Established in late 2011 and exclusive to US players, Bovada did not miss a beat from their decade plus of excellent customer service and timely payouts to players. The company is based in Canada and is regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.
Bovada is the largest trafficked US online poker room, which is especially impressive since they only allow a four table maximum when it comes to cash games and sit & go tournaments. At peak hours, there are over 5,000 players online. The room is generally known for its fishy, mostly recreational player base which has a steady influx of sportsbook and casinos at the poker tables.
Bovada’s software client isn’t anything noteworthy compared to the many top tier pieces of poker software on the market today, but it is fast, efficient and has all the basics you would expect. Resizable tables, four-color deck, along with default buy-in abilities are all available features.
It is worth noting that all real-money games at Bovada are fully anonymous, meaning that players won’t be playing with the typical poker screen names or aliases at the tables. Instead, each table will be randomized and listed as, “Player 1”, “Player 2” etc. This move was implemented to protect players from the professional players feeding on their new prey.
As the top American based online poker room, Bovada offers a variety of games and limits. Both No Limit and Limit Hold’em have action from the micro stakes all the way up to $10/$20 No Limit. Heads-up, 6-max and full ring options are available for all games and limits. Pot Limit Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo are both popular, as well. The room also offers Seven Card Stud and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, but there is little action to be found.
Zone Poker, Bovada’s version of PokerStars’ Zoom Poker and Full Tilt’s Rush Poker premiered in mid-2013 at Bovada, which helps side-step the four table max rule, allowing players to get hundreds of hands per hour at No Limit Hold’em.
Tournament wise, Bovada offers the highest guarantees for US customers and a large list of sit and go tournament options. There is a Nightly $10k Guaranteed and tons of smaller tournaments throughout the day. Sundays have over $170k guaranteed to players, and the flagship tournament is the Big Deal $100,000 Guaranteed which can be bought into directly for $162. Seats can be won for all these tournaments through a variety of satellites.
Newly depositing players will receive a 100% Bonus up to $1,000 when they deposit at Bovada Poker. All real money play will reward players with Poker Points which will slowly unlock the bonus amount and provide players with rewards, such as points to cash tournament buy-ins.
Bovada is one of the most trusted gambling sites online and have the fastest check payouts of any US-facing poker room. Couple that with their fishy games and top notch support staff and players have an easy winner in Bovada.
