- Bovada Payout Delay Rules
- Bovada Payout Problems
- Bovada Payout Delay Odds
- Bovada Payout Delayed
- Bovada Payout Rules
Payouts from Bovada can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks depending on the method that the user chooses. On the shorter end of the spectrum are wire transfers like Western Union + MoneyGram which have the capability of paying players within hours of requesting payout, but take no longer than 48 hours to complete. Bovada Casino limits withdrawals to no more than $3.000. Bovada also offers withdrawals via check, which takes between seven and 28 days to get to you. That is after a two- to three-day wait to process withdrawals. Part of the delay in processing withdrawals is Bovada cannot use typical banking transfer methods, because it is not licensed. Bovada takes roughly 24 hours to process a payout request that is made by a player, and once authorized, is immediately sent at the payout request that was previously made. Bovada Withdrawal Fees Check + Bank Draft Fees - A courier check through DHL, FedEx or UPS typically comes with a fee of less than $30, but could vary depending by the amount.
- #1 trusted US gambling site.
- 15+ years of experience.
- Popular RTG casino games.
- Fastest cashouts in the US.
- Excellent customer service
- 4.9% credit card deposit fee.
While there's still a lot of competition in the US online gambling market, the amount of high-quality operations is surprisingly low. For example, the luxury of being able to cashout your winnings is, as scary as it sounds, unavailable at many sites, and there's only a short list of reliable sites. We rank Bovada as the #1 option for US residents, and here's why:
- They deliver the fastest check cashouts in the US. Well, faster than any other US gambling site excluding the sites in states with legalized online gambling.
- They take care of customers. With both phone and e-mail support, this site delivers great experiences by putting a lot of effort into their customer support.
- They have great software. We consider their gaming software the finest in the US for both casino and poker games. Their instant-play versions and mobile games are especially good.
- They have a long history in the online gambling business. There are people behind Bovada's operations that used to operate Bodog - a site that's been in the business since early 2000. Some of the people have been in the business 15+ years.
Customer Service
Bovada's customer service has always treated me well. You can contact them via phone support (1-888-263-0000) or e-mail support ([email protected]) -- I've never tried contacting via phone number, but if the quality of their e-mail support is anything to go by (fast replies and thorough answers), you'll have a nice experience with their phone support as well.
Some people accuse Bovada of 'not listening to its players.' In most cases, these are the players who complain about anonymous tables, not being able to join waiting lists, etc. All of those decisions were made with recreational players in mind, and since the site is now more enticing to recreational players, educated players should love the current situation even more instead of complaining (there's a higher percentage of recreational gamblers to play against).
Bovada's customer service is also perhaps the most active out of any online poker room in the world at participating in discussions at online poker forums (many of the top internet poker forums now have 'Bovada Service' users who are there to answer any questions about the site). As incredible as it sounds, customers are sometimes getting answers to questions without even directly contacting them.
Deposit Options
Bovada.lv offers two deposit methods:
- VISA Credit / Debit / Gift Cards.
- MoneyGram® (called 'Rapid Transfer' at Bovada)
As of 2020, a card deposit is still the easiest and fastest of Bovada deposit options. You need a Visa credit, debit/check or gift card that's eligible for online and international purchases.
It's worth noting that even if your card fulfills the criteria, the transaction is never certain to go through, which unfortunately is typical for gambling-related transactions in the USA. Netspend debit cards have had a high success rate lately, and the cards that you should stay away from are Greendot and Vanilla VISA cards.
There's one negative with Bovada deposits: they charge a 4.9% fee for card deposits except for the first deposit. Betonline is the only other US poker site that charges for such transactions (6%). Take this into account when depositing to Bovada especially if you're going for the minimum deposit, since even though they claim a minimum deposit limit of $20, in reality you have to deposit the minimum of $20+4.9%.
Minimum Card Deposit: $20
Maximum Card Deposit: $500
Maximum Card Deposit: $500
Rapid Transfer (the equivalent of MoneyGram®) is a handy way to deposit and withdraw money to and from Bovada.lv. It takes 15 minutes for a deposit and 24 hours for a withdrawal to arrive. By depositing $300 or more at a time and withdrawing max. once a month, Bovada takes care of all the transaction fees. (Otherwise deposit fees are $12-$20 and withdrawal fees $20-$60.)
Minimum Rapid Transfer Deposit: $10
Maximum Rapid Transfer Deposit: $800
Maximum Rapid Transfer Deposit: $800
Pros & Cons
Credit / Debit / Gift Cards:
- Fast, convenient and easy-to-use.
- No need to visit any live locations to send the money.
- A low minimum deposit limit ($20).
- Sometimes fail to work for gaming transactions.
- A 4.9% deposit fee (most credit card poker sites take no fees).
- Must cashout via a check (takes a couple of weeks).
Rapid Transfer:
- Fast and reliable.
- Rapid Transfer cashouts are processed faster than checks.
- You need to visit a live location to send the money.
- A relatively high deposit fee ($12-$20).
- A high minimum deposit ($100).
Cashout Options
Bovada.lv offers two withdrawal methods:
- Checks
- Rapid Transfer (the equivalent to MoneyGram®)
Your available withdrawal option depends on the way you deposited money to Bovada; if you made a credit card deposit, you can withdraw the money as a check (Bovada has the fastest check payouts out of all US poker sites); if you made a Rapid Transfer deposit, you can withdraw the money by using Rapid Transfer.
To be eligible for a withdrawal after having made a credit card deposit, you must complete the credit card verification form on Bovada's website.
How to cashout from Bovada:
- Go to your account at www.bovada.lv and select 'Payout'.
- Select the payout method.
- Enter the amount you want to cashout.
- Confirm your address information.
- Click 'Request Payout'.
What are the withdrawal limits?
- For check withdrawals: $20-$3,000.
- For Rapid Transfer withdrawals: $100-$750.
Are there any cashout fees?
The first check withdrawal of each month is free. If you want to cashout more than once a month, the rest of the cashouts cost $50 each. (In case you make a deposit and then, without using the money, decide to withdraw it, Bovada may charge a fee).
The first check withdrawal of each month is free. If you want to cashout more than once a month, the rest of the cashouts cost $50 each. (In case you make a deposit and then, without using the money, decide to withdraw it, Bovada may charge a fee).
Here are their Rapid Transfer cashout fees:
Cashout Amount | Fee |
$100 - $199 | $20 |
$200 - $399 | $30 |
$400 - $599 | $45 |
$600 - $750 | $60 |
Payout Speed
Bovada.lv has the fastest cashouts for US players as of now (unless you live in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey where you can order ACH cashouts at regulated online poker rooms). Bovada delivers checks in 1-2 weeks (recent reports indicate that they deliver these in 10 days) when many of their competitors take several weeks and some even months.
Rapid Transfer payouts take a maximum of 24 business hours, after which you can collect your withdrawal at a local MoneyGram® location.
It's been increasingly hard to find US poker sites that process cashouts fast. Some sites claim to deliver checks in a couple of weeks but take months (even half a year in the case of relatively popular Lock Poker). Bovada is the biggest US poker site but incredibly also has the fastest withdrawal processing times.
Throughout Bodog's 15+ years in the online gambling business, no payout issue or dispute has been left unresolved. The only two Bovada payout issues that I recall were in 2008 and 2011 when checks took a long time to process (longer than usual, that is - they still delivered checks faster than most gambling sites do normally). But those were small issues and it's remarkable how well they've done for such a long time.
2008 Payout Delays
Bodog's payouts were delayed in 2008 and for a good reason: Maryland DOJ and IRS seized $25 million of Bodog's money as the dollars were sitting on their payment processor's account. An undercover agent registered an account at Bodog and made two cashouts during the year of 2007, which helped the IRS to seize the money. (Citypaper published a great article on the subject called The Ghost Hand.)
2011 Payout Delays
We have no real information on what caused Bovada payouts to be delayed in 2011. Super win the game. They claimed to be in the process of changing payment processors in order to deliver checks faster in future which then slowed down current check processing. I don't know if this was the real reason but they surely figured out how to deliver checks fast afterwards.
Bonus Offers & Promotions
- You'll qualify for the Bovada bonus automatically by signing-up at www.bovada.lv without using a Bovada bonus code.
- Bovada's bonus offer is decent for beginners. You get 60 days to clear the bonus (after you've made your first deposit), you can clear the bonus at any stakes you want and the terms are straightforward.
- Bovada caters to recreational players which forces Bovada to make welcome bonuses simple and relatively easy to clear.
First Deposit Bonus
Big poker bonuses are useless unless they can be reasonably cleared. Some bonuses are impossible to clear for beginners; for example, they might take ridiculous amounts of playing to clear in relatively little time or they can only be cleared above micro stakes.
Fortunately, the poker bonus offer is good for beginners. You get 60 days to clear the bonus (after you've made your first deposit), you can clear the bonus at any stakes you want and the terms are straightforward. They cater to recreational players which forces them to make their welcome bonuses simple and relatively easy to clear.
How Do I Clear the Bonus?
You clear the poker bonus by reaching new bonus levels; you reach new bonus levels by earning poker points; you earn poker points by generating rake for Bovada.
You clear the poker bonus by reaching new bonus levels; you reach new bonus levels by earning poker points; you earn poker points by generating rake for Bovada.
The more bonus you earn, the easier it gets to clear additional bonus. For example, level three is $100 for 750 poker points while level five is $150 for 1,500 poker points. (Going from level four to level five was 25% easier than going from level one to level two, for instance.)
Here are the charts:
Bovada Poker rake (per pot) to poker points. | |
Rake generated | Points earned |
$1.00 - $3.00 | 1.00 |
$0.50 - $0.99 | 0.50 |
$0.25 - $0.49 | 0.25 |
$0.05 - $0.24 | 0.10 |
$0.01 - $0.04 | 0.05 |
$1 in tournament fees | 3.00 |
'Poker points earned' translated to 'bonus released'. | |
Points earned | Bonus released |
50 | $10 |
250 | $40 |
750 | $100 |
1500 | $150 |
3000 | $300 |
5000 | $400 |
Will Additional Deposits Qualify for the Bonus?
Only the money deposited on the same calendar day as your first deposit will qualify for the Bovada Poker deposit bonus. If you deposit $100 next Tuesday and later on that Tuesday deposit another $100, you'll be eligible for $200 in bonuses.
Only the money deposited on the same calendar day as your first deposit will qualify for the Bovada Poker deposit bonus. If you deposit $100 next Tuesday and later on that Tuesday deposit another $100, you'll be eligible for $200 in bonuses.
Should you deposit the additional $100 on Wednesday, however, you've already missed the boat and won't qualify for the bonus.
Do I Need a Bovada Bonus Code?
There is no Bovada bonus code at the moment; you can qualify for the bonus simply by signing-up at their website.
There is no Bovada bonus code at the moment; you can qualify for the bonus simply by signing-up at their website.
Reload Bonuses
They award reload bonuses only to certain players - whether these players are selected randomly or have to meet certain criteria is unknown. There are no poker reload bonuses available for everyone.
They award reload bonuses only to certain players - whether these players are selected randomly or have to meet certain criteria is unknown. There are no poker reload bonuses available for everyone.
Other Poker Bonuses
In addition to the poker deposit bonus, Bovada players are eligible for a Bad Beat Bonus (win 100 x the big blind, up to $1,000) and a Royal Flush Bonus (win 50 x the big blind, up to $200).
In addition to the poker deposit bonus, Bovada players are eligible for a Bad Beat Bonus (win 100 x the big blind, up to $1,000) and a Royal Flush Bonus (win 50 x the big blind, up to $200).
Other Bonuses
You get a 100% welcome bonus (up to $3,000) for your first Bovada Casino deposit and a 50% free bet bonus up to $250 for their sportsbook. How long does it take to clear the bonuses?
Their casino bonus requires you to wager the deposit and bonus amount 25 times over until you can cashout. For a $100 deposit, therefore, you need to wager 25 times $200 (includes both deposit and bonus amounts), or $5000.
Their sportsbook bonus can be cleared by wagering 3 times the deposit plus the bonus amount. For the full bonus, you have to bet $500 and you'll get $250 in bonus money, which means that in total you need to wager 3 times $750 (or $2250) to clear the full bonus.
You have 60 days to clear the bonus offers.
Bovada Poker Tournaments and Games
Readers might wonder what kind of games are available at Bovada Poker. Players can enjoy Texas Hold'em, Omaha, and Omaha Hi-Lo events. Enter no-limit, pot-limit, and fixed-limit events. Play for high stakes, mid-stakes, low stakes, or event micro stakes.
Bovada Poker Events
Bovada has a $150,000 guaranteed poker event every Sunday. For high stakes players, Bovada also organizes a $100,000 high roller event. Premium players and whales have a much higher chance of winning the $100K high roller event, because so few players enter. Sit'n go's, jackpot SNGs, and turbo events are designed for card players on the go.
- $150K Guaranteed Poker Tournament (Weekly)
- $100K Guaranteed High Roller Tournament (Weekly)
- Turbo Tournaments
- Jackpot Sit & Go Tournaments
- Sit-and-Go Tournaments
- $1.5 Million in Weekly Guarantees
- Monster Stack Poker Tournaments
Special Features
Bovada's proprietary online poker software making cardplaying easy. Over the years, Bovada customers have called for special improvements, which have resulted in the following four innovations.
- Quick Seat: Be seated at the poker table of your choice in two easy steps.
- Anonymous Tables: The ultimate in fairness, because poker pros can't target you as a casual player.
- Zone Poker: As soon as you fold your cards, you'll appear on another poker table.
- Mobile Poker: Fully compatible with Android, iOS, and Windows smartphones and tablet computers.
Is Bovada Safe and Legit?
Controversy
It's important to look at the background and the people behind operations that provide online gambling - especially when it comes to sites that provide games for US customers. While the company has done an admirable job so far, there's some controversy in their background that the readers at Gaming the Odds should know about - so is Bovada legit and safe?
Bovada.lv is the 'US version of Bodog' - it was created by Bodog's operators, has the same software and shares the same players. It feels good to play at a site that has been in the online gambling business since 1998.
But if you were to judge the people involved in Bovada's operations by what they were doing before they created Bodog, you may think that Bovada is anything but a safe to place to gamble at. However, keep in mind: they've done a wonderful job at being a reliable, professional and entertaining gambling site for several years now.
In 1998, a company called eSportz provided original software for a company called Cyberoad, through which the software was provided to some of the first online betting sites, namely Grand Prix, The Big Book, The Sports Machine and Mayan Sports. All of these companies used a payment processor called eBanx. Eventually, Cyberoad purchased eBanx.
In 2000, a company called El Moro Finance agreed to make $200,000 worth of credit available to Cyberoad. Since Cyberoad was unable to pay its debt to El Moro, it went out of business during the same year and El Moro - curiously, a company that owns some of Ayre's real estate - acquired Cyberoad's assets, leaving Cyberoad's investors with nothing.
Bodog was born out of this situation, and as far as the other companies that were powered by eSportz software go, The Big Book had acquired Grand Prix (The Big Book shared offices with Calvin Ayre's company) and continued using the same software, while Mayan Sports couldn't come to an agreement with El Moro and decided to start using new software.
During the time it took for Mayan Sports to transition to using new software, eBanx (which, again, was Mayan Sports' payment processor, and technically now owned by El Moro) sent e-mails to Mayan Sports' customers, urging them to move their business to Bodog, and they could even use the same usernames and passwords they had when playing at Mayan Sports.
During this time, Ayre even used a fake name ('Cole Turner'). Understandably so, the Mayan Sports people were not happy to find out his real name later on.
That's the story when you look at official records. Calvin Ayre paints a different picture:
'There's no point in me talking about Cyberoad,' Mr. Ayre said dismissively in an interview. 'It wasn't my company, it was only one of a number of customers I had.'
In U.S. regulatory filings, however, Mr. Ayre is described as the 'creator and visionary' of Cyberoad. The filings say he gave up his CEO's title shortly before the company obtained a stock listing in the U.S. 'over-the-counter' market in the spring of 1999, and began acting as a consultant.
It's worth noting that Calvin Ayre has been associated with marijuana smuggling (for which his father got sentenced) and insider trading (which he settled for $10,000), due to which he was banned from serving as an officer or director in any company listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange (among other things). Being a 'consultant' is sort of a cliche for people to call themselves after they've been banned from directly running a company.
It's difficult to tell what they real story is, although if you read the article linked to from the previous paragraph, you'll find out about several things he claims to be true that don't add-up when compared to the 'official' story.
In short, Cyberoad relied on eSportz software (controlled by Calvin Ayre) and took a line of credit from El Moro (affiliated with Calvin Ayre). If eSportz would stop providing software for Cyberoad, would the company go out of business and then be owned by El Moro essentially for the price of $200,000 minus the money that Cyberoad paid back before going bankrupt?
And having eBanx e-mail to Mayan Sports customers, urging them to join Bodog instead is unethical to say the least. Then again, competition is fierce in the world of business.
Criticizing Bodog / Bovada the company, however, is difficult. They've provided customers with first-class online casino games, professional customer support and fast payouts for over 15 years now, and even though their poker room has the most player traffic out of all US sites by far, they still process cashouts the fastest.
But if you look at the background of the company's founder, there's definitely something shady going on. With that said, I have yet to find a case where Ayre's actions have negatively affected his customers, even though many of his business partners seem unhappy.
Is Bovada Rigged?
Bovada has essentially been in business since 2000. They've been through all sorts of testing, their software is certified by Gaming Associates, and they are currently licensed by Kahnawake Gaming Commission.
So is Bovada rigged? My answer is a definite no.
In case you still worry about Bovada cheating or being rigged, you're obviously more than welcome to contact their customer support. They're true professionals and I've never had a bad experience with them. You can either call them or send an e-mail. Can you cheat at Bovada?
The fact that this is an honest and reliable company doesn't mean that there wouldn't be cheating at Bovada. Just like an honest live casino or poker room is bound to have cheating customers, the same goes for online sites.
Fortunately, bigger online poker rooms have all sorts of methods to stop players from cheating; for example, they can detect if you're talking with your friend on MSN or Skype, have a lot of experience on studying hand histories, etc.
But you could, of course, play in the same table as your friend and have a phone conversation at the same time, thus sharing information with each other. These players get caught faster than you'd probably think since it's surprisingly difficult to act like you're not playing together.
All-in-all, I suggest spending less time wondering 'is Bovada rigged?' or 'are other players cheating at Bovada?' Just play the game and enjoy it. Should you see anything suspicious, feel free to report it, but it's unlikely that you will.
Is Bovada Legal for US Players?
I get a lot of questions asking about whether Bovada is legal or not. While I'm not a lawyer, have never studied law and write for entertainment purposes only, here's why my answer is 'yes.'
- Bovada operates in Canada, is owned by Meadway Leisure Limited and has a gaming license issued by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. For all I know, they're running their business legally under international law and fully comply with Kahnawake Gaming Commission's rules.
- Nowhere in the US federal law does it say that it's illegal to play poker, casino games or bet on sports online. This is a myth. People often confuse the legality of betting on these games with the legality of running a business that accepts bets or is involved in processing online gambling payments (those might be illegal).
- They use a .lv domain. This prevents the Department of Justice seizing the domain like they seized the .com domains of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker in 2011, which turned into quite a catastrophy for the US online poker market.
Is It Legal for Bovada to Operate in the US?
They accept sports bets and are involved in processing gambling transactions so there's a real chance that the US government will take action against them at some point -- especially considering it already has done so when seizing $25 million from Bovada's payment processor's account in 2008 (as referred to earlier).
Bovada has, however, demonstrated that they can handle problematic situations and payouts were delayed only for a while. They since prohibited players from states where they feel like operating online gambling games is going to be the most difficult (legally-speaking).
But betting on sporting events or casino and poker games is not illegal by any federal law, although some state laws do prohibit it. Accepting sports bets online is illegal per the Wire Act of 1961. The sites operating an online sportsbook are taking a risk and you - if you participate in their games - take a risk as well since the site might fold one day and take your money with you. But by playing, you're not violating any federal laws (this, again, is my uneducated opinion - for legal advice, contact a local gaming lawyer).
Where Is Bovada Legal?
While no federal law prohibits you from playing online poker, casino or sportsbook games, individual state laws may do so. Most state laws have vague gambling laws and it's a matter of interpretation to determine if playing there is legal or illegal, however, there are a couple states where participating these games is illegal with almost 100% certainty. (Still, getting prosecuted for gambling online is rare.)
States such as Utah, New York and Washington have strict laws against online gambling. With many others, it's difficult to say and only three states have specifically legalized online gambling games (although not in all forms) and those are Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware.
Bovada operates in Canada, is owned by Meadway Leisure Limited and has a gaming license issued by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. For all I know, they're running their business legally under international law and fully comply with Kahnawake Gaming Commission's rules. Gamestop delete account.
I recommend contacting a local gaming lawyer about the subject. In fact, that's what you should do if you want to get a professional answer to 'Is Bovada Legal in the US?'
Why the Biggest Poker Sites Got Shut Down a Few Years Ago?
When PokerStars left the US market and Full Tilt Poker shut down (it has since re-opened, although not for US players), US players lost two of the biggest online poker sites in the world. Will legit Bovada get shut down as well? While everything is possible and I have no way of predicting the future, PokerStars and Full Tilt were charged with fraud and money laundering and the Department of Justice never blamed them for violating the Wire Act (which, they later admitted, applies only to online sports betting anyway).
Banks allegedly processed 'unlawful' gambling transactions - while making them look like non-gambling transactions - in exchange for large investments from those poker companies. SunFirst Bank, for instance, allegedly processed around $200 million in online poker payments.
All the problems that US poker sites have had with the Department of Justice have related to bank frauds, money laundering or accepting illegal transactions, which is why only a few payment options for US players exist. Legality of playing poker online (from a player's point-of-view) has never been the issue. And there is no federal law that prohibits you from playing poker on the internet. Locally, in your state, there may be though.
It's only reasonable to assume that something of similar sort may happen to other real-money online gaming sites in the US, no matter how 'legit' they are. Banks and payment processors aren't willing to process online gambling related payments knowingly so gambling sites have to 'hide' the true origin of the transfer. We recommend that you keep your account balance at minimum in order to avoid losing a lot of money in these situations.
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Last Updated: January 2, 2020
www.bovada.lv is a popular gambling site dedicated entirely to the United States market. They offer US residents of 48 states sports betting, online poker, casino games and a racebook from a single website. You can access all four products using the same player log-in and account bank. If you’re from WA or MD, note these are the two restricted states. You’ll want to review our articles on Washington State Gambling Sites, or Maryland Betting Sites to find alternatives. This aside, in this Bovada review I cover mostly sports betting, but also touch on poker, casino and horses.
Top Reasons to Choose Bovada
There are two features that make Bovada an easy choice for US sports betting.
#1 US Credit Card Deposits – This is one of the few betting websites where it is still possible to deposit using a US credit card. There is a 4.95% fee charged when making deposits through this method. Understand this is well offset by the fact they have one of the best sign up bonuses in the industry.
#2 50% up to $250 Bonus – When you join you’re welcomed with a Bovada bonus offer that is a 50% initial deposit match up to a $250.00 free play. This means if you deposit $500.00 you’ll get a $250 free bet.
Expert’s tip: When joining www.bovada.lv it’s wise to make an initial deposit of $500.00. Sincerely, any time you join a gambling site, always look to see how much you need to deposit to get the maximum sportsbook bonus. Any other strategy is foolish as these are one time deals and there are only so many reputable betting sites to take free bonus money off of. If $500 is too large for you at the moment, start with another site such as www.5dimes.eu. They offer reduced juice instead of bonuses. This way you’re not missing out on bonus cash and you can come back to Bovada later to take advantage of their maximum offer.
Recreational Player Features
Recreational sports bettors might enjoy the following features.
- Live Betting – Here you’ll find the best live betting interface in the industry. All nationally televised games are covered. While games are in-play, you can do live betting on propositions such as the result of a drive, series or next play in football, or an at bat or pitch for baseball betting. You can also bet the game winner on the point spread or moneyline, or the can bet the over/under total. This is all available while the game is in-play and you’re presumably watching it on TV.
- Mobile Betting – It doesn’t matter if you’re accessing from an iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Nokia phone, or with a tablet such as iPad, Galazy, TouchPad or Zoom – no matter which mobile device you’re using, they’re all supported by Bovada’s advanced mobile betting software.
- Online Poker – I’ll touch more on this later in this Bovada review, but at poker.bovada.lv you’ll find the most populated poker room servicing the United States. This ranks tops on our list of US Poker Sites for 2012, for reason it features the weakest player competition in the industry.
Bovada for Professional Punters
If you’re truly a professional bettor, where $25.00 positive expectation means nothing to you, you’ll be far better suited using www.bookmaker.eu. For lower limit professionals, Bovada does have plenty to offer as a second or third out. The first thing to understand however is that they utilize a dual pricing model. Let me start by discussing how to take advantage of this.
Because Bovada is a recreational gambling site, they often shade the lines in such a way that the odds are worse for popular teams. So, for example if the Patriots should be -6.5 -110, here you might find them -7.0 -110. In this case, betting the Patriots’ opponent at +7.0 is probably a great bet. Professionals should take advantage of this by comparing Bovada’s odds with those of reduced juice sportsbook www.5dimes.eu. You’ll want to do this in a hurry however, betting as many off market prices as you can find your first day. It takes only a day or two of bets for Bovada to discover you’re not a pure fish. When this happens they will begin dealing you regular lines. This is called dual pricing. The sharp players get one set of betting lines, where the square (recreational) players get another.
Experts’ tip: This has been discussed on betting forums to all ends. Because Bovada is very quick about changing from the square lines profile to the sharp one, the optimal +EV play is to bet as many off market prices your first hour betting as you can find, perhaps putting them all on the same ticket. You’ll get switched regardless, so might as well take advantage of it.
Even after you get switched, there is still great value to be found. Here are some of my favorite advantage betting intricacies:
- Best Teaser Odds – Here you’ll find 3-team 6-point teasers at +180, 3-team 10-point teasers at -110, and 4-team 13-point teasers at -120. Bovada teaser odds are highly completive as is, but are even better because they don’t shade against basic strategy favorites. They also often shade basic strategy underdogs in such a way these are more profitable. Their odds makers (or more correctly: their guys who copy odds from competitors) LOVE the point spread 3. Often when other betting sites are offering +1.5 -110, Bovada might be offering +3 -140. Because teasers use fixed payouts: the -110 and -140 make no difference. Here when using 6-point teasers you’ll often get an extra 0.5 to 1.5 points better than you get at the competition.
- Underdogs – Even with the dual pricing model, there is still plenty of value on the sharp odds for underdogs. There are times where 5Dimes might have an NFL underdog +6.5 -109 and Bovada has them +7 -110 for one group of clients, and +7 -115 for those on the wrong side of their dual pricing model. Obviously the +7 -110 is a GREAT bet, but +7 -115 is still great as well because here a push on 7 is worth FAR MORE than 6 cents. So despite Bovada gouging odds for some, you can still find solid value here.
- Propositions – Bovada does not offer propositions on every NFL game, but for the games they do offer props on – plenty of value can be found. I can recall various sack props bets where everyone else was offering over/under 3.5 they had had the line at 4. Or a Mathew Stafford passing yards prop where most sites had the over/under at 307.5 to 312.5 and they had 296.5. Overall smart prop bettors can find plenty of value at bovoda.lv.
Other Bovada Products
As mentioned in the intro, it’s also possible to play online poker, casino games or use the racebook with a single log-in ID. You can use your single account balance for any of the four products offered. I’ll provide some quick information on each product, before concluding this Bovada review with detailed information on their history.
Bovada Poker Review
poker.bovada.lv is the URL to use if you wish to visit one of the most popular poker rooms servicing the US market. Here you’ll find a $1,000 welcome bonus, a VIP program, chances to win seats to major tournaments such as the WSOP, Punta Cana, APT Macau and much more. Their promotions are endless and include guaranteed tournaments, freerolls, a tournament leader board, and so much more. In fact, because there is so many, Bovada’s promotion page spans three pages of content. You’ll want to visit their website to check these out.
Perhaps the bigger draw to Bovada Poker is how soft their games are. A number of Asian bookies, such as Bodog88 and Bodog99, operate on the same poker network. As a result many casino gamblers and sports bettors from China, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea and Vietnam end up playing at the same tables. Many of these players have little to no poker playing experience; they’re just spilling over from the casino. This is only one of two reasons the games here are super soft. The other is Bovada offers anonymous poker, which they refer to as a recreational poker model. What this means is when you visit their poker tables you won’t have a user name. All you have is a number (example: Player 1, Player 2) and this changes each time you sit at a table. This prevents professionals from using pokertableratings.com, Poker Trackers and other tools to track, and take money off of, the fish. If you’re looking for the softest games and best bonuses head to poker.bovada.lv.
Bovada Casino Review
The casino is available using the URL casino.bovada.lv. This casino is powered by Real Time Gaming (RTG) but its source code is modified. Their internal programing team has made many enhancements unique to their casino. Here you’ll find one of the most favorable single deck blackjack games in the industry. You’ll also find popular table games such Pai Gow Poker, Roulette, Craps, Baccarat and much more. For slots they have all sorts of games including video slots, many which have massive jackpots that can be won. They also have many bonuses starting with your choice of a 100% up to $500 welcome bonus for slots, or a 100% up to $200 bonus for table games. From here you can earn a 100% bonus each week. There are also other promotions. Play the slot game featured on Friday and if you don’t win your losses are refunded 50% up to $50. Hit a 21 in blackjack on Sunday and win a $21.00 bonus. There’s also a $100K travel promo that if won will send you to 5 continents to visit 5 cities over 5 weeks. This is only a small sample of what’s offered. You can learn more visiting their website.
Bovada Racebook Review
The racebook can be accessed at http://horses.bovada.lv/. Here you’ll find more than 60 tracks covered. This includes the Major US tracks such as Churchill Downs, Pimlico Race Course, Santa Anita Park, Aqueduct, Gulfstream and Belmont Park, as well as Colonial Downs, Fairmount Park, Kentucky Downs, and many more. Most all the legal gambling in Kentucky is covered. You’ll also find Australian tracks covered as well as tracks for Harness racing. They offer a rebate of 3% on straight bets of win, place or show and 5% on exotics. The exotics include Quinella, Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta, Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, Boxes and Wheels. This rebate is paid to players accounts every Tuesday for their weekly horse racing turnover. Additionally, when you bet Saratoga or Del Mar Races from Wednesday to Friday, the rebate is 6% on straight bets and 10% on exotics.
As you can see Bovada covers all the tracks Americans are interested in betting, and also supports all the wagering options we utilize. Even bigger, they have many prop and future bets available for the major Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup. If you’re new to betting horses, no sweat – they have a full glossary explaining all the wagering options and terms. They also provide daily previews and all the data needed to properly handicap each horse race. Finally worth noting is the 50% up to $250 sign-up bonus that is available for sports, can also be used at horses.bovada.lv.
The History of Bovada
The history of Bovada intertwines with the history of Bodog. The official story is that in late 2007, Bodog’s founder Calvin Ayre was retiring. No longer wanting to stay in the US market he sold Bodog’s North American business to Mohawk Morris Gaming Group (MMGG). They then became a licensee of the newly started Bodog Brand.
There were, and still are, other gambling sites that also licensed the Bodog name. This once included Bodog Europe who used the URL bodog.co.uk which is now closed. The sites still active are Bodog Canada (bodog.eu) and an Asian bookie named Haydock Entertainment who started Bodog88.com. The brand didn’t involve only betting. There was also Bodog Music, Bodog Babes, Bodog Fight and other companies and products licensing the same brand name. So originally, and beginning in late 2007, MMGG used the URLs Bodog.com, Bodog.eu, and Bodog.ca for the various markets they were license holders of.
In mid-2011 Bodog decided they didn’t want their other brand licensees to carry the perceived liability of having their names associated with US gambling. This is because many of these sites were going big time in legal markets. The Asian version was the shirt sponsors of an English Premier League team and had recently started legal betting booths at a UK football stadium. Ample time was given to MMGG to rebrand their US gambling site.
On December 14, 2011 all players were sent notice that their accounts have been transferred to the website www.bovada.lv. There was no change in ownership as MMGG had owned the US version of Bodog since late 2007. 4 years later, this website was rebranded Bovada, and the software and betting features remained the same. Now because we at SBS take pride in being the most honest portal on the web, it’s important to share we do have some doubts regarding this official story.
Mohawk Morris Gaming Group (MMGG) is owned by Alwyn Morris. He won two medals, including gold, for Canada at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics. He’s also a Native American who is a prominent member of the Mohawk nation in Kahnawake, which is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, across from Montreal. He was a made a member of the Order of Canada in 1985 for work with Aboriginal youth in the field of Alcohol and Drug abuse. He then spent 12-years as senior advisor to the Chief and Council of the Kahnawake Mohawks. We’ll just say it simply as, true or not about the ownership change: moving US operations to a sovereign Indian reservation, the US government couldn’t easily reach, is a smart move when dealing with online gambling.
The Bodog Story
Bodog has been involved in online gambling since it was first getting started. Their founder Calvin Ayre originally sold his online gambling software idea to a company called Cyberoad, which was publicly listed as OTC: BB FUNN. In 1998 Cyberoad was the software hosts for three gambling sites, specifically: Mayan Sports, The Big Book, and Grand Prix. Another part of the idea Ayre sold was an innovation in payment processing that took on the name eBanx. This company took deposits with credit card and paid out via e-check. Back then most gambling sites were using agents that settled in cash, Western Union, or even occasionally FedEx envelopes stuffed with money. eBanx was integrated directly with the gambling sites, and this was the start of easy deposits and withdrawals being available at online betting sites.
In 2000, Cyberoad failed and was taken over by El Moro Finance Ltd. (BVI). Its assets were assigned to a subsidiary of El Moro called eSportz. What happened from here is Mayan got new software, the Big Book purchased Grand Prix, and eSportz continued initially powering the Big Book. In 2001, an email was sent to former Mayan Sports clients introducing them to Bodog. A huge amount of controversy, that’s now a decade in the past, is for years Mayan (who btw, was not very reputable) accused Bodog of stealing their clients. Also, initially the head of Bodog and eSports was known as Cole Turner, but it was later revealed this was just an alias of Calvin Ayre. There was a great deal of debate regarding Cyberoad investors losing their funds, a new company immediately taking over and how it was Cyberoad idea man and consultant Calvin Ayre was suddenly the main beneficiary of this betting operation’s profits. Further questions were raised about why he was using an alias if he had nothing to hide. Calvin explained one aspect of the controversy over several betting forum posts. His claim is that he sold the idea to Cyberoad, and eBanx but was never a shareholder, only a consultant. Later when Cyberoad went bust, El Moro asked him for help recovering their asset. They were a Cyberoad secured creditor. During the process he became involved again, helped El Moro sue Cyberoad and gain control. He then started eSports, the software company that evolved into becoming Bodog. Again a decade in the past, there’s two sides to the story, but to note: through this entire process Grand Prix, The Big Book and then Bodog were the most reliable companies for paying players, and none of these controversies ever got in the way of that.
Bovada Payout Delay Rules
Back on the topic of history, initially Bodog and Big Book shared an office. Though Big Book came first, they were essentially a white label of Bodog who had the same owners as the software provider. The company that managed their payment system was called Kazootek Technologies Ltd., likely also primarily owned by Calvin Ayre. The story goes that a Viktoria Zazoulina (known as Vika – and shown left), Tatiana Kostiouk (known as Tanya – and shown right) and Greg Tanner (not shown) were employees that embezzled large sums of money from Kazootek and then conspired with The Big Book to steal eSportz source code. Basically, they had a plan to go solo financed off theft from the company Bovada originates from (Bodog). So anyways in mid-2003 Bodog kicked Big Book to the curb. From this date on Bodog was no longer a software company, but a standalone gambling brand with the best payment processing and betting software in the industry.
Once they went solo their growth came rapid. They introduced poker in 2004, and quickly grew into one of the largest internet poker rooms. In 2006, they purchased one of the oldest and most trusted sportsbooks in the industry World Wide Tele Sports (WWTS), who ran betwwts.com and many other gambling sites through their BetCorp white labels. Today, when you read on Bodog websites that they have been in business since 1994, this is a bit strange. It was WWTS who Bodog purchased, closed, and took over the offices and much of the staff of that was actually in business since 1994. In any case, they began rapidly growing their brand name creating the Bodog Handicapper Challenge, Bodog BEAT, Bodog Music, the Lingerie Bowl, Bodog Fight, Battle of the Bands and all sorts of other products that did wonders for their branding. It also helped that their founder Calvin Ayre made Forbes Magazine Billionaire list, had his home featured on MTV Cribs, and made appearance on BNN, VH1, Extra, Careers TV and CNBC. This only names some of the methods they used in becoming a massive brand.
Bovada and Bodog Legal Issues
In August 2007, the Bodog.com domain name was seized over a patent dispute with 1ST TECHNOLOGY LLC. They have what in our opinion is a silly patent (one that should have never been issued) on a method of sending information over networks using low bandwidth. It’s worth noting this same company later sued PokerStars, BetCRIS, Cake Poker and many other gambling sites too. Bodog just happened to be the first, and they took the hardest hit over being sued. This is because figuring they’re not subject to US law, and their main business is betting, it was a good idea to ignore served legal notices. This however resulted in a US judge issuing a default judgment that ordered Bodog to pay $48,937,456 for patent infringement. The domain was later seized over failure to pay. Bodog appealed this and fought in court, while using the domain bodoglife.com in the interim. Finally unsuccessful, Mohawk Morris Gaming Group paid the $49 million and got their domain back in April 2009.
In 2008, while they still didn’t have their domain, $24 million of their money was seized cumulatively in the criminal busts of two payment processors. The loss of the player volume and funds seized had Bodog payouts to players seriously delayed. While we had long been fans, even we had to warn players to avoid this site over financial concerns. Bodog however worked through the issues. As mentioned they got their domain back. After this, for two years and eight months (April 2009 to December 2011) they were fastest paying US sportsbook with check payouts arriving in a matter of days.
In December 2011 there were more processor issues that caused Bodog payouts to again be delayed. This was then followed with seeing Calvin Ayre indicted by US authorities for violating US gambling laws. Considering he’s not an American, and operates a legal and licensed betting site in the areas he’s located, this was more of a show move, or a “just in case” in the event he later visits somewhere the US can legally apprehend him (not going to happen). Concerns over this did affect the newly established Bovada and we had a Bovada Payout warning posted for much of 2012. Initially we suspended their rating. After payout time frames reached 1.5 months we downgraded them. It turns out this was us being overcautious (which is our preference as we’d do the same again anytime we smell risk) as Bovada payouts are now coming very fast (5-10 days in most cases by check, same day by P2P).
Bovada is Rated A-
As mentioned Bodog has been involved in online gambling since it first started in the 1990’s. They are one of a very small number of companies from that era that has (to our knowledge) never stiffed a player or had an unresolved dispute over player funds. While there were hiccups that caused payments to be very late in 2008 (all which were resolved) and then delays in early-to-mid-2012, for the most part they have a spotless payout track record. This applies to both MMGG, who we’ve known of since 2007, and Bodog who has been involved in gambling since 1998. Also worth noting, their payout delays in 2012 were NOTHING compared to what other sites have been through. At poker sites such as Carbon Poker, and betting sites such as Sportsbook.ag, 6-8 weeks has been their standard payout time for more than a year now. Bovada even when having delays was delivering in the range (and most cases faster) than the standard payout times of many other gambling sites.
There will be of course always people who disagree with our sportsbook ratings, but they are not betting affiliates. We could get paid huge money to shill WagerWeb, OddsMaker, or other scam sites that pay large CPA rates. However, all recommendations on our website are always sincere. I understand some feel different about Bovada’s rating. Some don’t like anonymous poker. Many don’t like that they post lines late, or have small betting limits, for some players a delay, and having dual pricing is a very popular complaint. However all things considered, these guys have the longest positive track record of all “recreational” betting sites. Many recreational players want live betting, mobile betting, easy credit card deposits, soccer lines, props, and the ability to play poker, casino and bet sports and horse races from the same website. They also want to get paid checks fast. While Bovada isn’t for everyone, we feel they are one the best option for a great majority of our visitors and comfortably rate them A-. This is our sincere assessment of the risk players have when posting up at their gambling site.
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