Bodog apparently involved in legal struggle for control of the Bodog.com domain

Online poker players have noticed connection problems at Bodog.com over the last few days, with the problem escalating and reaching an apparent peak today, as virtually no players were able to connect to the site or the room. Apparently the cause behind these troubles is an unspecified legal dispute over the Bodog.com domain name.

In a statement posted on the room’s temporary page, www.newbodog.com, owner Calvin Ayre had this to say about the outage: “Welcome to the new (temporary) Bodog. As you may know by now, Bodog.com is experiencing a technical issue impacting our players’ ability to access our website.”

“This is the result of a legal dispute over the ownership of the Bodog.com domain name. We are fighting this dispute. We are confident that we will win, but until all is settled, I do not want our battle to interrupt your play. So, I present you with newbodog.com. You won’t notice very many changes: same website, same brand, same product, and same service. Just a new domain name.”

“We are working to resolve any remaining issues on the temporary site as soon as possible, and fully expect to have our original site back up shortly. I sincerely apologize if you were affected by our interruption and assure you that I will update you soon.”

Rumors on rec.poker and Gambling 911 blame the issue not on a legal dispute, but on a domain hacking.