Bovada Review and Deposit Bonus

A complete Bovada.lv Review detailing the Bovada VIP program, Bovada Welcome Bonus, Bovada Casino, Sports, and Poker products.

Bovada is the U.S. brand of Bodog which is the largest and arguably most reliable online poker site serving U.S. Players today. In addition to offering a popular online poker room, Bovada also features a fully functional online casino and well respected sportsbook and racebook.

Bovada traces their origins back to 1994 and started taking online sports bets in 2000. Their online poker room has taken off in recent years as sports bettors look to play other games and online poker players have migrated from other poker sites to Bovada.

Besides a general Welcome Bonus of 100% up to $1000, players on Bovada enjoy some the most reliable and fastest cashouts for US players. Consistently rated as one of the best poker rooms to process payments, checks typically arrive in 4-5 days and Money Transfers are usually processed within 3-6 days.

If you're looking for a lot of action and like getting your cashouts quick, then you should look no further than Bovada. You can join the action at Bovada by downloading software through Windows, via Instant play through your internet browser or on your favorite mobile device (Android, iOS).

Bovada is only open to players located in the United States. Even though widely available in the United States, Bovada does not accept players from any states that have already regulated online poker plus a few others. The listed of unaccepted states includes Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey and New York.

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Bovada $3,000 Casino Welcome Bonus

Bovada offers a wide variety of over 150 casino games and slots.  You will definitely find the games you're looking for.  Table games include Baccarat, Blackjack, War, Pai Gow, and more. There are dozens of slot titles like Indiana Jane, Zombies vs Cheerleaders, Football Frenzy, and Funky Monkey. Then there are 3D Slot Games like Ned and His Friends, The Curious Machine, Mad Scientist, and Heist.

You'll find bingo, keno, a virtual racebook, and a dozen variations of video poker too.  Wow.

The best part is, as a new player you will can receive a 100% match bonus up to $500 for slot play four times, and a 100% match bonus up to $250 for other casino games four times for $3,000 total.

You'll also find frequent other promotions like Blackjack Weekends, Video Poker Wednesday, $5,200 in weekly draw prizes and more.

You can play casino games from your mobile device as well.

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Bovada 50% Free Bet Bonus up to $250

The sportsbook is Bovada's bread and butter.  You'll find just about every sport.  Futures, Live betting, prop bets and more.  The will be familiar to you because ESPN and other media outlets often reference Bovada's lines in their reports.

When you make your first deposit, you'll receive a 50% free bet bonus. Be sure to take advantage of this right away - it's only available on your first deposit, expires 30 days after your first deposit, and has rollover requirements.  Winnings from the free bet are issued as a bonus amount.

Bovada Sportsbook and Bovada Casino

Bovada is widely considered to have one of the best and popular sportsbooks for U.S. players. They have betting lines available for most major sports and feature plentiful prop and live betting through their custom betting platform. Bovada customers can also place their bets on horse racing on dozens of tracks across the globe. To place your bets on the Bovada sportsbook, balances can be transferred easily from the poker room to the sportsbook or to the casino at Bovada.

Receive a 50% up to $250 match bonus make making your first deposit in the sportsbook.

If you head on over to the Bovada Casino, you will see upwards of 200 casino games and over $2 million dollars in progressive jackpots as well as great comps. Casino games include tons of slot, table games, video poker, specialty games and even 3D slots.

You can play at the Bovada casino by downloading the Windows software (recommended for full selection of games), Instant Play on Bovada.lv or through the popular mobile casino.

Don't forget to take advantage of the casino match bonus of 100% up to $3,000.

Bovada Poker Bonus

Because the Bovada poker room does not offer rakeback, players receive most of their rewards and perks from periodic bonuses as well as juicy games. Rakeback Nation players joining Bovada Poker for the first time are treated to a generous initial deposit bonus of 100% up to $1,000. The bonus, which must be cleared within 60 days, is cleared by earning poker points according to the chart below.

The Bovada bonuses are paid as they are earned, meaning each time you reach a level you will be paid a bonus.

Poker Points earned at Bovada are based on the rake taken at the table when a contribution to the pot has been made in ring games, per the chart below. Playing in tournaments will yield 3 Poker Points for each $1 in fees at Sit n Go and Multi-table tournaments.

Bovada Rakeback and Poker VIP Program

First of all, it's very important to note that Bovada expressly forbids rakeback at their poker room. In fact, Bovada doesn't offer much in the way of a VIP program either. This is due to the poker room's heavy focus on the recreational player model, which puts significant emphasis on a good poker ecology that doesn't give the biggest rewards to the best players. The theory is that by giving these players less in the form of rakeback or rewards, the "sharks" of the poker room world are less likely to play at the poker room. If the quality of the games are any indication, this strategy seems to be working.

Even though Bovada doesn't offer a VIP program, their Poker Points exchange program does function a bit as a VIP program in that you can earn consistent unlimited rewards when generating points. The downside is that the earn rate is sub-par, but the trade-off is that players can frequently enjoy juicier games.

To exchange Poker Points (which are earned based on the rake of the table when a contribution to the pot is made) for cash, a player must go into their account and click "Points to tickets" and then convert the points. You can exchange your points for a few dozen tournaments tickets, such as the $100k guaranteed ($100+9) and general tournament tickets with various buy-in levels.

You can also enter select freeroll tournaments with your points. For example, for 1000 points, you can enter the $5k freeroll that runs every Saturday at 2:20 PM ET. A $5,000 Turbo Freeroll with a 1000 point buy-in is held every other Thursday at 9:20 PM ET. Alternatively, you can buy-in to a number of qualifiers for these freerolls for 25-200 points.

At Bovada Poker you can exchange Poker Points for tournament tickets at a rate of $0.01 per Poker Point. You are also able to exchange Poker Points for casino chips in the Bovada Casino at the same rate.

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Bovada Promotions

Royal Flush Bonus
Ok, it isn't often you hit a Royal Flush, but it sure is nice to get a little extra reward when you do. Each time you hit a Royal Flush at Bovada, you will receive a bonus of 50 times the big blind, up to $200. To be eligible to receive this bonus, you must use both hole cards and at least three players must be dealt into the hand. You must also see the showdown.

If your hand meets this criteria, give Bovada a shoot-out at poker@bovada.lv or call them at 1-866-909-2237. Make sure to record the hand number and let them know within 48 hours of the hand.

Bad Beat Bonus
Unlike many other poker rooms with Bad Beat Jackpots, Bovada does not specially designated BBJ tables. What they do offer is a jackpot that is available at all tables and does not charge a rake. Of course, this means that the Bad Beat Jackpot is not as lucrative but it also means it provides a positive expected value to players at all times

To quality for a bad beat, you must hold at least AAAKK (that's Aces full of Kings) and lose with Quad Fours or higher. Once this hand is hit, you are eligible to claim a bonus of 100 times the big blind up to $1,000. Like the Royal Flush bonus, you must use both hole cards, see a showdown and three or more players must be dealt cards. There are no wager requirements to for this bonus or the Royal Flush Bonus.

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Bovada Games and Tournaments

Bovada cash games are home to the revolutionary "recreational player" model. What does this mean? At Bovada it means they put their focus on new recreational players and less on online grinders who seek out higher rewards. In short, this means less cash rewards but much better games.

Bovada achieves this in part by instituting no waiting lists (with games that disappear when they are filled) as well as "Anonymous" tables. Everyone you play on Bovada will not have a unique name attached to them – just a number. This makes it extremely difficult for a fellow player to track opponents and join tables against lesser skilled players because they have no way to know who they are. The result leads to a less friendly environment but does keep away some of the sharks, improving the quality.

Hold'em, Omaha (Hi and Hi/Lo) and Stud (Hi and Hi/Lo) Stud are the three main games offered at Bovada. While it is no surprise that No Limit Hold'em is the most popular game, Bovada also manages to get some decent Omaha and Stud action going as well. Buy-ins for most cash games range from $0.02/$0.05 up to $30/$60, with games at No Limit Hold'em frequently running at most limits.

At Zone Poker, you can join sit down and enjoy the fast-fold action at No Limit Hold'em, Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo, allowing you to increase the number of hands you can play per hour. When seated at a Zone Poker table, you will immediately be moved another table once you fold, meaning you will be playing more and have less downtime before being dealt additional cards. The majority of the action that runs at these tables is at the $0.02/$0.05-$0.50/$1.00 No Limit Hold'em tables.

To as a tournament player, you will be able to take advantage of up to $2 million in guaranteed tournaments each week. Bovada's featured Sunday major tournament is a $100+$9, $100,000 guaranteed running each Sunday at 4 PM ET. Daily qualifiers are plentiful with buy-ins starting at just $1.

As one of the largest online poker sites accepting US players, plenty of additional guaranteed tournament with lower buy-ins are also available. Each night, Bovada offers players nearly a dozen major guaranteed tournaments with prize pools ranging from $5k to $30k and buy-ins from $11 to $109.

If you like to make appearances at live tournaments, you will have plenty of options to qualify through Bovada. They offer frequent satellites through major live events such as the World Series of Poker (WSOP), World Poker Tour (WPT) and Punta Poker Classic.

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Bovada Payment Processing

One of the biggest draws to playing at Bovada is that you have to worry very little about depositing and withdrawing. For deposits, you have the option of Visa credit card or Rapid Transfer (which is a payment transfer through a local merchant). When making a deposit for the first time, it may be best to contact Bovada about your specific options and limits. Note that there may be a small fee attached to your deposit.

Bovada withdrawals frequently have the highest ratings amongst independent watchdogs. You can usually receive checks and bank wires within a week or two, a good processing time for US players. Money transfers and Visa withdrawals are accepted. The biggest negative of withdrawing at Bovada are the fees ($50 after the first withdrawal per month), but there are easy ways to minimize them. For example. Bovada will usually waive the fee on the first withdrawal during the month, except for Money Transfers. If you are withdrawing through this method, to minimize fees make sure to withdraw infrequently and with a larger balance.

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