Bovada Poker Bonus & Free Spins [Complete Guide 2024]

Having spent considerable time on the Bovada.lv poker room, we’ve decided to share a detailed review highlighting its features, making it a top choice for US players. This review comes after extensive use of the platform, allowing us to compare it with other systems and provide a well-rounded analysis. Our in-depth experience with Bovada.lv has given us insights to understand what sets it apart in the online poker world. Now, we’re ready to reveal why it’s taken us this long to review and how it stacks up against its competitors.

It’s incredibly comforting to know that Bovada has been in business for a number of years, having launched in 2004 and continuing to provide services well into 2016. We won’t discuss the brief period during which its doors were shut since, in 2017, the poker room was triumphantly reopened, and as a result, Bovada once again climbed to the top of the US rankings. That’s correct, it’s the top poker room in America, and once you learn about its features, you’ll see why.

We were somewhat familiar with Bovada prior to our signing up for the poker site because of its renown for providing a fantastic online sportsbook and casino. When we initially visited the Bovada.lv website, though, we kind of knew we had to test the poker options. When you load it up, something about it just sticks out. An attractive website is one that has a professional layout, top-notch graphics, and an easy-to-use interface. In any case, it captivated us.

To be completely honest, we had some reservations about it being the greatest in the country. We mean, we were almost positive that there couldn’t be anything about Bovada that was so enormously more fascinating than different poker sites. We kind of wanted to refute the idea that it was the best poker room in the world. Needless to say, we were unable to demonstrate that.

Bovada Poker: Is It legal?

In terms of US traffic, Bovada constantly outperforms all other online poker rooms, so there must be something in the water there. Bovada frequently shows up among the top 5 platforms, even if you look at the global rankings. This is most likely due to the fact that it offers players not only poker but also a sportsbook and casino. As a result, users tend to cross across between the three major gambling sites, creating a sizable conglomerate of users.

Several things have contributed to Bovada’s success, but one of the key ones is that it has constantly delivered on its promise of being a dependable site for payouts. Bovada.lv was moving forward with a safe and well-liked solution for US players to be able to withdraw money, while many other US-facing websites trailed behind. It still adheres to this principle now and provides quick transactions.

We were therefore pretty shocked to discover that Bovada does not truly possess a gambling license. Although we were aware of this from the minute we registered to play there, it was nonetheless surprising for such a well-regarded website. Bovada also doesn’t hold back when admitting that company operates without a license. The situation deteriorated in 2016 when it lost the license it had previously obtained from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.

Little information on why this occurred, but Bovada hasn’t tried in any way to get a new license. Despite this, it has continued to be a major player in the poker world. Speaking for ourselves, we’ve never encountered any issues regarding the reliability of this website. Although it is now completely unlicensed, it still offers a high-quality service and guarantees the security of your funds.

Will Bovada Poker Be Available In The US?

US players are undoubtedly welcomed and permitted to participate in the offered poker games at Bovada.lv because they are front and center there. We signed up from Nebraska a few years ago, and there were no issues with the registration process or making deposits. Additionally, the software’s download and installation on our desktop went really well.

It’s important to know that players from several states cannot register on the Bovada website. New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Nevada are a few of these. Bovada, however, allows you to sign up without any issues if you live in a state other than those mentioned. It’s really one of the few websites that accepts players from the majority of US states, as opposed to some that won’t let players from places like New York and Washington to register. But at Bovada, that’s not an issue.

As we previously indicated, we had no trouble signing up from Nebraska and have continued to play from a number of additional states during the course of our tenure as a Bovada member. One of the few poker sites, Bovada doesn’t primarily cater to players outside of the US states it supports. Therefore, you are unable to register at Bovada even if you are from countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Brazil, and others.

Games & Software for Bovada Poker

All of Bovada.lv’s operations use the PaiWangLuo Poker Network, which probably contributed to its success as well. We do, however, have a tendency to have personal preferences about the poker software that various platforms use. They usually work for us as long as they’re up to date and offer a wide variety of activities and competitions. But it happens rather frequently that at least one of those is absent. This is not the case at Bovada.lv, which is one of the main reasons we have continued to play at the poker room for such a long time.

Bovada’s software appeals to us in every way, from its darker color palette to its user-friendly lobby design and a variety of table customization options. Just for our own purposes, we quite enjoy modifying the aesthetics of the tables we use, including the backdrop color and card details. We are really happy with Bovada.lv’s capacity to customize things, so from an aesthetic perspective.

Now, if we stated we wouldn’t make a few changes to the software at this poker room, we’d be lying. First and foremost, we’d like to be able to view some cash game statistics, just like you could at Bovada in the past. Not just for the sake of the traffic, but also so that we are aware of what we are getting into for our own personal playtime before proceeding to a table. Without them, it does seem as though we have been thrown into the action without fully understanding why.

The only other problem we have is that compared to many other poker sites, it seems to take a long time for the tables to load. There is nothing worse than waiting for a % loading screen when you want to start betting, even though that isn’t a major complaint as we never access poker games when we are very pressed for time. This might be the cost of obtaining top-notch software for us, the gamers. However, loading times definitely stand out as being noticeably longer than what may be considered normal.

The graphic above demonstrates that at Bovada.lv, anonymous gameplay is always available, protecting you from poker predators regardless of the game you’re playing or tournament you’re entering.

When we focus on the actual poker games that the platform provides, we see that the well-liked features are present. You can therefore play Hold’em, Omaha, and Omaha Hi/Lo. While Zone Poker offers you a different option, you can also participate in sit-and-go tournaments, which is another wonderful benefit of the software. 7 Card Stud and the game that it inspired At Bovada Poker, you may play both Hi-Lo and another variation, Five Card Draw, which is an older game that is still popular and frequently played.

It would be unseemly of us to promote Zone Poker in any manner at Bovada, but it is one of the best options available there and throughout the PaiWangLuo network.

First tip: We have found that Zone Poker attracts more players from those willing to give it a try at random than any other type of poker, thus nobody should ever disregard it.

We gave it a try, and it’s certainly among the poker variations we play the most. Because you’ll be able to go to a different table and restart, you can become thoroughly comfortable with the fold button. You don’t have to wait around for this quick and fun game of poker. We wouldn’t advise skipping it because Bovada.lv provides it with such fantastic tables and top-notch games.

For each of the several poker choices, multiple stakes are also available. For instance, Hold’em can be played for as little as $0.02/$0.05 and as much as $10/$20. This is a respectable enough selection of games, but overall it doesn’t offer high-stakes gamers much. It’s clear that this is geared toward recreational players, especially those who are migrating from the casino and sportsbook and don’t have much poker knowledge under their belts.

Is it Possible for Me to Play Poker Anonymously at Bovada?

We won’t lie: we appreciate having access to anonymous poker tables. It’s one of those characteristics that make us feel a lot more secure when we are gaming. We are aware that by doing this, no one wanting to take advantage of our lack of experience can attack us. Not that we are particularly horrible, but there are unquestionably certain players who are vastly better at playing than we are.

Tip 2: Bovada’s anonymous tables give you a terrific chance to sharpen your skills without having to deal with other players’ aggression.

As a result, it’s a great place to try out a few alternative approaches before we suggest that you stay with the one that works the best for you.
Being consistent with your approach is crucial in this situation. And even if you could apply this notion to any online poker casino that offers anonymous table play, we’d emphasize it even more.

Anonymous tables very effectively eliminate any need to worry about this as neither we nor they can see each other’s identities. So they can’t follow us from table to table and attack us like a pack of wolves (or potentially like a lone wolf, as is usually the case). And while other poker sites only offer this in token amounts (and others do not at all), Bovada offers it across the board for all of its games.

As a result, whether you’re playing Pot Limit Omaha or No Limit Hold’em, other players at your table cannot see any information about you.

We are aware that some players like to play poker in a public setting because we have encountered this at other poker sites. However, when compared to playing anonymously, there isn’t much that can be gained from accessing such tables. In the end, you are safer, and it makes it difficult for predators to target someone else. An online poker room that allows for anonymous table play is always preferred over one that doesn’t even provide the option.

Downloads for MAC and Windows

The Bovada.lv poker software may be downloaded with relative ease. We’ve had downloads from other platforms where the entire process of getting the product and installing it was a complete headache. Waiting around for things to finish installation is the worst, but Bovada didn’t have a problem with it. Even if it often takes a while for the tables to load after you choose them, the software installation process itself went smoothly.

Although it’s only essential to download the poker software and click the installation button to complete the process, we appreciate that Bovada provides you with three steps to walk you through the process. You can access the software right away after creating an account, fund it, and start playing.

When downloading the software to a MAC computer, we assume that the procedure is precisely the same. Depending on the operating system of your computer, different URLs are supplied; however, the file sizes can’t really vary too much.

Poker bonuses at Bovada

We’ve accepted the truth that the majority of online poker rooms will give new players welcome bonuses and continuous promotions. One of those things that was once unusual is now very typical. When we signed up for Bovada a few years ago, we decided to take advantage of its welcome offer for new players, even if we may not have opted to take advantage of them in our very early poker playing days.

The poker room’s welcome offer consists of a 100% bonus added to your initial deposit. If you’ve ever played at an online poker site, you’re certainly familiar with how poker bonuses operate. This has a maximum value of $500. You don’t get this figurine in its whole at once; rather, Bovada lets you gradually uncover certain parts of it.

You may get the current offer from Bovada.lv in the image above right now!

In essence, this usually involves clicking the “Deposit” button next to the bonus that you want to get. The qualifying deposit for that bonus can then be made after this is added to your bonus option.

No one likes it when they play a particular poker variation when they lose a very strong hand to an even stronger hand, but Bovada Poker has an exclusive and special Bad Beat bonus to cover such eventualities.

Tip 3: Make sure you check out their website for full details of this bonus payout, which can frequently save your bankroll.

The next step is to start investing in poker games and participating in tournaments. Depending on how much rake you put into the pot in cash games or the entry fees you pay for tournaments, you will accomplish this and earn Poker Points. You can unlock and release more extra money as you accumulate Poker Points through this. Typically, you have 30 days from the activation to play through as much of the bonus as you can.

The following methods are frequently used to release the bonus:

• $25 when you earn 185 poker points,
• $20 when you earn 85 poker points,
• $50 when you earn 500 poker points,
• $150 when you reach 1,500 poker points,
• $250 when you earn 5,000 poker points.

You can claim bonuses for the online casino and sportsbook if you also plan to play there, and cryptocurrency users can also take advantage of special promotions at these Bovada websites.

Bovada Poker’s Bonus Program

Finding a rewards program on an online gaming platform makes us delighted every time. Particularly when it comes to poker rooms, this is true. Because of this, we were really delighted with the Bovada.lv offering, which awards reward points for playing at the poker room as well as the sportsbook or casino portions of the website. You can always exchange your earned points for bonuses in cash. You will move up the Bovada Rewards Tier ladder as you keep earning these. Greater rewards become available as you climb the tier ladder.

For every $1 you wager on various games and betting options, you’ll receive a different number of points. You will advance through the Starter, Rookie, Pro, and so on levels by joining this automatically until you reach the greatest level of a Hall of Fame player. As you move up these levels—each of which has three levels—you can get higher percentages of cashback (other than the lowest and highest).

The 2,500 points we needed to reach the Rookie-level were actually pretty simple for us to collect. Then, after progressing through this tier’s three levels, we barely made it into the Pro tier. Naturally, you must earn a significant number of points to advance to even higher levels. However, we are still a participant at the poker room of Bovada.lv, therefore we will carry on in the same manner in the hopes of someday being inducted into the Hall of Fame!

Poker tournaments at Bovada

We love playing in poker tournaments, therefore we are constantly looking for platforms that provide players a variety of possibilities. You won’t be disappointed because the Bovada.lv platform uses the PaiWangLuo poker network. You can participate in tournaments at a range of levels to match your skill level and personal balance from dawn till night.

The Bovada.lv poker site has tournaments as a key component, and there are choices to participate day and night.

It’s true that every platform, including Bovada, typically offers a different selection of tournament possibilities. In that regard, it is quite special. However, you won’t likely go without because almost all of them offer 9 or 10-seat tables, come with guarantees, and enhance the experience by using the freezeout structure for games. Bovada’s inclusion of the slow blinds tool, together with other factors, creates a successful formula for tournament options.

Personally, we place a lot of emphasis on the kinds of guarantees that tournaments can offer, and at this poker room, 90% of the alternatives include explicit guarantee details or function as satellites that let you enter other guarantees.

The modern layout and design of the tournament lobby make it simple to move around as well. The name of the tournament, the poker game being played there, the buy-in, and the limit are all readily visible. Additionally, you’ll get details about the tournaments’ standing and the number of players who have already signed up for them.

Because you can see the current prize for first place, second place, and so on, as well as the number of players already enrolled in the tournament, when you open one of Bovada’s tournaments to register, we are also strong fans of the way it handles its tournaments. It also provides information on the start time of the tournament and the entire prize fund, among other nuggets of knowledge.

Additionally, more details are shown when you select the “Tourney Info” button. Bovada offers a sizable amount of tournaments that don’t require re-buys or add-ons, which is something we like. In fact, almost none of the tournaments at this poker room permit re-buys or add-ons, which is a situation that appeals to us quite a bit.

Bovada Poker Traffic

We won’t mince words because we believe Bovada still doesn’t get enough credit for how well itbThe American online poker market has been struggling since the Black Friday incident of 2006. However, Bovada doesn’t seem to have been significantly impacted by that. Our main opinion on this is that Bovada has amassed a sizable fan base since it didn’t really give up on offering its casino, sportsbook, and poker room to the US market after so many sites walked out of the industry.

Of course, the fact that it has a spotless image in the US market with regard to payout timelines, no scandals, and the like has contributed to this. So much so that the majority of individuals today don’t even notice that the website no longer has a gambling license.

Being unable to monitor the number of players accessing the cash games due to the game lobby’s more modern UI makes it impossible to comprehend the level of traffic that Bovada.lv is currently experiencing. The figures listed on the tournaments tab are the only information that is currently available.

However, this does a good job of describing the volume of traffic at Bovada. In other words, there is a steady stream of players who are more than willing to participate in the variety of poker games offered there. And with the site, this has essentially always been the situation. It has developed through time to become the leading ranking platform it is today. It typically falls between numbers 5-8 in terms of global prominence, though we are inclined to think that it is closer to the higher end of this range.

Mobile Bovada Poker

We occasionally play mobile poker, as has been said. It’s a really useful benefit that online poker sites provide mobile web access to their platforms. In fact, the Bovada platform gives you the option to visit such from your Android or iOS mobile by just typing the website’s address into the browser on your device.

While many of online poker rooms have Android and IOS apps((BetOnline, Ignition Poker etc), unfortunately, Bovada.lv does not offer this. But when it comes to mobile gaming, we always find it to be a little bit simpler to access such through the web browser on our Android. It implies that we don’t need to dedicate any space on our phone to any one app. It’s not like anything is being lost because accessing Bovada.lv poker on the device’s web browser is so straightforward.

In the screenshot above, Bovada.lv presents mobile poker games flawlessly, enabling you to access tables from any location.

Bovada.lv’s mobile gambling is fantastic since you won’t sacrifice quality (or indeed, the quantity of games and tournaments that are available to you). It’s precisely like playing from your home computer because the graphics and gameplay run very smoothly on the screen of your mobile device. Should you choose, you can also make deposits and withdrawals using your mobile device.

Payouts & Deposits at Bovada Poker

Speaking of deposits and withdrawals, Bovada’s procedure for both is fairly straightforward. There are numerous payment options available for you to use for depositing purposes, but you must complete the first before you can do the second. This includes the bitcoin payment options, which not all poker websites support.

The aforementioned illustration demonstrates how easy it is to deposit money into your Bovada poker account using a variety of different payment options.

Anyone choosing to play at Bovada can use a Visa, Mastercard, American Express card, as well as Chase Quickpay, in addition to cryptocurrency. One thing to keep in mind is that we always advise using bitcoins to fund your online poker account. They just make things so much easier, and we’ll go into more detail about them soon.

Using cryptocurrencies is preferable to using any other method because there are no additional fees associated with them for making deposits or withdrawals, unlike with card transactions. Currently, visiting the Visa deposit page does indicate that your initial deposit at the poker site using this method is free, as opposed to the usual 5.9% fee. However, we have used our Visa card to deposit a few times and each time the costs were waived. The same may be possible if you deposit money into your account with a card.

Another thing to keep in mind is that using a credit card to make a deposit gives you less leeway when it comes to maximum limitations. Since you can deposit and withdraw more with cryptocurrencies than with traditional payment methods, they are considerably better for this.

Regardless, we had no issues depositing funds into our Bovada account using either our Visa debit card or our Bitcoin Cash. Both of these accepted instant deposits, allowing us to immediately begin playing poker.

Withdrawals take less time with Bitcoin compared to checks.

Online poker rooms constantly urge us to check out all the available payment options, assuming we have the means to do so. Because of this, after depositing using Bitcoin Cash and withdrawing using it, we seized the chance to deposit using Visa the following time and withdraw using a check delivered by courier.

The primary distinction between these two withdrawal options is that bitcoin transactions, after a request has been authorized, happen instantly, and they’re also less expensive than sending a check by courier. Check withdrawals require a minimum withdrawal amount of $100, and they are only permitted once every seven days, whereas Bitcoin only permits withdrawals every three days.

It’s unfortunate for card depositors because their circumstances aren’t actually all that great. But because they’re so much simpler to use for both deposits and withdrawals cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Bovada.lv will only reimburse your first withdrawal per 90 days if you choose the check-by-courier withdrawal method. The minimum withdrawal using this method is $100, and anything else you want to withdraw during this time frame will be charged a $100 processing fee. Don’t you feel that Bitcoin is now more noticeable to you than it did before?

Support for Bovada Poker players

Because everything seems to function so well at Bovada, we haven’t interacted with the customer support staff very often. It’s a noteworthy statement to be making about Bovada that we’ve used the help center more frequently than we have the support team. It can only be a good thing if we do not need to contact a support representative to follow up on a withdrawal or get the answers to specific questions.

Having said that, there is a specialized support team available if you ever need to speak with an advisor. Both a live chat option and an email address are provided. Calls can also be made to speak with someone personally, and all responses will be given to you via this within 24 hours.

Customer service has always been a pleasant experience for us. They often respond extremely quickly, will assist you to the best of their ability, and, based on previous interactions with them, that has been more than enough. When we speak to support, we are not expecting for someone to chat with us about the weather and whether we are having a good day. Instead, we are searching for help. Bovada immediately provides us with that, which we find to be a fantastic service.

Poker Bovada Rating

It’s fair to say that we had no idea how loose things would be when we went to the Bovada poker room to start playing games. When you start playing poker there, you’ll see that it’s one of the easiest platforms in many ways, even though you can’t really check any statistics regarding tables other than those for Zone Poker (which aren’t really that helpful anyway).

We remember thinking this about Bovada when we first started playing there a few years back, and it appears that this has been the case for the bulk of its existence. The site no longer shows information about typical pot sizes or flop percentages, although sources indicate that back when it did, it was averaging between 30 and 40% at 9-seat tables. That’s absurd considering that 20% was seen as a respectable level back then.

Even at 6-seater tables, this percentage may soar as high as 50%, and typical pots would be worth between 30 and 40 times the big bling. It’s not surprising that this was the case—and most likely still is—given that Bovada has always maintained a strong relationship with the players that frequent its site. It is aware of what poker gamers are seeking, thus the website has added games and offers to meet their needs.

However, it is pretty obvious that this is a persistent issue with online poker sites as well as those that serve casino players and sports bettors. Because Bovada.la has the allure of being a fantastic gambling site overall, gamblers from the sports and casino worlds can saunter over to play poker for greater thrills without truly understanding the rules of the game.

Bovada Poker Review Summary

Simply told, Bovada is among the top online poker venues currently in operation. If it was giving a poor platform, we wouldn’t have been playing there for so long and it wouldn’t have gotten to the head of the pack in the United States, now would it?

Not only does it appear professional from the outside, but its interior operations are also praiseworthy. What attracts most is the brand’s level of commitment to offering a warm, fun, and engaging gaming environment.

Then, there’s no question that you’ll be in for a treat right away once you have access to the games on the PaiWangLuo poker network. It is unfortunate that Bovada no longer offers table statistics in the lobby after losing its license a few years ago. However, they are very minor complaints in the grand scheme of things. On the website, you’ll still be able to play some of the best and simplest poker games ever, which cannot be claimed by many other companies.

Bovada also provides quite the shelter for players who own cryptocurrencies with the support that is available for bitcoin deposits. Additionally, there is mobile poker available, letting you to take the website and its games with you wherever you go. Additionally, there are many excellent options for customizing the tables.

If you can register from your area, Bovada is undoubtedly one you should try out. It’s one of our favorite poker rooms, if not our all-time favorite.

FAQs for Bovada Poker