by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Apr 2, 2012 | Updated on Apr 2, 2012Bodog Poker announced today that they have signed Jay Tan as the latest member of Team Bodog. Tan, a talented poker player who can speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese, will help promote the Chinese-language Bodog clients that have recently launched.The signing appears to be part of Bodog’s effort to market their Recreational Poker Model in Asia. Bodog appears to be the first poker site to market themselves specifically to the Chinese market, and has been planning to make a major push in this emerging market. While Texas hold’em and other poker games are relatively new to Asia, the growth of the game in the past few years has been impressive, particularly in Macau.The Bodog88 site will be used as a portal to poker and other games for gamblers in China and other Asian markets.“We have only just launched poker on the site and believe that while still a niche product in the region, the Bodog Poker Network version we have will be more popular than conventional European poker rooms,” said Bodog Poker Network Vice President Jonas Odman. “In the same way Asian players prefer live dealer online casinos to the more normal RNG ones in Europe, we believe Asians will prefer the protection from sharks that the anonymous tables offer them.”Odman is referring to the controversial Bodog feature that makes all tables on the site anonymous, meaning players never know who they are playing against. This was meant to stymie players using poker tracking software in the hopes of giving more casual players a better shot at the tables.Jay Tan will help market Bodog88 in Asian markets by combining her language skills with her poker prowess and her knowledge of the popular gaming options in the region. Jay finished 2nd in the Red Dragon event at the most recent Macau Poker Cup, but is perhaps even more involved in Mahjong, which may also be coming to Bodog soon.“Poker is relatively new to Asia where Mahjong is still king, and I hear Bodog88 will have that online very soon,” Jay said. “I’ve never seen anyone else have Super 6 Baccarat online before either…it shows a real understanding of the region.”
