Bodog Poker Network Launches All-site Anonymous Tables

Press Releases
November 30, 2011
30 Comments

Bodog Poker Software UpdateBodog has now taken a further step in implementing their Recreational Poker Model by launching new poker software. Bodog Network’s VP considers this latest move to be an industry game changer as well as providing players with some of the best software in the business.

The new features include:

i)             ‘Rabbit Cam’: a feature whereby you can see the cards that would have been dealt even if the hand has finished before all cards are dealt. BEWARE: this can frustrate and please equal measure!

ii)            Competitive rake

iii)          Improved accessibility and site speed

iv)          In-Client Blackjack

v)            Play More Tables: Play up to 20 tables

vi)          New Tournament Formats: More variety in our tournament schedule including Omaha, Shootouts, Knock-outs & Heads-Up tournies

vii)         The industry’s most robust data protection system

                  …and, of course, the controversial all-site anonymous tables:

This feature stops poker pros accessing any data on how you play your game via the use of HUDs and other data mining sites like PokerTableRatings and SharkScope. This is totally unique to the Bodog Poker Network and will send shockwaves through the online poker playing community.

Arguably the best known poker pro on the planet, Daniel Negreanu himself, freely admits that using player data has helped him win. In his own blog he states: “There is plenty of information online that you could find about your opponents. For example, what they’ve won, what tournaments they normally play and how they do overall. I’d type in their online results under the notes tab, then also color code the notes with either “Winning Tourney Player” or “Losing Tourney Player. All these tools helped me make better reads in marginal situations.”

Anonymous tables make this type of player data impossible to collect.

Jonas Odman, explains: “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. 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.”

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Tags: anonymous poker, Article, Bodog Poker Network, poker data mining, Press Release
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  • Rebecca

     What should ‘Competitive rake’ mean?

  • Jonas Ödman

    We have lowered the rake on our heads-up tables. The new cap is now $0.50 per hand instead of $1 per hand.

    For other tables we have not made any changes, since they already had a competitive rake structure.

    • guest

      What’s to stop collusion and bots now? Can’t see hand histories and don’t know who you are playing.. Opens the games up to fraud.. you must know that…

      • http://www.facebook.com/calvinayre Calvin Ayre

        Recreational players, who are the target of this model, are not able to do their own fraud management so Bodog is planning on having a robust fraud management system in place.  Sharper players are not likely to be playing here (until its proven this is where the fish are then they will plug their noses and come back likely) so there is no real issue here.   

        This system will be harder to defraud than existing systems due to this focus and the philosophy of what bodog is trying to do.  I have spent a lot of time talking to them about this trying to understand it all and its interesting to see it finally rolled out and live and now see what exactly really happens.  

  • Ryan

    I really hope this model works out for you guys. This system works out much better for players such as myself however I feel that you’re going to miss out on lots of players also your “target group” that you’re going for probably won’t be as bothered as you think. 

    I can’t wait to try out this new software.

    Thanks.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Willis/1817991605 Chris Willis

    I understand keeping sharkscope away….Huds tho…Not so much.  Doesn’t really matter tho until the US changes its stance.

  • rooting4bodog…

    This is by far the worst update to a site in the history of online poker. I have played on Bodog 5+days/week for 7 years and will stop immediately. I understand wanting to cater to the recreational player, these changes go way to far and will alienate the VAST majority of their players. Hopefully these changes will be reconsidered ASAP, before too many Bodog players leave the site forever.

    • http://www.facebook.com/calvinayre Calvin Ayre

      This is not going to be changed until its run its course and there is hard data on what the implications are of this.  Bodog spent a lot of time an money on this and have been saying for two years they were going to do this, so not sure why anyone is surprised.  Anyway..i like seeing guys experimenting to find ways to improve the entire industry.   Full Tilt, though horribly bad at basic business, were good at experimenting and now they are gone. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_6B3FZIBZLCVUVOTS4KCF6SKHXQ Tom

    How do I know I’m not playing against colluders who now could do that very easy?

    How do I know I’m not playing against bots by Bodog? Do I just take their word for it?

    I can understand no software HUDs and blocking tracking but now no true nicknames and no notes? That is insanity when even in a live Poker environment I can remember a face with someone’s play storing notes on them in my brain.

    Bodog is right this is a game changer as in the worst idea platform ever created in online poker raising questions of the integrity of the games.

    The old UB/AP probably wishing they had this idea for a software platform and then that scandal would of been near impossible to detect.

    • Jonas Ödman

      Tom,
      Even though we have launched Anonymous Tables, players are not anynomous to us, and we will keep monitoring the games for collusion and bots. We have even strengthened our tools in the back-end for that.

    • Jonas Ödman

      Tom,
      Even though we have launched Anonymous Tables, players are not anynomous to us, and we will keep monitoring the games for collusion and bots. We have even strengthened our tools in the back-end for that.

  • Mick

    I’m afraid you have killed LHE on your site, or at least diminished it. Cashback/rakeback/valueback/… is enormously important given how high the rake in LHE games is. Even the biggest winners only make 33-50% of their winnings post-rake, the rest is all in the VIP programs or rakeback. And it’s not uncommon for your average winning player to get 80% of his winnings from rakeback. It’s possible that your LHE games are now virtually unbeatable outside Heads-Up play. I sincerely hope that you either slash the LHE rake far below industry standard (which is really high) or you bring back a rakeback-esque scheme.

    Even on Stars, which has the lowest LHE rake, the VIP program holds *massive* value for LHE players.

    All the above doesn’t apply to 30/60+ I assume.

    • Jonas Ödman

      Mick,
      You are referring to what triggers winning players, but the majority of players are actually losing players and they play for entertainment. The goal with Bodog Recreational Poker Model is to create a better environment for these players, as we believe they are key for the future of online poker. I have written a number of articles on this subject.

      • Nick

        Players play because they think they can win, making an environment where almost no people win isn’t good for your long term retention.  If I player plays with you or with stars they have an equal chance of winning, but at the end of it at least they will get some gear or something from the stars store.  How do you explain the fact that you are a minuscule % of the market after years of insisting that your method is the best?

        I actually like it that you are trying out something new, the industry doesn’t have nearly enough innovation, however your software and support is still absolutely atrocious, and I feel to the best way to increase your revenues would be to improve those things.  I don’t think most sites have any excuse for their software lagging so far behind Stars/Tilt, and make no mistake your software is vastly inferior.

        • http://www.facebook.com/calvinayre Calvin Ayre

          Nothing I have read or been told about this new model suggests no body will ever win.  Not sure how you are concluding this.  Read some of Jonas’ articles on this.  

          Your market share is not tied in any way to being right also…kind of a self defeating strategy if you really think this.  Good ideas, and the balls to test them can come from anywhere in an industry.  So can stinkers…thats why we need to watch what happens and not waste too much time on the theory now that this is live.  You all had years to analyse this, Jonas and Patrik have been saying they were going to do this for years.    Now we can just watch what happens :-)  

  • jeffrey dommer

    this honestly is the most absurd thing i have ever dealt with. poker is meant to be played against a known opponent. this may as well be bingo.

    Not that you care, i feel that is what bodog wants, gg bodog….pulling my roll off today.

  • no longer a bodog customer!

    The new software is horrible. Every single poker thread I have read on this update just further proves that this update SUCKS.
    Bodog will lose all it’s business and that is thatttttttttt. WORST UPDATE EVERRRRR

  • jeffrey dommer

    why are you censoring posts that are not offensive?

    • http://calvinayre.com Bill

      Hi Jeffrey,

      We’re based in Manila so if a comment comes through late in the evening, we won’t be able to review it until the morning.

      Thanks for reading.
      Bill

  • http://www.facebook.com/calvinayre Calvin Ayre

    I suspect most of you guys in this thread are not the target of what the guys over at Bodog Poker are doing.  Jonas has answered some of these issues so I will put a bit of what he said in here.  He is overseeing a system that will be very very good an ensuring there are not bots or inappropriate collusion going on.   Recreational players are not good at spotting this so this is necessary no matter how the system is designed.  

    So, basically my personal position on this is it reminds me of things i did in US facing sports betting back in the early 2000s that caused this kind of reaction from the industry but in fact all worked and within a few years everyone followed me.  We also made changes that were aimed at recreational sports betters that was disruptive to how things used to work.    If the recreational player, who none of you represent, actually is ok with this….then its really going to cause an interesting shift in poker space.  I am sure bodog will be watching this closely for minor tweeks so some of your observations might get changed…but this is going to have to run its course now that its out or you don’t know for sure what happened.  

    In the mean time, thanks for reading the site and commenting.  

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  • Bill

    Is Bodog still planning on leaving US market by the end of 2011

  • http://www.facebook.com/calvinayre Calvin Ayre

    correct…the brand licensing deal was terminated only so the operators have to get their own brand as of end of year.  

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  • Anonymous

    This is awesome! I love the new software! I never had poker tracker software and I know people had an edge because of it. Sometimes I would check Bluffmagazine or sharkscope for a couple free searches, but mainly it was that you knew who were frequent players and not. It’s kind of frustrating to not know who you are playing, but it’s even on the other side. I play a HU game and they don’t know who I am also.-Looks like I’m the only one that likes the change in this forum :)

    See you guys in the 100k!