|
Bovada
Poker, Casino & Sportsbook Reviewed:
Bovada Pokerroom allows all players from every country
in the world. U.S. players can use the growing e-wallets
eWalletXpress at Bovada,
which links directly to your checking account. Another
quick alternative is the cash transfer service, which
allows you to send cash electronically. Transfer centers
are located in virtually every city in the country and
automated machines are now available in many 7-11 stores.
Be sure to call the poker room to receive proper transfer
information. Also accepted are paper methods like money
orders or cashier's checks.
In our opinion, Bovada
is one of the most underrated poker rooms and one that
I certainly commend for sticking to their rebellious guns
and continuing to accept U.S. players. In terms of the
competition you'll face at the poker room, this site earns
a top Fish Rating due to the consistently awful ring game
play. In fact, I went through a period where I was playing
here almost exclusively - the players were just that bad
and I was just doing too well. If you adjust your style
of play to combat the multitude of maniacs you'll be facing
at almost every table, you should be able to do very well
here with a tight-aggressive style.
Besides having insanely loose and beatable ring games,
we also give Bovada
high scores because of their quality software and good
customer service. It's also refreshing to see them stick
with their "No BS" instant cash deposit bonus
in addition to the new 100% play-through offer for our
players. There are no raked hand requirements for the
instant bonus and no bizarre terms and conditions. Just
cash... upfront. In terms of banking, they're also one
of the best with many deposit alternatives and free express
check withdrawals.
Bonus (100% up to $500 free) and
Promotions:
Bovada has always had a
valued first deposit bonus at 10%. While modest in size
it was one of the few truly instant bonuses in online
poker but now the bonus is increased and an amazing rewards
program that players will actually benefit from!
New players will need to use one of our links to Bovada
and deposit $20 or more to be eligible for the full 100%.
Most middle-stakes players can earn $10 or more of the
bonus per hour making it a fairly easy bonus to cash out.
The combination of the instant bonus, the large play-through
bonus, and fairly easy requirements now puts Bovada into
the top tier of online bonus offers. As for other promotions,
they offer regular satellites into big live events as
well as a weekly $100,000 guaranteed tournament. You also
earn "Bovada Points" as you participate in ring
games and tournaments. Points can be used to enter daily
freerolls and other promotional tournaments.
What is unique about Bovada is the fact that the table
stakes seem to have little correlation with player skill.
I mainly play no-limit ring games, and I often found that
my opponents would play almost as badly at the $5/$10
games as they would at the microlimits. These tables feature
some of the weakest players online, and if you protect
against draws, you can do very well. Expect to run into
plenty of trash hands and opponents that chase every possible
draw so do not count out any holding when you see a ragged
flop.
The flop percentage is typically higher than normal at
Bovada, which means that you should raise your premium
hands more than usual to thin the field. I recommend using
the "Pot" raise button or manually raising 5-6x
the big blind at this site. It isn't unusual to run into
60-70% seeing the flop at the low stakes, and up to 50%
at the higher stakes. The pots here seem to grow very
large very quickly.
Most of the action is concentrated to no-limit hold'em,
although you can occasionally find a game of 5-card stud
or Omaha going on. I mostly attribute the loose play to
the fact that Bovada is a combination Sportsbook/Casino/Poker
Room. The site is highly marketed to egomaniacal young
guns so they attract a lot of inexperienced crossover
traffic.
Tournaments:
Bovada
is still a fairly new poker room overall but their tournament
traffic is growing pretty quickly. They do offer a good
weekly tournament on Sundays with a $100,000 guaranteed
prize pool. You can actually earn your way into the biggie
by advancing a few steps from their $1 buy-in satellites.
The Sit and Gos have also improved with the addition
of multi-table SnGs. Their freerolls are also better than
average as they are limited to players with enough player
points to buy in. Bovada seems to be generous in terms
of their guaranteed prize pools, as they often fall short
of meeting the minimum guarantee. For example, I recently
played in a $10 tournament that had a $1,000 guaranteed
minimum prize pool. Only 50 players showed up, so the
extra $500 was just added to the prize pool resulting
in higher payouts.
Bovada
has also added a new Tournament Leader Board, which rewards
points leaders each week who've done well in their multi-table
events. The overall traffic has been receiving a big boost
lately so I expect their tournaments to continue to grow
both in frequency and attendance.
Software:
The recent Bovada
software upgrade has really made this package excellent.
The previous software always felt a bit disjointed with
no set areas for avatars or cards. Now, players are clearly
separated, table graphics flow very smoothly, and a spotlight
on the active player helps everyone follow the action.
Each player is able to upload their own avatar, which
gives the game an individualized touch.
The Bovada
player stats window also keeps up-to-the-hand details
on your progress and you can reset these at any time.
This site also has a pretty detailed hand history option,
allowing you to see every player's hole cards in a showdown
situation. For me personally, a big positive of the software
is the extremely quick game pace. You can usually get
in 60-70 hands per hour at full NL tables.
A big plus will also come for multi-table players
as the software has a "table-in-table" view.
Players can see up to 3 tables on one screen instead of
clicking around between multiple windows. Unlike the clunky
mini-table views at most sites, I found the Bovada
layout to be the most logical and easiest to see.
US Payouts:
Bovada
is a very well-established casino and sportsbook so
you won't run into any financial problems when dealing
with them. Firstly, they offer a free express check payout
system, which is convenient. I used to receive paper checks
from them within about 7-10 days but I've had to wait
up to a month or more recently.
Checks from Bovada
are drawn on U.S. banks for hassle-free deposits into
your personal bank account. If you're withdrawing a sBovada
Pokerstantial amount of money, the site sends checks through
Fedex. You can also withdraw once per week for free using
cash transfer for local pickups at thousands of locations.
Customer Service:
Online poker rooms that give telephone support
score high points with me. Bovada
Poker has their support telephone number right in the
lobby window. If I'm too impatient to wait for an e-mail
response, I'll just call in and get an answer right away.
If you choose to use e-mail customer service, responses
are very fast. I once wrote to them about a player that
I suspected was abusing the all-in feature, and they sent
back a personal reply within a few minutes saying that
they would look into the account in question.
Player Traffic
While Bovada
has mostly been thought of as a niche poker site, they've
been aggressively advertising in order to expand the poker
room. Besides that, US players have been flocking here
since the corrupt legislation bumped them off of major
sites.
During peak hours, you'll find plenty of no-limit ring
games all the way up to the highest limits, and you'll
still find a few games going at each limit during the
wee hours. Tournament traffic is lower, but has been picking
up steam. Their guaranteed events are their best tournament
offerings as they typically fall short of the guaranteed
number of entrants.
Best Features
Extremely loose and beatable competition. I really
like the action you can get here on your strong hands.
A good number of these players are absolutely clueless.
High-stakes ring game action. They have a neat idea
for $3/6 NL tables, which are called "Josh Arieh",
"David Williams", or "Jamie Gold"
tables. When any of these pros are online they'll be sitting
here. The tables at this site are still busy up to $10/20
NL.
Fast software. Not a lot of frills, but gets the job
done and looks unique.
Growing traffic. I've been impressed with the number
of active ring games lately.
Game Selection: Hold 'em, Omaha, 7 card stud, 5 card stud
Limits: Limit: 5c/10c up to $20/$40 No-Limit: 5c/10c up
to $10/$20
Deposit Methods: Please see the top of the page for "Easy
U.S. Deposits" for more information. In short, Bovada
now accepts NUCharge, eWalletXpress, cashier's checks,
money orders, and money transfer for US players. I've
personally used NUCharge and funded my account in a few
minutes. International players can also deposit using
Click2Pay, Moneybookers, and credit cards.
Minimum Deposit: $20
Tips: Similar to many sportsbooks or casinos that
also have poker rooms, the games tend to be wild at Bovada.
Don't try to be Doyle Brunson or Daniel Negreanu at
these games - have a hand if you're going to be in the
pot. I wouldn't recommend bluffing at these players often
as they'll call you down most of the time with middle
or bottom pair. Raise your strong hands, and don't forget
to keep an eye on the active pot.
There are routinely 5 or 6 players seeing the flop,
which means you're getting great pot odds to play suited
connectors or marginal hands from late position. Just
keep in mind that you'll have to have the strength to
release those hands if you don't flop at least 2 pair
or a monster draw. Overall, players who know how to handle
calling stations and the assorted maniac should do very
well at Bovada.
Download:
Bovada
Poker- click
to claim your Bonus from PokerBonusListings.com 100% Bonus!
Conclusion:
Furthermore, considering it’s using the same
online poker platform, you shouldn’t expect a very
different experience. Speaking of the Bovada software
platform, the best way to explain it would be to say it’s
state of the art. The graphics are decent, and it is easy
to navigate yourself around the poker and online casino
lobby.
.jpg)
Start playing texas holdem
at Bovada Poker today, the casino and sportsbook also
accepts; visa, bitcoin deposits and withdrawals.
|
Why play at Bovada Poker?
- Integrates 16 years of gaming experience.
- Offer numerous deposit bonuses
- Fast transactions
- Great online support
- Big selections in games
|
|
|
|
