It started with some brief and surprising e-mails to customers, but on Monday, Bodog Poker officially announced that it was withdrawing its services from 20 countries as of August 30th. It has advised current players in the affected nations to withdraw their funds as soon as possible, though those players who do not do so by the deadline will still be able to receive their money.
On Friday, August 3rd, customers residing in the countries in question received the following e-mail from Bodog:
Starting 30 August 2012, Bodog.co.uk will no longer process transactions in your jurisdiction.
We recommend that you withdraw any balance you may have in your account by 30 August 2012. Minimum withdrawal amount is $/€/£10. After 30 August, we will adjust your balance to 0 to protect your funds. To withdraw your balance after 30 August, you will need to contact customer service at service@bodog.co.uk.
Thank you for your understanding and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Most players were confused about what exactly was going on, as there was no explanation as to why this was happening in any particular player’s “jurisdiction.” Canadian players did not seem to be affected, nor did American players on Bodog’s American site, Bovada.lv, which went live in December. But just because they didn’t receive the e-mail didn’t mean people weren’t nervous that Bodog was going under.
Monday morning, “b-dogBecky,” Bodog’s Brand Ambassador, posted on Two Plus Two:
Hey guys,
I just want to set the facts straight here as there are a lot of false rumors going around at the moment.
1) Bodog.co.uk is not shutting down- here’s what Bodog.co.uk has asked me to post on their behalf:
“The only countries affected are: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan. We feel it is better to concentrate on our strengths & where we can offer the best product. The Bodog brand is known for its high level of customer service & spreading ourselves too thinly to try and cover a huge amount of smaller markets was proving logistically difficult. Bodog.co.uk will concentrate on growing existing markets”.
2) None of the bodog branded gambling sites accept US players and it has been this way since late December, 2011.
3) Bodog UK was granted a UK license last summer which is good for 5 years.
Hope this helps,
Becky
Thus, while this is certainly a disappointment to those in the 20 listed countries and action at the Bodog tables will suffer, it does not appear that there is anything scary going on at Bodog. The withdrawal from the markets looks to simply be a business decision.
One part of Becky’s message that some have found funny is how Bodog attempted to distance itself from the United States, saying that none of the “bodog branded” sites accept U.S. players when everybody knows that is just a technicality, that Bovada.lv is clearly in the Bodog family.
