Ok first off, We still approve of BoDog and still recommend them for a casual bettor. But there have been some things come to light the last several months that we have observed and now are ready to write about them.

BoDog has been one of the top online sportsbooks for sometime now. Fast payouts, good customer service, and just a terrific business model. We have used them off and on the last five years.

There are several major factors that make us believe that BoDog may be seriously cutting back their betting services within the next six months to a year. This is mostly speculation based on facts.

Most backyard bookies do not stay career bookies. Most start in college or as a young man in their 20’s or 30’s. The lifestyle is very temultuous as people are constantly taking shots at your bankroll. Not only this, but it illegal and can result in jail time. So, a majority of bookies make some money and stick their neck out until they can be springboarded into another lucrative, legal field. We feel some offshore sportsbooks, as the legal grip has tightened, may be taking the same approach. BoDog seems to be the most obvious at this time. The owner, famous Billionaire and ego-maniac, Calvin Ayre has been building an entertainment product line outside of gambling. He has BoDog Fighting, Music, as well as TV and surely will soon be making movies. In the meantime, it seems as BoDog has been lowering limits, circling way more games, and tightening the grip on betting options.

One thing in particular that has been burdensome to us is the fact you can only buy a 1/2 point if the spread has a hook already in place. Example, you can buy the half point if the spread is 7 1/2, but not 7 even (In football this is a major thing as games land on 7 quite a bit). You cannot bring that spread down to a much more comfortable 6 1/2. Regular games that no other book has circled are circled every week. These guys are acting more like your fly by night college bookie scared to lose his $5,000 bankroll that he smuggled from his student loan 🙂

Payouts seem to be slowing down for them as well. The usual five to seven business days has been two to three weeks for some folks.

Calvin Ayre wants world respectability as an entrepreneur and business man. To his credit, he does spend time and money on charity like such things as stopping Bear Bile farming. But, many in the business world don’t respect people that got their fame and fortune from gambling proceeds. I think this is bothersome to him.

So many factors contribute to my final verdict. I believe that BoDog will do one of several things. They will reduce gambling operations to a very minimum, they may sell the gambling operation to another company, or they may just get rid of this aspect of their business model altogether. If Calvin Ayre truly is a billionaire like Forbes and others say, he will be fine for the rest of his life financially. I don’t see these other endeavors really taking off and making any real money. I also don’t see their failure as being large enough of a hit to put Mr. Ayre on the streets either.

In closing, feel free to still bet with them if you are a casual-good time bettor. They do have one of the best Poker programs around.