Many casual online poker players have for years now expressed the feeling that they are playing with a built-in deficit. To give every player more tools at their disposal to help them win, many online casinos offer software which keeps statistics and profiles of your competition, such as their betting tendencies, their win percentage, and deposit frequency. While this may sound like a great thing, the average player who just wants to log on at the end of a stressful day and enjoy some online poker is placed at a disadvantage. Tracking tools, data miners and stats trackers are employed by serious online poker players, and make it harder for the casual player to finish a session in the black.

Bodog launched their Recreational Poker Model over a year ago, and now another online poker provider has jumped on board the “anonymous” poker bandwagon. 188BET just recently launched their own Microgaming poker software, which also provides for anonymous play. When Bodog announced the anonymous online poker feature, they expressed a desire to create a more level playing field, “one that was free of tracking tools and data miners” that preyed on the casual player, and established players immediately argued that they had lost their advantage.

These “sharks” had at their availability knowledge and tools created by internet data mining sites and other software programs. Thanks to the powerful computer technology these days, with a glance these poker veterans could know exactly how to respond to a particular player, a particular situation and even a particular hand. Bodog Vice President Jonas Odman of the Bodog Network said that their version of microgaming software allows the player a choice of either anonymous or traditional table when they choose a seat online.

By offering a choice of statistics and tracking software, or no data tracking, online poker rooms and casinos can cater to both poker professionals and casual players alike. Before recently shutting their virtual doors, Bodog was a respected online poker entity, as is 188BET, and now that they have both added the anonymous option for online poker players, we will keep an eye on the virtual gaming community in 2013 and see which way this trend develops.

Whenever you can learn more about the player located across the virtual felt from you, that is a good thing. But for those who don’t understand or care about using the wonderful tools available to them, they are placed at an immediate disadvantage when playing grinders who are intimately familiar with how to use those same tools correctly. Knowing that you are not just playing as chum for veteran sharks who are recording your every move will certainly give the infrequent or casual player a nice online poker option. And by providing this anonymous option as well as the option to use tracking software, smart online casinos will still be providing the serious poker grinder the free tools they need to help them succeed.