Bodog Introduces Flaming Cards, Hand for Hand Play

Online poker site Bodog recently unveiled a new software update in hopes of regaining some traction in the market. When a player wins a pot with a flush or better, their cards will now appear shrouded in flames as the chips slide their way. Some casual players might find flaming cards cool, but ultimately, a lack of animation to denote which player has won the pot isn’t the reason Bodog has fallen so far behind the industry leaders and it certainly isn’t going to be its savior.

The second and probably more relevant function now available to all Bodog players is a hand-for-hand system when approaching the bubble of scheduled tournaments. When a tournament nears the bubble, it will enter hand-for-hand mode, which means all tables must complete the current hand before a new one begins. The system ensures fair play and removes any advantage players might gain from unnecessary stalling. The rule states that from the bubble plus one player (meaning the last player before the first paid position), the tournament will automatically enter hand-for-hand mode. Once the bubble bursts, normal play will resume.

Hand-for-hand play is a must for online poker rooms, which begs the question, why is it a new feature for Bodog Poker? This kind of update should have occurred months, if not years ago. It’s obviously counterproductive to be critical of a room that’s clearly trying to make amends, but it’s also equally as evident that it’s extremely late in the game for that.

The third and final new feature is an auto-check function that will activate when players time out or get disconnected. In cash games, if the player does not act by clicking the “Rejoin” button while they are being auto-checked, they will check unless there is a bet in front of them. When this happens, players will sit out of the game until they uncheck the sit out option.

For tournaments, when a player does not click the “Rejoin” button in time, they will also automatically check unless there’s action ahead of them. Players must manually sit back in before they can once again take control of the tournament. Again, what took Bodog so long? There's absolutely no reason for players to time down on every street of a hand when they get disconnected or are away from their computers:



Unfortunately for those who were expecting a groundbreaking update, that’s all Bodog had to offer this time around. As mentioned, it’s a start, but one can’t help but notice how simple these new features are. The top sites had all of these things a long time ago and Bodog really has no hope of catching its competitors unless the man behind the curtain pulls out all of the stops and gives them a new heart. Bodog needs an injection of new life, not a shot of stale and extremely standard components. To put it simply, it’s going to take a lot more than flaming cards to save Bodog.