Bovada Poker

Bovada Poker

Bovada.lv is one of the longest-standing poker brands serving the United States. It was launched in 2011 as an offshoot of the respected Bodog gaming empire. Bovada exclusively traffics in the United States although in the past, it was active in other markets too, like Latin America. The site is not licensed by any US state but it is able to operate in nearly all of them.

Site Size and Player Traffic

Bovada, in conjunction with PaiWangLuo Network1 partner <a href="https://poker.fandom.com/wiki/Ignition_Poker">Ignition Casino Poker</a>, represents the largest online poker room available to US-based players. It has both cash games and tournaments happening virtually all the time. Like many other US-facing sites, Bovada sees a lot of its action towards the lower end of the stakes spectrum at non-peak hours. During peak hours, active games can be found at most every blind level.

Zone poker lobby

Software Offering

Bovada2 offers its own proprietary software that lends itself to usability. The poker lobby allows for the segregation of game by type and stake level. Included in these options are cash games, Sit & Gos, tournaments, and a separate section for Zone Poker – a fast-fold poker variant that lets players receive a new hand upon folding the previous one, speeding up the gameplay significantly.

Bovada has set itself apart from most other competitors by being one of the first brands to offer anonymous tables. Instead of screen names and other identifiers, players will see generic designations, like “Player 1,” “Player 2,” “Player 3,” et cetera. This makes it nearly impossible for individuals to track and identify other players with tracking tools. What’s more, it allows for a player’s own privacy to be protected at all times.

Games on Offer

In terms of the selection of cash games, NLHE, PLO, PLO/8, L08, and FLHE are all present. These games are available in heads-up, six-player, and nine-player varieties with stakes arranged from micro to high. Most of the active games will be found at the micro- and low-stakes levels throughout the day, but at peak hours, the medium- and high-stakes tables are also occupied.

The games range from as small as $0.02/$0.05 to as high as $10/$20 in big-bet formats while climbing as high as $30/$60 in fixed-limit forms of poker. No Limit Hold’em is the most widely-played game on the site, but most other variants see at least some action.

Rather than the traditional lobby and waitlist that most other poker rooms offer, Bovada has a Quick Seat feature that chooses a table automatically based on parameters selected by the player. Quick Seating mandates that players choose a game type, stake level, and table size, and they will then be automatically taken to a table that matches their demands.

$1 / $2 cash game on Bovada

Tournaments and Sit n Gos

Bovada’s tournaments are a major feature of the site, totaling more than $1.5 million in guaranteed prizes every week. Buy-ins for tournaments can range from as little as $1 to as high as $300 and beyond.

There is a weekly Sunday tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000 that can be bought into for $162.

Something worth noting about Bovada’s tournaments is that they do not offer many opportunities to buy back in multiple times. In fact, many events do not offer players any opportunity to rebuy.

Texas Hold’em tournaments make up the large majority of those on offer, however there is a reasonably even spread of game types in the tournament lobby especially on weekends.

Tournaments at Bovada can grow rather large especially when one of the site's recurring series is running, like the Golden Spade Poker Open3. These massive events feature a number of qualifying routes as well as direct buy-ins, and the prizes are always significant in size. The exact sum of cash awarded in these large series always varies, but it regularly reaches into the seven figures.

Sit n Go tournaments span across many types, including Double Ups, Triple Ups, Regular, Turbo, Heads-Up, 6 player, and 18 player. Buy-ins for these tournaments can be as small as $1, however the high-end SNG buyins exceed $200. The majority of SNG events are made up of No Limit Hold’em, but Omaha game types can also be found.

Jackpot Sit & Gos are a three-person type of SNG where multipliers determine the prize pool. This is an event that can drastically increase the amount of money the eventual winner will walk away with should the right multiplier be hit.

Casino and Sportsbook

Bovada is also home to a sportsbook and casino in addition to its poker offering. The sportsbook, as it mainly targets a United States audience, focuses heavily on the sports and leagues most popular throughout North America. The casino was once small and not especially noteworthy; however, Bovada seems to be putting an increasing emphasis on this product in recent years.

Regulatory Bodies and Owners

Bovada was owned and operated by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group4 since 2011 when it was completely disassociated from the Calvin Ayre name, which had come under fire. Since that time, however, corporate restructurings and sales have made it unclear what the ownership structure of the company is.

Though there is no US regulatory body governing the actions of Bovada, the brand has become known as one that can be trusted by players the world over. There are a few states from which Bovada refuses to accept sign-ups: Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada.

References

1. http://www.paiwangluo.hk

2. https://www.bovada.lv/poker

3. https://professionalrakeback.com/golden-spade-poker-open

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Mohawk_Gaming_Group