Bovada Sports is an online sportsbook operated as part of the larger platform of Bovada products. The site also operates a casino, racebook, and poker room. Bovada is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and services only the North American market. If you live outside of the US or Canada, you aren’t allowed to open a Bovada account. As a consequence, the site only does business in American currency. Bovada is now owned and operated independently of Bodog by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, though originally it was a US-facing spinoff of that brand.
Bovada Bonuses
Bovada is a unique betting site that is only open to customers from North America. If you live in the Commonwealth of Canada or the United States of America, you’re allowed to open an account and place real-money bets at Bovada.lv.
Launched in 2011 as a North America-facing version of the popular all-in-one site Bodog, Bovada looks and feels similar to that site. The similarities aren’t just skin-deep; sure, Bovada could be Bodog’s twin brother, but it also offers nearly identical lists of games and promotions.
Below are details on each of Bovada’s bonus offers. You can find an updated list of promos here and links to further information made available by the site.
Welcome Bonuses
The flagship welcome bonus offer at Bovada is aimed at casino gamblers, and it’s a little confusing. Technically, the site is making two bonus offers, equaling $3,000 in bonus cash at a match rate of 100%. To earn the full $3,000 as advertised, you’d need to max out both bonus offers four times – no small trick, especially at a rollover rate of 25x-40x deposit-plus-bonus. It looks like a more generous offer on paper than it is, though if you’re a high-roller in the casino, I imagine you could have a shot at that full $3,000 bonus payout. Read more about this bonus at Bovada.lv.
Bovada’s sportsbook bonus offer is a 100% first deposit match worth up to $250. All first-time depositors are eligible for this bonus, but it won’t work for any deposits beyond your initial one. Bets on both sports and casino games count toward clearing this bonus, so even though it’s technically a “sportsbook bonus,” your blackjack play between match results counts. This bonus carries a rollover requirement of 6x deposit-plus-bonus for sports and 30x deposit-plus-bonus for casino games. Read more about this bonus at Bovada.lv.
The welcome bonus for poker players is a lot more lucrative on its face. First-time depositors who plan to play at Bovada Poker are eligible for a 100% first deposit match worth up to $1,000. Rather than depending on the traditional rollover system for clearing this cash, poker players are rewarded with bonus money in exchange for their loyalty. Only play during the sixty days after triggering the bonus counts towards clearing this bonus cash. Read more about this bonus at Bovada.lv.
Referral Bonus
For every friend you refer who makes a qualifying deposit, Bovada will pay you a special bonus. You can earn 200% of your friend’s deposit as a match bonus worth up to $100. Your friend’s deposit must be at least $20, and you have to have at least one withdrawal in your account history in order to activate this bonus by making a referral. The rollover for the referral bonus is as follows: 5x deposit-plus-bonus for sports bets, 30x deposit-plus-bonus for casino games, and 6x poker points for poker players. The referring friend must have at least one deposit history in their account to be eligible to receive the Refer-a-Friend Bonus. Read more about this bonus at Bovada.lv.
Mobile Bonus
If you’ve never tried Bovada’s mobile games before, the site will give you a $10 bonus to try it out. It’s a true promotional offer, in that Bovada really wants you to play on your iPhone, Android tablet or whatever, and they put together a pretty sweet deal to get you to do it. If you wager $250 or more between Monday and Sunday of a given week, Bovada will give you $10 in free mobile wagers. The rollover requirement is 20x for all bets. Read more about this bonus at Bovada.lv.
Other Bonuses
The Royal Flush Bonus is a prize given away to any poker player who gets a Royal Flush. An automatic bonus prize worth 50x the big blind, up to a maximum of $200. Tournament play is ineligible. You have to use both of your pocket cards to form the Royal and play with at least two other players. The Royal doesn’t have to go to a showdown, but it does have to be the outright winning hand.
Bovada makes special daily offers that change a few times a year. At my last visit, for example, they were running a “Table Mania Tuesdays” promotion. Starting every Tuesday, you’ll earn a $10 free bet bonus for casino games if you spend $250 or more on a few specific casino games in the next seven days. The list of twenty eligible games includes favorites like blackjack, roulette, and craps, along with baccarat, casino war, and a few other titles.
Bovada Deposits and Withdrawals
Bovada is an all-in-one online betting site operated by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group. The site contains a sportsbook, racebook, casino, and head-to-head poker room. Bovada holds a gaming license from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and its services are available to US and Canadian customers only.
This site was originally created by global brand Bodog to service the North American market after that company was forced out following the 2006 UIGEA bill. These days, Bovada operates independently of Bodog, but it still does business with a group of mostly American bettors.
Bovada.lv is a gambling site for people with little access to other gambling sites. They’ve made a name for themselves since launching in 2011 by consistently paying the quickest payouts in the American market, offering around-the-clock customer service, and hosting top-notch software.
What you won’t find at Bovada.lv is a huge variety of deposit and withdrawal methods. Americans (and to some degree Canadians) are restricted from using so many of the traditional online gambling payment methods that Bovada offers just a few ways to fund and receive withdrawals from your account.
Currency Support
The only currency used at Bovada.lv is the US dollar. There’s a good reason for that – since Bovada is strictly available to bettors in the US and Canada, there’s not much need to support a dozen currencies worldwide. I’m sure Bovada’s Canadian customers would appreciate support for the Canadian dollar, but built-in currency conversion systems are in place to facilitate Canadian currency deposits.
Bovada Deposit Methods
Bovada offers two deposit methods:
• VISA brand credit / debit / gift cards
• Rapid Transfer
Of the two, it’s probably easiest to deposit via a VISA brand card. If you want to use a debit or gift card, it must be made eligible for all online and international purchases. Not every debit and gift card has this ability, so check first or you’ll just get rejected.
Bovada warns that even if your card fulfills these criteria, it may not be accepted. This is the downside of dealing with an online casino as a resident of North America – sometimes your card just won’t work.
The minimum card deposit is $20; the maximum is $500. Bovada charges a 4.9% fee for all card deposits (except your first one, which is free, as a kind of perk). I can only think of one other site aimed at Americans that charges a fee like that – BetOnline has been doing that for years. Be careful when making a minimum deposit; the 4.9% fee means that a “minimum deposit” of $20 would have to be $20.98.
As for the Rapid Transfer deposit – this is just Moneygram under a different name. In my experience, your deposit takes about twenty minutes to hit your account when you use Rapid Transfer as a deposit method. There’s a deposit fee for Rapid Transfer – $12-$20 depending on how much you’re depositing – but if you deposit $300 or more, Bovada will cover the fee. The minimum deposit is $100; the maximum is $800. That’s a pretty high minimum deposit amount, especially considering that you can deposit as little as $20.98 via a VISA card.
Bovada Withdrawal Methods
Bovada.lv offers two ways for customers to receive payouts:
• Check by courier
• Rapid Transfer
There’s some fine print, here – you can only request a withdrawal via check if you deposited via a VISA card. You can only receive a Rapid Transfer withdrawal if you made a Rapid Transfer deposit. You cannot deposit by VISA and receive a withdrawal by Rapid Transfer. Basically, your deposit method determines your withdrawal method.
The check method is probably the best way to receive a payout. You can withdraw anywhere from $20-$3,000 per check. Each month, you can request one free check withdrawal – after that, check withdrawals cost $50 each. Based on my experience and customer reviews, Bovada’s checks appear in 1-2 weeks, with many customers receiving their check in just ten days.
Rapid Transfer (read: Moneygram) withdrawals are a lot more limited. You can only withdraw between $100 and $750 per transaction. The fee will range from $20 to $60 depending on your withdrawal amount. You’ll spend less time waiting for your Rapid Transfer payout, since they require about one business day to transfer. You’ll need to pick up your withdrawal at a local Moneygram agent, which is a hassle.
Take note of a few things I found in Bovada’s terms and conditions pages:
• Player winnings are limited to $100,000 per week. That far exceeds the payout limit of $3,000 per check or $750 per Rapid Transfer withdrawal.
• Though reviews indicate that some checks take as little as one week to ten days, the site warns that check withdrawals can take “up to 28 calendar days.”
• Bovada occasionally incentivizes Rapid Transfer deposits by offering a special bonus or promo for depositors using that method. Pay attention to any emails or promo announcements you’re interested in method-specific offers.
Design & Interface
Bovada’s overall design and interface is nothing special. It looks clean, meaning all the text is easy to read, and it is simple to use, because everything is exactly where you think it should be. It’s intuitive and easy on the eyes; so even if it won’t win any design awards, it earns my thumbs-up.
You’ll find all the available markets listed on the left-hand column and a list you can customize to include your favorite sports without the need to scroll through the whole list. Major events and announcements are available right in the center of your screen. A set of tabs at the top allows you to switch between lines. Links to prop bets and live wager options are a single click away.
I do want to brag on Bovada’s Bet Slip design. Your bet slip is automatically compiled when you click any check box next to an available wager. You can even click and bet by risk amount, win amount, or as part of a larger parlay at a single extra click. Your bet slip will stay current no matter where on the sit you navigate.
Now, let’s talk about Bovada’s Live Betting feature. Bovada doesn’t currently operate any streaming service whereby you can watch the match as you wait for your wager, but a nice little pictorial representation of the event pops up at the top, updating with new scores and game news.
As for the list of available markets – it’s hard to say, exactly. Because of the nature of live betting, the markets available in this category will change from time to time. As sports go in and out of season, the list of sports Bovada provides live bets for takes on the character of the time of year. For instance, here’s the list of markets with available live wagers on the day I wrote this review:
- Basketball
- Tennis
- Soccer
- Baseball
- Golf
Available Betting Markets
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Football
- Soccer
- Tennis
- UFC/MMA
- Golf
- Hockey
- Boxing
- Motor Sports
- E-Sports
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Cricket
- Darts
- Snooker
- Horse Racing
- Aussie Rules
- Entertainment
- Politics
- Futures