According to PokerScout, the move to all anonymous tables on Bodogmay have been costly. Week-over-week, cash game traffic on Bodog dropped 9.5%. PokerScout explained the reasons for the steep dip: “Bodog’s traffic dropped 9.5% as players reacted negatively to the decision to make all tables anonymous. The site may also have been hurt by reports of security issues and cashout delays, as well as the revelation that the anonymous tables weren’t really anonymous. The player exodus was enough to drop Bodog from 11th to 14th in the traffic rankings.”

Note that PocketFives does not recommend playing on any sites offering rake-based games in the United States. We fear deposits and withdrawals on these sites could be at risk. We encourage U.S. players to play on subscription-based sites like ClubWPT until online poker is regulated in the US.

Bodog is the 14th largest site or network worldwide, according to PokerScout, and has a seven-day running average of 970 real money ring game players. Year-over-year, its cash game traffic is actually up over 50%, perhaps in part due to the exodus of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker from the U.S. market on Black Friday.

The decision to switch to anonymous tables could hurt Bodog’s bottom line. From October 13th to December 5th, the number of peak cash game players on Bodog never failed to register below 2,000. From December 6th to 11th, however, peak ring game volume has fallen short of 2,000 players three times.

“It’s such a major change that it’s not surprising that they’d see some effect, either positive or negative,” PokerScout’s Dan Stewart told PocketFives on Tuesday. “It seems to be a growing trend. Microgaming and PartyPoker are offering anonymous tables, for example. I think we’ll now question whether that trend is meeting player demand or whether sites are imposing it for their own purposes to protect players from sharks and continue to circulate money and collect rake.”

“We’re not distinguishing between anonymous and non-anonymous tables,” Stewart responded when asked how busy the anonymous tables were on other sites besides Bodog. “We’ve heard that the anonymous tables aren’t very popular on the sites where they’re optional. It’s not like those tables are in high demand, so it’s not that surprising that Bodog’s traffic is down when it’s not optional there.”

Critiquing Bodog’s decision to go anonymous ever since the announcement of the move has been HH Smithy, which posted a video on December 5th hacking Bodog’s software. HH Smithy officials recorded a three-minute exposé of the hack and commented, “Bodog trusts the client. This is a major violation of basic IT security rules – you can never trust the client with proprietary or sensitive information. This is a simple concept that novice coders learn early on when writing database calls and a web form.”

HH Smithy also cautioned, “[Bodog is]taking a shortcut with their obfuscation code and telling everyone that it’s alright, that player tracking tools won’t work, and that they’re protecting the recreational gambler. But they aren’t. It’s far worse now than it was before – at least before people knew what they were getting into. Now, they’re fooled into a false sense of security.” HH Smithy used a tool called Party Crasher in order to hack Bodog’s client.

The U.S.-facing side of Bodog is on the verge of being re-branded on January 1st, with the current brand leaving the U.S. marketat that time. Bodog site rep BodogBeckytold U.S. players what they can expect in a Poker Sites thread: “This is name change we are talking about – nothing more, nothing less. The company that has owned and run the bodog.eu software and operations since late 2006 (MMGG) will continue to operate as normal, just under a new brand name. Your funds will be transferred to the newly branded site and you can request a payout anytime.”

Whether players will receive their payouts in a judicious length of time remains to be seen. In a separate thread on PocketFives, cashouts on Bodog appeared to be taking about three weeks, with one poster reporting that he requested one on November 21st and received it on December 12th (three weeks to the day). Others have reported issues with depositing checks from Bodog into their bank accounts.

While Bodog’s cash game traffic was down 9.5% week-over-week, PokerStars’ was up 9.3% thanks in large part to its ongoing 10th anniversary celebration and the dealing of its 72 billionth hand. PokerStars player Kozlicek_x flopped a set of sevens in the hand to win it on December 11th and walk away with nearly $25,000.

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