Bodog to Leave US Market?? -- Fiver Media, their Marketing Company, lays off over 200

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The Bodog online gambling empire continues to crumble. On Thursday, I received an e-mail from a reader who said Fiver Media (formerly Riptown Media), which provides marketing and website support for Bodog from offices in Vancouver and Toronto, had just laid off more than 200 people.Gambling911.com, a Florida-based website that focuses on the online gambling industry, similarly reported that Bodog, "under intense scrutiny by the U.S. Government, has laid off hundreds of its employees this week, leading to speculation that the online gambling firm will be leaving the U.S. market."If Bodog abandons the United States, it may as well fold its tent. It isn't licensed to do business in Europe, and it doesn't do business in Canada -- most likely because the last online gambling firm to operate in Canada, Vancouver's Starnet International Communications Inc., was shut down by the RCMP.That leaves only the United States market, which is evaporating quickly. U.S. authorities have been exerting heavy pressure on all online gambling firms that take bets from U.S. citizens, including Bodog.Earlier this month, Forbes magazine reported that, since January, the U.S. government has seized $24 million from U.S. bank accounts linked to Bodog. This has caused the firm serious problems. Gambling911.com reported that Bodog has been slow paying customers and vendors, and was considering whether to withdraw its endorsement of the Bodog gambling site.Bodog was founded by former Vancouver resident Calvin Ayre. In June, after U.S. authorities had seized millions from Bodog accounts, Ayre announced he had sold the business to the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, which runs hundreds of gaming websites from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal, and was retiring.His retirement, however, really amounts to an exile. He dares not set foot in the United States, lest he be arrested, or even Canada, where RCMP would most certainly arrest him at the behest of U.S. authorities if he was indicted.Bodog's support operations in B.C. consist of Fiver Media, which operates from an office in downtown Vancouver, and Triple Crown Customer Service, which provides customer account service from an office in Burnaby. Triple Crown's status is unclear: Its website is currently reported to be "under construction."It's also difficult to determine what's happening at Fiver Media. On Tuesday, I dropped into its office at 333 Seymour St., but nobody would talk to me.Fiver Media is run by Jim Phillips, a Vancouver chartered accountant and former senior partner with the Vancouver accounting firm Morgan & Company. Although he was in his office when I dropped by, he did not show his face.Phillips prefers to work in the background, Wizard of Oz style. But make no mistake: He has played an instrumental role in the development of Bodog's online gambling activities which, as noted, are viewed as illegal in the United States. I would not be surprised if the U.S. Justice Department doesn't have him, as well as Ayre, in its [e-mail]© The Vancouver Sun 2008Where is Ian Thow?Gambling IQ