Bodog announces Anonymous Poker Tour

On January 14, 2013 a $100,000 Grand Final tournament (it’s still unclear if this is the buy-in for the event or the guaranteed prize-pool) will take place in Manila, which will be known as the Anonymous Poker Tour. The event is being sponsored by Bodog and will include both live and online qualifying tournaments beginning in the New Year –the amount to enter these satellites should be our first indication if the tournament will be a $100k guaranteed prize-pool or what seems more likely a $100,000 buy-in event.

Bodog’s Jonas Odman had this to say about the tournament:

“This series will help highlight exactly how and why we feel our network is the best and safest place for both recreational poker players and operators alike. Operators who service sports bettors and casino players do not want their customers leaking money to non-depositing poker pros who are using sophisticated software in order to win. Our anonymous tables take this unfairness out of the equation, creating a much better experience for the leisure player.”

 “This model has been specifically designed to appeal to the Asian market where the ‘trust-factor’ is the single most important reason for choosing one operator over another. In the Asian market we believe our product – in the same way Live Dealer casinos are viewed above RNG operators – will be the preferred option in poker.”

It’s also unclear whether this will be a one-off event or if this is going to be ongoing tournament series with multiple stops. So far we know that live qualifiers will be held in Europe and Asia, as well as other qualifiers that will take place online, and there will be specially invited “Poker Heroes” to the Grand Final, but that is about all we know at this point. So there you have it, a fairly mysterious tournament series that will be taking place in less than three weeks! What more would you expect from Bodog and their marketing department?

Bodog launched their anonymous tables in 2012 (each player is given a randomly assigned number instead of their screen-name appearing) with mixed reviews from the poker community. Obviously casual players love the idea, as do some winning players who shun the use of tracking software and other third-party add-ons, but many grinders dislike their software edge being taken away and have voiced concerns over the increased possibility of collusion that anonymous tables allow for.

We’ll keep you posted as more details concerning the Anonymous Poker Tour come to light.