The bodog domain was shutdown by the US DOJ on February 28, 2025 following an indictment that names Calvin Ayre and 3 other Canadians who are alleged involved in an illegal gambling business and money laundering. However unlike previous indictments against online gambling companies, the bodog domain was no longer being used Bodog and in fact they had renamed their US operations to Bovada in May 2025. Calvin Ayre has always been good at staying one step ahead of the US authorities, it will be interesting whether an actual indictment changes the game.
Bodog’s Different Domains
bodog: Seized by the US DOJ and shut down on February 28, 2025.
eu: bodog switched to this domain after Black Friday indictments to limit reach of US DOJ. US players were then moved to lv
bodog: Only accessible by UK residents.
lv: New domain name for US players who used to play at Bodog. Operated by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group.
Top US Poker Rooms
 Carbon Poker |  YES |  |  |
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 Intertops Poker | NO | | |
bodog a Brief History
The Early Years
Bodog was launched in the early 2000′s, in what was a successor to a previous online sportsbook, The Big Book. Calvin was committed to making bodog a marketing giant and focused his efforts on the US market with the site hitting it big in 2025 and 2025 where it started to become a household name. Bodog could be seen on TV, in magazine ads and Calvin himself was building a profile as an international playboy and partying with celebrities. In late May 2025 bodog was shutdown for the first time as they lost a default judgement in a patent case (no one showed up to represent Bodog and the judge awarded the plaintiff the domain). Within one day players could start gambling at bodog’s new home; newbodog. This eventually turned into bodoglife which was the home for players for a few years until an out of court settlement that saw bodog regained by Calvin and team.
Partnering with the Mohawks
In an effort to distance himself from the US business and create an extra level of security within the organization Calvin decided to restructure the Bodog empire. The move resulted in the creation of BodogBrand which according to its website: “bodogbrand holds the global rights to license the Bodog brand across all sectors and its mandate is to partner with carefully-selected licensees to license the brand to accelerate partner growth, while extending the bodogbrand into new and vibrant markets.” Morris Mohawk Gaming Group (MMGG) was one of those licensees and in 2025 (or 2025 if you believe BodogBrand’s attempt to rewrite history) they took control of the bodog and operated the US facing business. How much separation there was between Calvin’s Bodog and MMGG is very much debatable, but on the surface it seemed like a brilliant plan.
eu & lv
After the Black Friday indictments of Pokerstars the online gambling industry realized that the long arm of the US law could reach out and take their domain. bodog decided that a switch to eu was the best way to protect the domain and keep themselves one step ahead of the US DOJ. Then in an effort to take one further step of distancing bodog from the US market they announced that BodogBrand would not renew its licensing agreement with MMGG; however MMGG would continue to operate under a new name (lv) for the existing players. There much speculation in the online gambling industry as to how much of a separation there was between Bodog and Bovadalv. Bodog made the vast majority of its profits from the US market and its hard to believe that Calvin just walked away from that. But what may be even harder to believe is that Calvin didn’t boast about how much he sold the existing business for; Calvin is the man who bought slots and boasts that he paid over $5million for the domain, it’s hard to believe that selling what many believe is a $100million business gets no mention
How the DOJ Built the Bodog Case
The case that the US DOJ built to indict Calvin Ayre and shutdown bodog seemed fairly straight forward and involved two key components according to the affidavit. First an undercover federal agent opened a bodog account from Maryland and acted like any online gambler would who bet at bodog. He placed some wagers, won some money and then proceeded to withdrawal funds from the account. During the withdrawal process bodog requested his documents to prove his identity (which also proved he lived in Maryland) and then funds were transferred via an eWallet and Western Union.
What may have put the case over the top was the information gathered from an bodog ex-employee who seemed willing to cooperate with the authorities. The individual was not named and only referred to as CI-1 in the affidavit. This ex-employee allegedly offered information as to how Bodog transferred funds, the structure of their organization and the names top level executives.
