Click to visit Bovada’s official website
If you are looking for the one-stop gambling shop, look no further than the Bovada Sports website. Among the oldest sports betting websites, Bovada has gone through a few changes, but it remains a quality online sportsbook. Covering all the sporting events, the betting markets of this popular sportsbook stretch as far as political odds and even betting on TV shows, such as American Idol, or video game tournaments, like Dota. While not the preferred betting website for sharps and those who engage in arb betting, Bovada is excellent choice for those who are simply looking to place a few bets on the football games.
The history of this online sportsbook began in the 90s, when the eccentric Calvine Ayre started the betting site under the name Bodog. People who have been betting online for a while may remember the name very well. Ayre spared no money to bring fame to the Bodog brand, with TV ads, sponsorship deals, even featuring the gambling site in a few popular video games. The gamble paid off, Bodog becoming the most recognized name in online sports betting, as well as in the poker arena. Operating during the gray days of online betting, Bodog had some issues with the US authorities (eventually settled), and the gambling company was eventually sold to Canada’s Mohawk Nation, who rebranded it to Bovada and continued to deliver the quality service its customers have been used to. And while Bodog still exists, it’s an EU-oriented betting site, accepting no US customers, those being redirected to Bovada. Regardless of the name, the core values of the brand remain unchanged – a quality product with good service.
[alert variation=”alert-info”]Funding Options[/alert]
[table style=”table-hover”]
| Method | Min | Max |
| Visa | $20 | $1,500 |
| MasterCard | $20 | $1,500 |
| Amex | $20 | $1,500 |
| Bitcoin | $10 | $5,000 |
| Other Cryptos | $10 | $5,000 |
[/table]
Funding your sportsbook account with Bovada is quite easy and convenient. It takes the three most popular credit cards, although one should keep in mind that occasionally those transactions may not go through, largely depending on your specific issuing bank. But in general, it has been reported that Bovada still remains the sports betting site with the best rate of credit card transactions. The sportsbook also utilizes Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and a few other cryptocurrencies, and those funding options, especially Bitcoin, come with even larger match bonuses. As you can see from the depositing limits above, the sportsbook doesn’t really cater to professional or high limit bettors, but those daily limits are plenty for the average customer.
Daily payout limits at Bovada are currently capped at $10,000/day (a bit more for VIP customers), which on first look may seem a bit low, but when we account for the depositing limits, it’s about inline with what one would expect. This is more of a recreational sportsbook and as such, we find those numbers to be sufficient.
Something that we feel obligated to mention is related to the speed of processing of the payouts at this sportsbook. Occasionally, those payouts may take a few days to process, which sometimes sends the less experienced bettors in a panic to post complaints on various betting forums. One thing is for certain – this sportsbook always pays, but folks need to know that Bovada also runs the most popular online casino, as well. As such, their customer base is many times larger than that of the more traditional sportsbooks. Sometimes this would lead to payout slowdowns, if by pure chance a lot of customers from all their gambling properties requests withdrawals of their winnings. This slowdown would have nothing to do with liquidity, as we noted, the book is solid financially, the payout process itself is what leads to the bottleneck. So if it happens that your payout is slower than usual – don’t panic, just be patient. It’s just the price one has to pay when betting at such a popular gambling website.
[alert variation=”alert-info”]Betting Limits and Odds[/alert]
We already discussed, that this is more of a recreational sportsbook than one geared towards the pro bettor. As such, the betting limits at Bovada reflect this notion quite well. You won’t find very high betting limits here, with the maximum wager currently being the spread on football set at $5,000, while the rest of the sports (and bets) hoover around the $2,500-$3,000 per bet. For some of the high rollers, these are not great, but anyone who bets non-professionally would find those limits more than enough. The maximum payoff per bet currently tops at $100K, so if you are one of those folks that love to go crazy with the parlays, pay attention, so you don’t be unpleasantly surprised when your wager is graded.
The situation is similar with the betting odds. Nothing amazing, no low juice, about inline with what the Vegas sportsbooks post. On the plus side, Bovada is one of the first sportsbooks to post odds on the games, thus you can get some pretty good deals if you like to shop the early odds, before the line moves under pressure from other bettors. We realize that some people like to get the most edge from the odds they could, however, wit the betting limits we just don’t see the reason to look for really sharp lines. It’s also worth mentioning that around big events, the Super Bowl, for example, Bovada likes to undercut other books, so you could get extra value for your money in those situations, too.
[alert variation=”alert-info”]Bonuses, Promotions and Rewards[/alert]
Just as you would expect from a recreational sportsbook, the bonuses and promotions are where Bovada really shines. If you like getting something for little to nothing, this is the betting sites for you. While the welcome bonus for the sportsbook is not very large (as compared to the Bovada Casino $3K welcome promo), being just $250, it’s based on a 50% match of your first deposit, and requiring only 5x rollover to cash out. In addition to the standard welcome bonus, new customers can also cash in on the $250 Bitcoin welcome bonus, doubling your reward with the sportsbook. If you like to play casino games, prepare for some serious bonuses, in the thousands.
[alert variation=”alert-info”]Customer Service[/alert]
There are plenty of ways to contact the customer service department at this sportsbook – phone, email, chat, they are always there, available to answer all your questions. We find that the staff working at the Bovada CS department are quite knowledgeable, not only about their company’s rules and offers, but with the sports betting rules and regulations. Most of the questions will be easily answered via chat, as well as solving minor problems and issues. Occasionally, the customer service may need to escalate your request up the customer service chain to a manager, in which case you should expect an answer within 24 hours.
[alert variation=”alert-info”]Other Features[/alert]
While we are reviewing the sportsbook of Bovada, the gambling company runs the most popular online casino, as well. A lot of bettors don’t shy away from the occasional video slot machine session, and if you are one of them, Bovada is probably the best gambling property to patronize on the Internet. The casino is excellent, with hundreds of fun and entertaining games, and the casino bonuses are hard to pass on. One can get up to $5,000 in bonuses for the casino side of Bovada, right from the beginning, although as it is the norm, the rollover of the casino bonuses is much higher than the sportsbook. And while the popularity of online poker appears to have been dwindling in the past few years, Bovada Poker remains one of the most frequented online poker rooms. An avid poker play would never have a hard time finding people to play against here.
The popularity of the Bovada casino has also benefited the mobile experience for the sportsbook customers, as well. Bovada spared no money to stay current with their mobile website and customers are very satisfied with the ease and the looks of their mobile offering. The mobile is so good, sometimes you wouldn’t even know that you are visiting them on a mobile device and not on a regular browser. We can only hope that an app for Android and iOS is coming in the future, to make mobile betting here even better.
[alert variation=”alert-info”]Most asked questions about Bovada[/alert]
Question: Is Bovada legit?
[alert variation=”alert-success” dismiss=”dismiss”]Answer: Yes, Bovada is a legit betting site. It also runs one of the most popular internet casinos in the world.[/alert]
Question: Does Bovada pay?
[alert variation=”alert-success” dismiss=”dismiss”]Answer: Yes, Bovada will pay out your winnings. As noted in our review, occasionally payment may be slower than usual, but it will arrive.[/alert]
Question: Does Bovada limit players?
[alert variation=”alert-warning” dismiss=”dismiss”]Answer: Yes, Bovada will limit bettors who are suspected of arbitrage betting or trading.[/alert]
Question: Is Bovada safe?
[alert variation=”alert-success” dismiss=”dismiss”]Answer: Yes, Bovada is a reputable sportsbook.[/alert]