionaires issue up to that point and got Matt promoted twice to be in charge of their Billionaire's issue department!

Anyway, thanks for your interest in Calvin, threads like this are good for our media company CalvinAyre.com. Whether you love him or hate him, we still like that you are interested in him.

Becky