Friday Funnies...April Fool
Steven Stradbrooke
March 23, 2011
6 Comments and 9 Reactions
Everyone here at CalvinAyre.com broke into knowing grins when we heard that Vancouver tabloid hack David Baineshad penned his latest anti-fan letter to this website’s namesake. Yousee, it’s common knowledge amongst the staff that Baines is somewhatobsessed with Calvin Ayre,and has been for years. As such, we’ve felt it was our responsibilityto challenge David now and then on some of his beliefs — and some of hismake-believes — regarding Calvin, Bodogand the online gambling industry. However, Baines’ latest epistlemarked the point where harmless hater becomes unhinged stalker, so wefeel we need to let David know, in as gentle a manner as possible, thathe’s no longer ‘ha ha’ funny.
Inorder to convince his readers that Calvin truly does embody unseenevils, Baines starts his latest rant by reminding everyone that whileCalvin was still in university, his father was jailed. As Baines himselfadmits, Calvin was never charged with any involvement in his father’sproblems, but Baines is just sayin’ “just sayin.’”
From there,Baines moves on to Calvin being sanctioned by the BC SecuritiesCommission in the 1990's. Yes, a long time ago, fresh out of businessschool, Calvin got a brief up-close and personal look at public markets,and yes, the experience left a sour taste in his mouth. But whatevermistakes Calvin made, he knew he’d done nothing to warrant a criminalcharge. As such, he felt no need to challenge the BCSC ruling because healready knew he’d had enough of stock exchanges. A quick search of thissite or the wider web will reveal a legacy of passionate disdain for public markets and for those who fall victim to the lure of the initial public offering.
WHO WATCHES BAINES’ WATCHMEN?
By spotlighting Calvin’s history with Bodog, Baines claims he’s onlyinterested in protecting helpless citizens from ‘rogue’ operators. Forthe record, Calvin has previously been approved as a key person forgaming licenses in multiple jurisdictions around the globe, so again,Baines is just flat out wrong here. Meanwhile, he rubbishes licensingjurisdictions such as Kahnawake, Antigua, and any other than the one inwhich Baines presently resides. But Baines fails to acknowledge that theoversight provided in these other jurisdictions is more arms-lengththan anything currently on display in British Columbia. For a governmentincreasingly dependent on revenues from its gaming division, conductingan ‘independent’ review that could slow or even stop those revenues isnigh on impossible. As Margaret Beare, professor of law at YorkUniversity, observed, BC’s gaming body has “no reason to give a damn. Like everyone else, they’re in the business to make money.”
Asfor Baines’ lament that the nation of Antigua is “an offshore tax andsecrecy haven that operates beyond the reach of US authorities,” heseems almost disappointed to learn that the US occasionally has torespect another nation’s sovereign status. Unlike, say, multiple World Trade Organization rulings in Antigua’s favor, which the US has repeatedly refused to respect. Just sayin’.
EXCUSE US… ARE THESE YOUR NIGHT-VISION GOGGLES?
Baines’ reveals his obsession with Calvin in other ways. Baines nowinsists that he was never against the idea of private online gamingoperators; he just hates the ones lacking licenses issued by theprovince of British Columbia. So why isn’t Baines devoting any vitrioliccolumn inches to the likes of BetUS and Sportsbook.com, major gamblingoutfits operating freely out of Vancouver, right under Baines’ nose,with nary a BC gaming license in sight? The answer seems obvious to us:Baines doesn’t care about these companies because Calvin has no historywith them.
Calvin does have a history with Bodog. A long one. He is the founder of the brand and group. The Bodog brandand its affiliated companies have been taking bets over the internetfor a decade and a half now. If they truly were the ‘rogues’ that Bainesclaims, how then have they been able to maintain their highly regardedposition in the online gambling marketplace? (Bodog brand spokesman Ed Pownall appears regularly on MSNBC to discuss the gaming industry. Time magazine used Bodog odds in 2010’s FIFA World Cup preview issue. The NFL.com site uses Bodog odds. Hell, even the publication that prints Baines’ rantsuses Bodog odds.) In an era of easily disseminated information, whyhasn’t the Bodog brand’s name been so irreparably tarnished that no onein their right mind would trust them with their financial information?Why aren’t people falling for Baines’ song and dance?
As forCalvin having legal issues with the US gov’t, Baines produces noindictments, Interpol alerts, search warrants nor wanted posters to backup this claim. In fact, the US hasn’t arrested any foreign gamblingoperators for some time, especially now that it’s looking to get into the business for itself. A Bodog competitor, 888 Gaming, was recently approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Boardas a suitable partner for Nevada casino companies. For the record, 888pulled out of the US market in late 2006, just after the UnlawfulInternet Gaming Enforcement Act was signed into law. That’s the samepoint at which Calvin sold the US-facing Bodog.com operation to MorrisMohawk Gaming Group.
WRITING CHECKS YOUR BUTT CAN’T CASH
Andthat’s something that Baines can’t quite seem to grasp. Calvin isn’tactually running a gaming company anymore. Calvin controls Bodogbrand.com,which licenses the Bodog brand to independent companies in differentjurisdictions, such as Europe and Asia. Calvin’s role nowadays isstrictly as a brand ambassador and, oh yeah, he’s also a shiny newonline media mogul. CalvinAyre.com is only just approaching its officialfirst anniversary, but it has already gained a reputation as thepreeminent site covering the global online gaming industry today. Weeven count David Baines among our growing audience, and while we’re gladhe’s finally reading real news for a change, we think he’d have a fargreater understanding of this industry if he read more than just thearticles in which his name appears. All the same, we appreciate himpromoting this site via his column. After all the negative stunts Baineshas pulled, it’s nice to see him at least attempting to make amends bybearing some of Calvin’s water.
Of course, we’d be remiss if we failed to mention that just last week, Baines lost a libel lawsuitbrought by a former Canadian senator based on an article Baines wrotein 2008. The trial judge ordered Baines to pay $30k in damages, not aninsignificant sum for an insignificant tabloid writer. Despite this blowto his wallet (and his credibility), Baines chose to double-down on hisattacks on Calvin just a few days later. We’re tempted to believe thatBaines is hoping to get us to respond in kind, i.e. using half-truthsand innuendo to besmirch his name, in the hope that Baines could thensue us for libel and maybe make good some of his losses. If so, sorry,Dave. Better you should deposit what’s left of your paycheck intoPlayNow.com and try your luck at the slots. Better still, deposit it atBodog.ca, the new Slots.comor any of the other private, internationally-licensed, regulated andrespected online gambling destinations. We understand their payout rateis far better.