Bodog Adds Features for Recreational Poker Players

Bodog announced Wednesday that they would be adding anonymous poker tables to their site as part of an initiative to help make their site more appealing to casual players. The move comes as part of an overall strategy that’s designed to attract players who may be turned off by the tools used by many serious online poker players.

The anonymous tables will allow players to compete without fear of being tracked from session to session. This eliminates much of the functionality of heads up displays (or HUDs), which allow players to keep statistical data on opponents and adjust their play based on the statistics provided. Data mining – the process of watching tables in order to get data on opponents – and purchasing hand histories would also be impossible at the anonymous tables.

Other changes include the introduction of a rabbit cam, which will allow players to find out which cards would have come even if a hand ends before the river.

“We believe that introducing these features makes the Bodog Recreational Poker Model a pioneer in the online poker world and offers all players of all abilities the fairest place to play,” said Bodog representative Jonas Odman. “We have shown before that we are not afraid of controversy by changing the way rakeback was viewed and starting to block data mining sites earlier this year and these new features now give players a less biased ‘pure poker’ experience. To my mind the software and Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model is a genuine game changer.”

The Bodog poker room will soon also feature blackjack games that are accessible from the poker client. In addition, players will be able to play up to 20 tables at a time – a change that will be welcomed by professional players, as well as some casual gamblers who want as much action as possible.

While Bodog officially made these changes to “level the playing field” between those who have HUDs and those who don’t use them, some have suggested that these changes may help elite players as well. While players who are small winners when using HUDs may not be able to beat games without the help, the best players may gain an even bigger edge against inferior opposition that can no longer temper their mistakes with the help of tracking software.