Coming from a shocking 3-0 home defeat at the hand of Sheffield United last week, only a positive result would do for Phil Parkinson's men but early goals from Callum Robinson and Alan Browne [11th and 16th minutes respectively] placed them on the verge of a second successive loss.
Ameobi, playing in his fourth league game this campaign, halved the deficit with his first goal of 2018-19 in the 38th minute before Pawel Olkowski netted the equaliser two minutes later.
Preston finished the tie with 10 men after Ben Pearson saw straight red at the death.
The result saw the Trotters, now with 11 points from six outings, drop to seventh place in the log.
After the international break, Bolton play Queens Park Rangers and their number 10 will aim to usher them back to winning ways.
