Playing at Bovada Poker – My Review of Bovada Poker

Uncovering all of the details via my own experience of Bovada Poker – what it has to offer up in terms of games, promotions, support and more.

Bovada is one of the leading names in the online poker world, having spent the past decade and more providing a stellar service to gamers. Not only that, but it is one of the only online gambling sites to offer a location for US players to access poker games. The site is accessible via both desktop and mobile devices too, so you can play the poker games whenever you want.

The platform provides players with access to various different Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo poker rooms. It does this by utilising the PaiWangLuo network, which itself was once known as the Bodog network, also launching in 2004. In fact, the Bovada Poker site is basically the US version of the Bodog, having been created with a prime focus on the US market.

Legalities

This is where things get a little bit trickier for Bovada Poker, because for five years it was the holder of a licence from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission in Canada. However, it was in September of 2016 that this licence was given up due to the regulator informing its licensees that they weren’t able to accept players from New Jersey any more. This means that the platform is unlicensed for the moment.

Pros

As an avid online poker player, I like to be able to play it wherever I am. That’s why the downloadable mobile app is a great perk of being a customer of the site. It’s perhaps one of the biggest features that got me to sign up and play there.

Additionally, I’m a fan of the speedy withdrawals that Bovada Poker offers up. This can often be a huge nightmare with some online casinos and poker rooms, but Bovada is generally very swift with pay-outs, despite it not holding a licence.

Cons

The fact that the poker room isn’t licensed is somewhat off-putting, it has to be said. In fact, I almost didn’t register for this very reason. The only thing that stopped me from walking away was the reputation that this platform holds, and for that reason, I signed up.

Additionally, I like a bit more freedom with the type of depositing methods that I can use at online casinos. The possibilities at Bovada are quite limited, as I’ll speak about a little bit later on.

Promotions / Bonuses

Poker rooms aren’t specifically known for having a multitude of special offers in general. However, the welcome offer that Bovada was able to provide to me was quite appealing in itself. Basically, you can unlock this once you download the software to your desktop. It’s that simple to claim.

You will also earn certain points alongside your gameplay. These points relate to the welcome offer too, but you’ll continue on receiving various rewards as you continue playing at Bovada. You won’t find any of these specifically advertised on the website of the poker room, but you should keep a close eye on your email inbox to learn more about them

Mobile

The great thing about this site is that you can also download the Bovada Poker app directly to your smartphone or tablet. Then, you can play the poker games from any location with a WiFi or data connection. This is available for both Android and iOS devices.

Banking

While it was nice for me to see Bitcoin as a possible depositing method, the only other options apart from this cryptocurrency were Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Now, I don’t utilise Bitcoin and sometimes I’m a bit hesitant to deposit via a credit or debit card, especially if a platform isn’t licensed. That’s why I didn’t really like making a Visa deposit at Bovada. An eWallet would have been more preferential.

Withdrawals are possible via Bitcoin or Check by Courier, which is also a little bit disappointing. Having to wait for a Check by Courier withdrawal when an eWallet would be much faster is somewhat disheartening. That being said, all of my withdrawals have been completed quite quickly.

Support

If you’re ever in need of assistance while playing at Bovada Poker, there is a great and informative FAQ section available for you to read through. Other than this, a customer support team is also on hand at the poker room. There is a Live Chat function available for you to reach them by, or you can give them a call on 1-888-263-0000. Alternatively, you can email the team, which is what I did. Their response time was fairly average – within 24 hours.

Conclusion

Even though I had some reservations about becoming a member of the Bovada Poker site due to its lack of licence and payment methods, I did enjoy my time playing its games. The lobby is quite nice and the speed of pay-outs from Bovada is actually very decent. Furthermore, I very much like the welcome offer, even though you need to achieve a certain amount of play in order to receive parts of it.

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Ryan Knuppel Author

Ryan (aka Knup) has been writing sports betting content for over a decade now. He covers anything and everything related to United Stats sports including football, basketball, baseball, golf and more. He has finished first place in several gambling related contests over the years which gives him instant credibility in the betting world. Ryan is a die-hard St. Louis...