Bovada is the US version of Bodog. Bovada was a brand created specifically for American sports bettors and poker players. The group has more than 20 years of online gaming experience. Bovada is a member of the PaiWangLuo Network. This platform was once known as Bodog. It launched in 2004.
Bovada moved its online poker product to Ignition Casino in August 2016. Online poker returned to Bovada almost one year later. While it uses the same skin as Ignition, it now has a different first deposit bonus. Both sites accept US players. Players in Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey and New York are not permitted to play at Bovada.
The Bovada brand is often mentioned when the media quotes odds and prices on sporting events in the United States. This includes cable TV and radio shows.
Top Takeaways for 2020
After spending six months testing thirty online sportsbooks, here are our top findings on Bovada:
- Bovada is an offshore sportsbook. While offshore sportsbooks can be safe, we always recommend betting with a U.S. -regulated sportsbook, if possible.
- Banking with Bovada can be costly, and Bovada charges erroneous fees if you make frequent withdrawals.
- Bovada offers a ton of prop bets, sports, and international leagues.
- Bovada live betting far exceeds other offshore sportsbooks, but fails to compete with U.S. Regulated sportsbooks such as SugarHouse and FanDuel.
- Bovada is the only offshore sportsbook to offer live play-by-play bets and the early cash-out feature.
Is Bovada Safe?
Bovada is considered high-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 54 of 99. Bovada is an offshore sportsbook that accepts U.S. residents as clients, which is considered illegal in the eyes of the U.S. Because Bovada is an offshore sportsbook, there is no protection of client funds if the company were to go bankrupt or mistreat clients. Trust Score is determined by several factors, such as years in business, legal status, and global footprint, amongst others.
Bets Offered
Overview – Bovada offers a ton of bets. Bettors can wager on everything from who will win the game to how many points or yards a player will record. Over 100 bets are offered for most football and soccer games, while Bovada offers 40-60 bets for NHL and NBA games. Team and player props are available, in addition to other popular bets such as parlays and teasers.
Cash Out Feature – The cash-out feature allows you to secure a profit or minimize a loss before the game ends. You do this by selling your open bet back to the sportsbook before the game ends. For example, let’s say you bet $10 on the Philadelphia 76ers (-2) to beat the Chicago Bulls (+2). If the 76ers are winning 80-55 at halftime, you might be offered $6.50 to cash out your ticket early. Bovada is the only offshore sportsbook I’ve seen that offers this feature. Most U.S. regulated sportsbooks provide this.
Bet-Back Feature – The bet-back feature allows you to secure a profit or minimize a loss before the game ends. You do this by selling your open bet back to the sportsbook before the game ends. For example, let’s say you bet $5 on the Patriots to beat the Broncos at even odds. At halftime, New England is winning 24-0. The sportsbook might offer you $3.75 for your ticket, allowing you to win some money before the game ends.
Bovada Poker – 100% up to $500 deposit bonus
I’ll be honest and say that Bovada has been a platform that I’ve played at for some time now – I just haven’t yet written a review of it for you all to check out. That’s now all changing, because here it is; my complete review of the Bovada.lv poker room. Now, some people may wonder why it’s taken this long to review the site if I’ve been a player there for so long. Well, there isn’t really an answer for it, other than I wanted to discover some other platforms and compare them with my Bovada experience.
As far as Bovada is concerned, it’s really nice to know that it has been operating for multiple years now, first starting out back in 2004 and continuing on with its services right into 2016. We’ll skip the short time period that its doors were closed, because there was a triumphant re-opening of the poker room in 2017 and Bovada soared to the top of the US rankings once again upon doing so. That’s right, it’s America’s number one ranked poker room, and once you find out about its features, you’ll understand why.
Prior to me signing up to the poker site, I already knew a little about Bovada, thanks to its reputation for offering a great online sportsbook and casino. I kind of instantly knew that I wanted to try the poker offerings out upon first visiting the Bovada.lv website, though. There’s just something that stands out about it when you load it up. A professional site design with high-quality graphics and an easy-to-use layout all combine together to form quite the appeal. It hooked me, in any case.
If I’m even more honest, I was a little bit skeptical about it being the best in the United States. I mean, I was almost certain that there couldn’t be anything so overwhelmingly more exciting about Bovada than various other poker platforms. I sort of wanted to disprove the theory of it being the number one ranking poker room. Needless to say, I didn’t get to prove that!
Will I Be Able To Play Bovada Poker In The US?
US gamers are actually front and center at Bovada.lv, so they’re definitely welcomed and able to play the poker games that are available. I registered from my home state of Nebraska a couple of years ago and had no problems with the sign-up or being able to deposit. Plus, the download and installation of the software to my desktop was a breeze, too.
Now, it’s definitely key to note that certain states cannot register to play at the Bovada site. These include New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Nevada. However, if you’re residing in a state outside of those, then Bovada allows you to sign up without any problems. It’s actually one of the sites that covers most US states, whereas others will block players from locations like New York and Washington from signing up. That’s not a problem at Bovada, though.
As I mentioned, I had no issues with registering from Nebraska and have continued playing from within various other states throughout my time as a member of Bovada. Bovada is also one of the few poker sites that doesn’t really cater to anywhere else other than the supported US states. So, even from locations like Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Brazil and others, you cannot register at Bovada.
Bovada Poker Deposit Methods
- Bitcoin Deposits at Bovada
The most popular deposit method is Bitcoin. There are no fees associated with this form of deposit method. Bitcoin deposits are extremely secure and is becoming one of the most trusted banking options poker players are using today.
Poker players can deposit anywhere from the minimum $20, up to the maximum $5,000 using Bitcoin per transaction. The money reaches your Bovada account within minutes.
- Credit Cards: VISA and MasterCard
VISA and Mastercard are accepted. There is a 4.9% fee for VISA transactions and 6.9% fee for Mastercard ones. Players that deposit at Bovada by credit or debit card will need to fill out an authorization form before a withdrawal will be processed.
Using VISA or MasterCard allows players to make minimum deposits of $20, and maximum deposits of $1,000 per transaction. The benefit of using credit cards is that the transaction is done instantly, like paying for anything online.
- Cash Transfers
Cash transfers are available for small deposits. The fee is usually about $10. Bovada will add this to the player’s account for deposits of $300 or more.
Odds
We are currently collecting 2019 odds data. Odds data takes real odds from moneyline, spread, and total bets and compares them amongst other sportsbooks. Last year we collected data from hundreds of games, providing the most detailed analysis available. Check back by the end of the year for an odds score and breakdown.
Last year Bovada placed 15th out of 17 total sportsbooks, offering below average odds for almost every sport.
Bovada Poker Tournaments
Poker tournaments are a real favourite of mine, and so I’m always on the lookout for platforms that provide multiple options to players for such. With the Bovada.lv platform utilizing the PaiWangLuo poker network, you’re not going to be let down in this area. Tournaments are on offer from morning to night, and you can enter into these at various different levels to suit your own balance and player skill.
Now, it’s true to say that all platforms tend to provide their own varieties of tournament options, including Bovada. It’s quite unique in that respect. However, you’re not likely to go without, considering that just about all of them come with guarantees, offer 9 or 10-seated tables and utilize the freezeout format of games to heighten the experience. When you also add in the fact that Bovada incorporates the slow blinds function, you’ve got quite the recipe for tournament options success.
Speaking personally, my main focus is on the type of guarantees that tournaments can provide, and 9/10 options at this poker room come with clear guarantee information or operate as satellites that you can gain entry to other guarantees through.
The tournament lobby is easy to navigate around too, thanks to the modern setup and design of such. You can clearly see the name of the tournament, the poker game taking place in it, the limit and the buy-in of them all. You’ll also get to see information on the status of the tournaments and how many players have already enrolled in them.
I’m a big fan of how Bovada works its tournaments too, because when you open one up to register, you’ll be able to see the current prize for first place, second place and so on, as well as the number of players already enrolled in the tournament. It also gives you details on when the event will start and the total prize pool, amongst other tidbits of insight.
What’s more, when you click on the “Tourney Info” button, you’ll be given extra information. I like being able to enter tournaments without re-buys and add-ons, which Bovada provides in quite large numbers. In fact, just about all of the tournaments don’t allow re-buys and add-ons at this poker room, which is quite the appealing scenario for me.
Bovada Poker Mobile
I’ve been known to engage in mobile poker gameplay from time to time. It’s quite a handy perk of certain online poker sites, and it’s one that Bovada.lv also offers. In fact, the platform provides you with the possibility of accessing such from your Android or iOS device, simply by entering the website’s address into your device’s browser.
While some of you may prefer to download a mobile app, this is not something that Bovada.lv provides. Yet, I always find it to be a bit easier when it comes to mobile gaming to access such through the web browser on my Android. It means that I don’t have to use up space on my phone itself to cater to any sort of app. Using the device’s web browser to access Bovada.lv poker is very simple anyway, so it’s not like I’m missing out on anything.
The great thing about mobile gaming at Bovada.lv, is that you won’t lose out on quality (or indeed, the quantity of games and tournaments that are available to you). The graphics and gameplay are very smooth on your mobile device’s screen, meaning that it’s exactly as if you were playing from your home computer. You’re also able to deposit and withdraw through your handset, should you so wish to.
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