On the eve of the Super Bowl, many sports bettors will base their wagers on info they receive from touts. Problem is, there are some sites out there in which the names and faces of those allegedly offering their advice for a price aren’t legit. We’re not talking about the quality of their picks, here. We’re talking about people purporting to be someone or something other than themselves.
In August, legendary sports bettor Billy Walters filed legal action against two online domains that contain Walters’ name. Walters maintains that these sites were playing on his repution to fool bettors into thinking he was the one selling picks. Walters felt it necessary to post a clip on YouTube stating that he had never sold any sports picks, nor did he have any intention to start doing so. Walters warned everyone that anyone purporting to sell sports picks using his name was doing so without his authorization.
BuzzFeed recently highlighted a site trading on the good name of professional bettor Steve Fezzik, who twice won the Las Vegas Hilton’s handicapping Super Contest. The site in question uses both Fezzik’s name and likeness to lure in unsuspecting bettors, but Fezzik has not copied Walters’ legal efforts, in part because Fezzik isn’t his real name and filing legal papers would mean putting his real name out there, something Fezzik isn’t keen to do. Nonetheless, Fezzik laments the fact that “some Ethiopian prince can make money off of this,” and does his best to spread the word that the site which bears his name is none of his doing.
Speaking of, there’s a recently launched Facebook account out there using the name Bodog Nation, which happens to be the name of the Bodog brand’s global recruiting arm. The account uses an image of Bodog brand founder Calvin Ayre in his bathrobe from a 2010 video interview Calvin did for the Lunch Box podcast series. The minimal text accompanying the profile states simply that “IM [sic] THE BOSS.”
Actually, he’s not. At least, he’s not the boss of Bodog Nation, and he’s certainly not Calvin Ayre. If he’s responsible for anything, it’s the ginormous can of legal whup-ass he’s unwittingly opened. Whoever he is, this so-called boss has been using the site to chat up Bodog Asia live dealer girls while pretending to be Calvin. Anyone who receives any communication from this fake profile should please forward it along to the real Bodog Nation Facebook profile.
