Ladbrokes Poker unveils Anonymous Tables

Worried that your reputation on the virtual felt is costing you action? Well, worry no more. Ladbrokes Poker, part of Britain’s biggest bookies, has released Anonymous Tables, allowing cash game players to stay incognito for the first time.

Offered alongside traditional game types, Anonymous Tables plays exactly like the hold’em we all know and love but players are no longer identified by monikers and cartoon avatars, replaced instead by a ‘randomly generated tag’.

According to Kate McLennan, Head of Poker at Ladbrokes Poker, “never before have poker players been able to play without other players knowing who they are”, and this “added element” will improve the game for “people whose playing style may be recognisable”.

“For those new to the game, it is an opportunity to try some different moves without getting a reputation because players will simply never know who they are playing against,” she added.

While the response to Anonymous Poker has been lukewarm since it was announced last week, supporters have pointed out that tracking software is redundant on the tables due to the hidden nature of players, which could prove a major Ladbrokes‘ selling point following Full Tilt’s crackdown on bot-related programs earlier this month.

But separate issues with multi-accounting and collusion have reared their heads, with critics unsure about Ladbrokes‘ ability to monitor the tables, despite assurances that “network monitoring teams will still have access to player’s real information”.

A patent application for Anonymous Poker has been filed but rival sites may start offering similar games in the future should Ladbroke’s cloak and dagger software prove a hit.