Bodog Poker Network Sold and Rebranded to Pai Wang Luo Network
The Bodog Poker Network has been sold to a Hong Kong investment group and rebranded as the PaiWangLuo Poker Network.
Bodog Poker Assets Sold To New Owner
The Bodog Poker Network has been sold to a new owner. The company that purchased the Bodog Poker assets is the PaiWangLo investment group based in Hong Kong. Their website, PaiWangLuo.hk, is new and rather sparse with regard to information about the group. A quick whois search reveals that the website was created in late 2016, likely in preparation for this purchase. As is the case with offshore operators, there is not a lot of publicly accessible information to be found on this company. A DuckDuckGo and Google search yielded a total of three results for the name of the new PaiWangLuo investment group.
Professional Rakeback has obtained an advanced copy of the public press release detailing and we present it now in its entirety:
Bodog extends poker business: starting with Brazil & Mexico
After a small hiatus Bodog is ready to start making waves in online poker once again. Bodog recently sold their successful network to a Hong Kong-based consortium, PayWaingLuo. But, with recent opportunities opening up in the LatAm region, have decided to take the plunge in the region, using the software that made Bodog famous in the poker industry for encouraging recreational players rather than sharks.
This practise is now the norm in the poker industry.
Bodog’s extension into the Latin America will see the brand also offer sports betting and casino as well as being the first and only company offer a full suite of payment methods including Bitcoin (for both deposit and withdrawal).
Ed Pownall, spokesman for the Bodog brand, commented: “The LatAm region has long been seen as a growth area for the online gaming industry but we felt leading with poker was the best point of entry as we have made such a strong name for ourselves in this arena.”
What Does This Mean for Players?
There will be some changes now that a new owner has taken control of the Bodog Poker assets. For example, the network has been rebranded and will hence forth be known as the PaiWangLuo Poker Network. We struggle to find an acronym for this, as PWLPN is rather odd and PPN is already taken, but we are going to go with the PWL network.
The PWL network does not have any major plans that will affect players every day experience. The anonymous tables are still in tact. The software will remain the same. Rewards are not changing. However, as we detailed just a couple short days ago, the number of countries serviced will skyrocket in comparison to what was previously offered (4 versus 12). This will be especially good for US online poker players, as the Ignition was already the largest poker site US players had access to and it is likely to expand even more.
What Does This Mean for the International Poker Market?
Moving forward, the Bodog poker room, which will retain its name, will take on a host of new countries and will almost certainly increase its marketshare. The Bodog brand will be expanding into a number of new Latin American countries. These new markets will include Mexico, Brasil, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and Colombia. The main marketing push appears to be in the countries of Mexico and Brazil at this time. An earlier, and subsequently corrected release named additional Latin American countries that would be included in this expansion but they will not be available on the stated February 15th, 2017 opening date.
The addition of many potential new players has the potential to improve the liquidity of the PWL network. Bodog Network, as recently as 2016, held the number three ranked spot in GameIntel.com's rankings according to cash game player size. It has since fallen down to sixth place in the international market. However, it is worth noting that with regard to real money USA online poker sites, this is the largest network available for American citizens. We expect PWL may soon overtake both Winmax, 888 and PokerStars Portugal who have jumped ahead in the International rankings. With regard to the US poker rankings, this likely ensures that PaiWangLuo network will continue to hold on the top spot for years to come.
An influx of new players also bodes well for tournament liquidity. Currently the largest regular tournament on the network is a $100,000 guaranteed No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament run each Sunday. An influx of new players has the potential to ratchet up the guarantee of this headliner event, as well as many other regular tournaments. Currently PWL hosts over 2 million per week in guaranteed tournaments, we hope to see much more with the coming growth.
What Does This Mean for Affiliates?
Basically status quo. Officials tell us that there are no plans to change reporting, commission structure, or payout methods.
Reviews
If you are interested in playing on the PWL Poker Network, please see our Ignition (USA and AUS), Bovada (Latin America) and Bodog (Canada) reviews. Potential players from Mexico, Brasil, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and Colombia will sign up via Bodog, but will have to wait until February 15th when they start accepting players from these countries. Oh yea, and don't forget to pick up your 10% discount on the Ignition poker HUD.
by Jonathan Brown
February 9th 2017