Friend of mine called and told me Chuck Liddell's down here for a BoDog poker promo. BoDog's the sportbook that was featured in the latest Forbes magazine. Anyways, its somethin that they thought enough of Chuck as celeb to bring him down. MMA sure is growing at a phenominal pace.
Will you be there ?
Id be on the waves in a sec.
Joey will you be at the event ?
that is where i'm from
Uh oh.
Costa Rica has a sex industry that could steal ANY man's Mojo
Actually, Chucks down there because they invited Willa Ford as a
Playboy Celeb. He's is playing in the tournament though, with a bootie
on to protect his dislocated toe.
Holy smokes...............the CR police just busted the party b/c the neighbors called the cops..........the police apparently busted Calvin Ayre's poker party.
My wife just saw it on the news. I was at the casino........................glad I passed on the party. I will post the news article in morning if I see one.
And the 14 year olds SCATTER!
Ayres house has been surrounded by the local police and the local version of the FBI. According to the source, Ayre was getting ready to begin filming at the house for his new reality show when this happened.
more 2 come
Former Vancouver stock promoter-cum-Internet gambling czar Calvin Ayre, who is still serving a 20-year stock market ban in B.C., has made headlines again, this time in Forbes magazine's annual list of billionaires.
Ayre, now based in San Jose, Costa Rica, but still a frequent visitor to Vancouver, is ranked 746th among the world's billionaires, tied with 48 other people who just made the cut-off with a reported net worth of $1 billion US.
In first and second place are the perennial leaders, computer whiz Bill Gates of Microsoft with a net worth of $50 billion US and investment star Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway with $42 billion US.
Ayre, however, has the distinction of being pictured on the magazine's cover with an inside story entitled, Catch Me if You Can, referring to the cat-and-mouse game he and his Costa Rican-based Internet gambling empire, Bodog.com, plays with U.S. Justice Department officials who contend that Internet gambling is illegal.
So far, however, Ayre, a native of Lloydminster, Sask., has stayed just out of reach of U.S. authorities.
His principal residence is a 10,000-square-foot, custom-built mansion in San Jose, but he told The Vancouver Sun last month that he returns to Vancouver about once a month.
"Bodog has no physical presence in the U.S., Ayre is not an American citizen, and the extraterritorial reach of U.S. law is not clear. Ayre, at any rate, has no assets in the U.S. for the G-men to seize," Forbes says in its article.
Ayre does, however, have numerous business interests in the Lower Mainland. His firm owns Riptown Media, a Yaletown software development firm that employs 200 graphic designers and computer programmers to provide advertising support for Bodog's gambling operation.
Bodog or related entities also own three penthouse apartments in Vancouver, and Ayre earlier told The Sun he owns 150 acres of farmland in the Fraser Valley, with six homes rented out or used by staff who run the property.
The magazine says that Ayre likes to be seen with attractive women and is driven around San Jose in a black Hummer by a chauffeur who was trained as a sniper in the Canadian military and served in Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Ayre says he needs this sort of security to deter would-be kidnappers.
The source of all this extravagance is Bodog, which by all reports, is a cash cow.
"Last year the privately held Bodog handled $7.3 billion [US] in online wagers, triple the volume of 2004," Forbes reports in its article.
"Ayre says all this betting gave him sales of $210 million, and that he took 26 per cent of the revenue to the bottom line. What's his business worth? Two similar ventures that are publicly traded [in Europe] go for well over 18 times trailing earnings. At that multiple, Bodog, along with other assets, gives Ayre a net worth of at least $1 billion."
Ayre worked as stock promoter in Vancouver in the early 1990s and came under B.C. Securities Commission investigation for his stewardship of Bicer Medical Systems Ltd., which was promoting an artificial heart valve.
In September 1996, Ayre admitted he breached an undertaking not to deal with convicted felon Erich Brunnhuber; misrepresented various aspects of the company's affairs; caused Bicer to issue hundreds of thousands of shares to him or a nominee, without paying for them first; traded millions of shares without disclosing those trades on insider reports; ignored a summons issued by commission investigators; then lied to investigators.
He agreed to pay a $10,000 penalty and not to trade stock, or serve as an officer or director, or act in an investor-relations capacity for any B.C. public company for 20 years. The suspension is still in force.
Asked earlier whether Costa Rica, where Bodog's gambling business is licensed, did a background check on him, Ayre told The Sun: "I assume they did, but this is not like getting a gaming licence in Nevada."
I heard there was a standoff between Paris Hilton and Willa Ford, Chuck
has KO'd 15 people and thumbed another 12 news at 10.
Guy is the dumbest Billionaire on the Planet, this is Illegal in the Eyes of the US Govt..... didnt anyone learn a thing from Ron Sacco's "60 mins" interview or Jay Cohens case? You CANNOT rub it in the face of the US Govt, they will get you one way or another, even if they have to make up laws to do it. Hope Chuck has no hassles.
I did a segment that will be part of another book on sportsbetting that is being released in November. The chapters that deal with fight wagering. I did MMA justice there.
My own is gonna be a while. The story is still growing day by day.........
he recently appeared on Forbes magazine (TOP 500) - "Catch me if you can" he gave this statement to the magazine...
http://www.thestar.com/images/thestar/img/060310_calvin_ayre_300.jpg
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=968350116467
idiot
Shooting star, live fast die young. His mouth will bury him one day.
Forbes Billionaire cover boy Calvin Ayre arrested in Costa Rica; Fox Sports producers witness "raid"
Just one day after announcing its list of this year's billionaires, Forbes Magazine received news late Friday night that the man appearing on its cover, Calvin Ayre, had been arrested.
Ayre is the newest billionaire and one of a handful of online gambling entrepreneurs appearing on this year's prestigious listing. It is Forbes biggest selling issue of the year. Mr. Ayre runs Bodog.com, a high volume online casino and poker room.
A barrage of local Costa Rica federales raided the sprawling home of Calvin Ayre while filming for an upcoming Fox Sports reality show. It is not known whether the cameras were rolling during the time of this raid. If so this could be one of the greatest reality television moments ever caught on film, far surpassing that of any Real World street brawls or even the Surreal Life episode where Gary Coleman was placed in charge of running a restaurant staffed by the likes of Vanilla Ice, Tammy Fae Baker and Ron Jeremy.
Ayre and Fox Sports were filming a Wild Card Poker TV series entitled "Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker" airing on Fox Sports April 15th at 11:00 PM for six weeks. The show is hosted by Bodog.com Founder and CEO Calvin Ayre and will have Celebrities, Poker Pros and Internet Poker qualifiers all vying for $750,000 in prize money. This will be the first Poker lifestyle show ever produced and should create some ripples in the industry. Gambling 911 was there on location at the Bodog Compound this past Tuesday during the show's kickoff reception.
Additional filming and the actual poker tournament was taking place at the local news 7 studios in San Jose, Costa Rica. A portion of the studio was made to look like Calvin Ayre's home.
Police arrived on the scene with heavily fortified units due to information provided that Ayre's home had a heavily armed security force, among them a Desert Storm sniper and former professional wrestler, Mad Max.
News stations reported that Ayre had been running an "illegal" poker game within his home.
A call to US Justice officials by Gambling911.com sources within the States went unanswered last Friday evening, though there was no hint of US law enforcement involvement. Calvin Ayre is a Canadian.
According to the special issue of Forbes Magazine, Canadian playboy Calvin Ayre went down to Costa Rica a decade ago and began taking illegal bets over the Internet.
Now he's worth $1 billion (see cover story). Making a billion just isn't what it used to be. In its inaugural ranking of the world's richest people 20 years ago FORBES uncovered some 140 billionaires. Just three years ago we found 476. This year the list is a record 793, up 102 from last year. They're worth a combined $2.6 trillion, up 18% since last March. Their average net worth: $3.3 billion.
Attempts to reach Calvin Ayre and those in his camp went unanswered. Virginal Fawn Seeton, Calvin's loyal assistant, was also believed to be among those rounded up by local police as were producers from Fox Sports Net.
Sources close to Gambling911.com anticipated a response from the United States Justice Department some time Saturday morning.
It is believed that Ayre will be able to come up with enough money to make bond.
fake
Celebrities, Fox Sports producers subjected to Costa Rica raid during poker tournament
The home of Bodog.com CEO Calvin Ayre was raided late Friday night while Fox Sports Net television crews were on hand shooting a poker reality show. Ayre currently appears on the Forbes "Billionaire" issue that began appearing on news stands this weekend.
Ayre and Fox Sports were filming a Wild Card Poker TV series entitled "Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker" airing on Fox Sports April 15th at 11:00 PM for six weeks. The show is hosted by Bodog.com Founder and CEO Calvin Ayre and will have Celebrities, Poker Pros and Internet Poker qualifiers all vying for $750,000 in prize money. This will be the first Poker lifestyle show ever produced and should create some ripples in the industry. Gambling 911 was there on location at the Bodog Compound this past Tuesday during the show's kickoff reception.
Reports airing on local Costa Rica television news stations showed several law enforcement vehicles surrounding the house. It was also confirmed that Ayre had been taken into custody.
It is not known if producers from Fox Sports or any of the celebrity poker players participating in the reality television show were likewise taken into custody or if they were even present at the time. Extra TV correspondent Jon Kelley is one individual participating in the show along with American Pie actress Shannon Elizabeth, Bride of Chucky star, Jennifer Tilley and UFC Champion Chuck Liddell. Curb Your Enthusiasm actress Cheryl Hines is listed among the participants as well.
Jon Kelley filed a two part series on Bodog.com from Costa Rica that began airing on Extra! Friday night.
The raid took place shortly after 8 pm Central Time (Costa Rica time). News Channel 7 in San Jose, Costa Rica, reported that local authorities were called in to investigate an "illegal" poker game being played at the Ayre estate.
A shooting schedule obtained by Gambling911.com, which covered Tuesday night's reception, makes it unclear whether participants were actually at the residence during Friday night's raid since most days comprised of studio shooting from 12 noon until 10 pm at Channel 7's complex across town. However, reports airing on local news seem to suggest the presence of several people at the Ayre home.
A wild reception serving as the show's premiere and hosted at Ayre's residence Tuesday night is reported to have angered some neighbors due to the noise level and excessive film crew lighting. It is not known the extent of the gathering Friday evening.
The Ayre residence is heavily fortified with armed security guards, which could explain the tremendous police force.
A call placed to US Justice Department officials by sources close to Gambling911.com were not immediately returned, though a response was anticipated early Saturday morning.
In the Forbes article, Ayre discusses how he's been able to create a billion dollar business from online gambling, an activity that US Justice Department officials deem "illegal", at
Next stop for Chuck....Oahu.