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The Bodog Poker brand has always been built around attracting casual players to their site, and the site is hoping that their latest decision to make all of their tables completely “Anonymous” will do just that, as well as having the potential to be a game-changer in the online poker industry. The Anonymous tables were added as part of a sweeping overhaul to the Bodog software that saw other new features like a “Rabbit-Cam”, new tournament formats, and an increase in multi-table capabilities.

Players sitting down at a Bodog Poker cash-game tables will now be identified by the seat they are sitting in (such as “Seat 1” or “Seat 3”)while tournament players will be given a randomly generated ID number. In doing so Bodog has eliminated the use of personal data-mining software like PokerTracker, as well as thwarted the attempts of subscription and pay sites that compile data and then sell it to players.

Bodog has long championed the eradication of data-mining in order to create a fair model for all players, and as Vice President of the Bodog Poker Network, Jonas Odman, stated in a press release:

 “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.”

Long-time online poker players will likely remember the name PokerRoom.com  (along with other sites like Planet Poker, Paradise Poker, and Hollywood Poker) as one of the forerunners to today’s online poker giants, but few of us took notice when PokerRoom.com decided to close its doors some two years ago, quietly fading into the scrap-heap of other defunct online poker rooms.

Now it appears the site is ready to re-launch after a break of more than two years –much like Americas Cardroom recent return, another original but then defunct brand, a few months ago. For PokerRoom.com, a once powerful brand in the industry, the  initial decline began after watching its traffic numbers steadily fall after it was forced to pull out of the US-market following UIGEA passage in 2006 (PokerRoom.com was then a member of the OnGame Poker Network).

The rumors of the return of PoekrRoom.com began on the PokerFuse website, after the following Tweet was issued by Bwin’s SEO Manager Josef Rantamäki:

“Wow! www.pokerroom.com will be relaunched and once again offer real money poker games,”

PokerRoom.com left the market on good terms with its players, as the remaining players and all of their funds were moved to bWin (which shares the OnGame Network with PokerRoom) when the site shut-down in 2009, leaving the door open for an eventual return.

It will be interesting to see what the justification for reopening PokerRoom.com is for bwin.party, considering the now merged gaming giants have been shopping the entire OnGame Network since the merger –the superior Party Poker brand making the OnGame Poker Network redundant.

Perhaps Phil Hellmuth isn’t as bad as he’s cracked up to be. On December 17, Hellmuth will host Hellmuth’s Hold’em, a benefit tournament for Agrace HospiceCare, in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to the tournament, the event will include a raffle and a silent auction. Some of the prizes to be given away in the raffle include a 2012 Honda CR-V LX and a seat in next year’s WSOP Main Event. 100% of proceeds will go to charity.

Agrace HospiceCare is a nationally-recognized, community-based hospice center devoted to supporting patients with severe chronic conditions. The facility offers assisted living and nursing programs throughout southern Wisconsin.

The event will feature a number of professional poker players and celebrities in addition to the general public. Just a few of the slated poker pros include Eric Baldwin, Tony Nardi, Dewey Weum and Annette Obrestad. Some of the celebs include Derek Engler of NFL fame, pro golfer Jerry Kelly, Olympic athletes Mark Johnson and Casey FitzRandolph, various local news anchors and Paul Soglin, the mayor of Madison.

This is actually the second time the benefit event has been held. Last year, 240 players gathered to raise $140,000 for Agrace HospiceCare. Joe Anderson won the seat to the 2011 WSOP Main Event, while Art Luetke secured a 2-year lease on a Honda Accord LX. Mark Kroon won the tournament portion of the event.

The minimum buy-in to the event is $300, which includes entry to the tournament as well as VIP access, entertainment and food. It’s also possible to enter for $100, which includes the aforementioned amenities minus entrance to the tournament and VIP access. Organizers are expecting up to 432 participants this year, which will be spread across 48 nine-handed tables.

If you’ve already started liquidating your assets in order to afford a buy-in for the rumored $100 million poker tournament allegedly scheduled for Spring of 2013 in Macau, China, now might be a good time to think twice. According to industry experts, the rumors were nothing more than a publicity grab that hoped to take advantage of the recent hype surrounding the high stakes poker scene in Macau.

The specifics of the event were indeed ludicrous: $100 million up for grabs, with $25 million reserved for the winner, based on just 500 entrants paying tremendous buy-ins of $200k each. The Aussie Millions and the PCA have hosted Super High Roller events with $100k or higher buy-ins in the past, but each of those tournaments attracted less than 40 entrants each.

Other sketchy details of the rumor included a registration deadline of December 15, 2011 (as if anyone would tie up $200k for 1.5 years) and speculation that up to 150 “rich Asian businessmen” had already pre-registered.

Now, Asia Logic CEO Tom Hall, the operator of the Asia Poker Tour, has come forward on popular poker forum TwoPlusTwo to give his thoughts about the rumors:

“This to me seems to be utter garbage. Nobody sensible I know in Macau knows anything about it. None of the casinos, poker room managers, big game players, junket room operators or media guys has heard anything credible. You also have to get any poker event approved by the DICJ (Macau regulator) in conjunction with the hosting casino. Also, as gambling on TV is highly restricted in China and promotion of gaming generally frowned upon, why would Chinese institutions support it. Publicity grab[.]”

Although Hall’s statement isn’t definitive either, it seems to make a lot more sense than the rumor itself. The full thread can be read here.

PokerStars continued its push into Central Europe yesterday, signing the Czech Republic’s Martin Staszko. Staszko finished 2^nd in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, and proved to be the equal of just about every player at the final table including his now fellow Team PokerStars Pro and 2011 WSOP Main Event Champion Pius Heinz.

Staszko is a former Chess champion, who has only been playing poker for a mere five years at this point. That said, the unassuming Staszko has proven to be a very competent poker player over the past few years, and after making his first significant cash in the 2010 EPT Deauville, which caused him to quit his 9-5 job at a manufacturing plant in his hometown of Trinec.

Staszko has also been a proficient online player, booking a major tournament win and nearly $200k playing under the online screen-name of “filfedra”. So how does the former foreman working the graveyard shift for $15,000 a year feel about his new life and his new deal with PokerStars? Staszko gave the PokerStars blog a quote that only a chess player could deliver:

“I enjoy a live game but for practical reasons it is better online. I can play every day without ancillary costs. The Czech Republic has almost no decent live tournaments. Even tournaments with buy-ins of five ($275) or ten thousand ($550) crowns for me are not interesting when you have to pay hotel and travel.”

Apparently for Staszko, the deal is all about practicality! Staszko will join some of the world’s best poker players as a representative of Team PokerStars Pro, a well-deserved honor for the man that was a single card away from being crowned the 2011 WSOP Champion.