Bovada Software

When Bodog left the US market and Bovada took over they made several changes to their online poker room and to its software. Though many of these changes were criticized by players and industry experts, Bovada has continually made improvements to the software, that are aimed at making the games more attractive to recreational players. They have had several software updates in recent months and are always looking for feedback from players on how to improve their playing experience.

An important aspect of Bovada’s poker room that may be foreign to some players is that there are no permanent screen names. The room is fully anonymous, this includes all tables and all stakes, cash or tournament. Seats at each table will simply be numbered 1 through 9 and users will be given a seat number and their defacto screen names will be “Player 1”, “Player 2” and so on. Chatting with other players and trash talking is still common even with the anonymous screen names, so it doesn’t ruin the experience. The experience of playing at Bovada is like walking into a live poker room full of players you’ve never played with, and thanks to the absence of screen names, it’s like this each time you sit down at the table.

Another uncommon thing about Bovada is the table limits for multitabling. Most online poker rooms allow nearly as many tables as players want, whereas, Bovada has a 4 table cash game/sit and go tournaments limit. If you’re playing a multi table tournament along with cash games or sit and goes, you’ll be able to play more tables. The lobby also hides full tables, this can be confusing to some and sometimes the room can look like a ghost town. Of course, this is not the case. If you’re looking for more games just keep looking at the lobby and as players leave, more games will pop up. Bovada’s and formely Bodog’s management has long marketed their room to recreational players rather than professional players. The table restrictions keep out the “grinders” or pros and give the recreational players a better chance of staying afloat.

It is also important to note that Bovada’s software does not allow for any heads up display or stat overlays while playing. Third party tracking programs such as Hold em’ Manager or Pokertracker will not work with Bovada. Players are now able to to download their hand histories and upload them into their databases since April 14th 2018. These hand histories reveal all players hole a cards and hand histories whether they played in the hand or not.

Support

Bovada has some of the best support in the online poker industry. Users who send an email to support are immediately sent a support ticket back and given an approximate wait time for a response from support. All emails are normally answered within a few hours but many users report receiving responses in just a few minutes. They also have a 24/7 support phone line dedicated just to the poker room. They also have forum reps at some of the largest poker forums on the internet, where they take suggestions and try to implement them in response to the player’s needs. Bovada is extremely helpful and will even call you at a time of your choosing to discuss any issues you may be having with your account. They are extremely professional and courteous.

Deposits/Payouts

Due to the difficulty of processing in the USA, players only have a few options for deposits. These include depositing by credit or debit card, rapid transfer or MyPaylinQ. Credit card is the easiest method and comes with a 4.9% fee. Rapid transfer takes slightly more work but is an effective way of getting money online if your credit card won’t work, Bovada will cover fees for deposits of $300 or more. MyPaylinQ is an online e-wallet like PayPal, which charges a small fee for credit card deposits.

Bovada has steadily improved their payouts within the past 6 months. Players will have 4 options when requesting a cashout: paper check, bank wire, MyPaylinQ or rapid transfer . Checks and bank wires are taking about two weeks to get to customers and cost $50 per payout. Rapid transfers can be as quick as a few hours and can take up to two days. Rapid transfer fees are based on the amount withdrawn, with fees ranging from $20 to $60. MyPaylinQ is normally credited within a day after making a request, from there it will take 15 days before your money is available for pickup. Bovada players are allowed one free payout a month. While bank wires seem to be working, I would avoid this payout method at most US facing poker sites. They are prone to delays and wires have been much tougher to get done due to banking laws against online gambling. In addition, many other sites have dropped wires as a payout method. Paper check is generally regarded as the most reliable payout method.

It is also important to note that depending on which deposit method a player uses, the player will be restricted to certain payout methods. If you deposited via credit card your options will be paper check or bank wire. You may not withdraw using rapid transfer unless you use it to deposit.

Bovada is highly regarded in the online gambling industry and has a sterling record going back over a decade counting their time as Bodog. Player funds are secure and Bovada has a long track record of paying their players in a timely fashion.

VIP and Bonuses

Bovada does not offer players a traditional VIP system with tiers as many other online poker rooms do. Instead, they offer players poker points. Players will receive points for raked hands in cash games or playing in tournaments. These points can be used to join satellites and buy into multi table tournaments or sit and goes. Players will earn 3 poker points per dollar in tournament fees. In addition, players will earn an additional poker point per hour of play.

Bovada’s current 1st deposit bonus for new users is 100% up to $1000. The bonus rollover requirements in the poker room are 3 poker points per dollar wagered. Reload bonuses are offered frequently with the same rollover requirements.

In addition, there is a Royal Flush cash bonus. If you are dealt a royal you can email support within 48 hours and be credited with a bonus equal to 50 times the big blind, up to $200. Players don’t have to show their hand down and there is no rollover required for this bonus. The Bad Beat Bonus is similar – if you lose with aces or kings full, simply email the support team and you will get a cash bonus of 100 times the big blind up to $1,000.

Tournaments

Bovada has a large amount of tournaments available each week. Each Sunday, the $100k Guaranteed goes off at 4PM ET. It is one of the biggest weekly tournaments available for US players. They also have seasonal tournament promotions, which can spark traffic throughout the year. These feature large prize pools and are great for drawing in large fields made up mostly of fishier, more casual players.

As well as MTTs they also offer a wide range of sit and go tournaments from $5 dollar buy ins up to $200. They offer heads up sngs, 6-max sngs and the standard 9 handed sngs.

Bovada has a few thousand players at peak times and most of them are terrible tournament players. Both sit and goes and multi-table tournaments are normally filled with fish. If you’re a tournament playing and you’re not playing on Bovada, you’re simply missing out.

Cash Games

Bovada offers a large assortment of different cash games to players. These include Texas Hold Em’, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven Card Stud, Stud Hi-Lo and Five Card Draw. They offer limit hold em, no limit and pot limit variations of most of the other games.

No Limit Hold Em’ cash is obviously the most popular game with tables running from the micros up to $10/$20 no limit nightly. Pot Limit Omaha does go often as well with regular games up to the $5/$10 pot limit range. As I mentioned previously, the players on Bovada are absolutely terrible. As far as US citizens go, these are the best cash games available for US players.

Overall

Bovada and the Bodog Poker Network are a great option for US players and all players worldwide. Even though they restrict your cash/sng tables to four, the games are filled with poor players and are extremely lucrative. Even for multi tabling grinders, Bovada is worth adding to your selection of sites. It has a stellar reputation, fast payouts, and most importantly, tons of fish to play against.