Yes, Bovada is legit. It is not a scam because they will never steal your money or deny your payment request. And all its winners receive their money without a problem.
But does Bovada cheat its players? It the gambling site worth trying out?
Bovada says you should join the service and 'become a part of a leading betting platform'. That would suggest that Bovada is a leading betting platform.
Bovada is a trusted online gambling site offering sports betting, poker, casino games and betting on horse racing. Join today to claim your welcome bonuses! Bovada was licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission until 2016 when it allowed its licensure to lapse. For a few years, info on Bovada's licensing jurisdiction was scanty, but in late 2020, Bovada revealed that it had obtained a license from Curacao eGaming.
This Bovada review will examine the features, offerings, policies and everything else about Bovada to help you decide if the casino is a leading one as they claim and whether they are worth trying at all.
Bovada review at a glance
Bovada Casino is an online casino derived from Bodog Casino, one of the largest brands in the Internet gaming world. The casino's licence by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission has been terminated. Bovada Casino features proprietary games that are also featured on their sister casino, Bodog.
- Bovada Casino is an online gaming casino launched in 2011; Bovada offers other betting operations such as sports betting and horse racing
- Their games are from three popular gaming providers – Real-Time Gaming, Betsoft and Rival Gaming
- They offer a wide array of over 300 exciting and recreational games
- The casino is mobile compatible, and even have games exclusive to mobile devices
- They employ 128-bit encryption algorithm to secure all users' data in their systems
- They support multiple options for making deposits and withdrawals. The deposit limit are: min – $20, and max – $1,500; while the withdrawal limits are: min – $100, and max – $3,000.
- They have a high reputation for excellent customer support; and most importantly, for fast payouts
What is Bovada?
Bovada is a big name in the betting spheres; apart from the online casino, they run other betting operations such as sports betting and horse racing betting.
The online gambling site which this review is interested in taking off in 2011. In the years that follow, they have managed to create a good reputation in the industry (this review will touch this later). Bovada is owned by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group. This is the same group that owns the very popular Bodog casino from which Bovada spun off. The Bovada website is https://www.bovada.lv. It is available in English, Spanish and Chinese.
You can sign up with Bovada if you're 18 years and above. However, you'll have to check with your local laws to know if you are legally allowed to gamble. This is because many jurisdictions raise the permissible age to 21.
Signing up simply requires submitting your personal information when prompted; after that, you can proceed to make your first deposit, and then you can start placing bets on games.
Is Bovada legit?
Bovada is legit. They are and not a scam. In this section, we'll examine whether the is legit by law, whether its games are rigged, and whether it is safe to send them sensitive data.
Gaming License
There are many scammers lurking around on the internet; with some even hiding behind company names. Therefore it is wise to determine if any online group that you'll send your money to is legitimate. The very first test of a casino's legitimacy is whether they have a license to operate.
Bovada Casino used to hold a Kahnawake Gaming Commission license. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is a popular and trusted gaming regulatory body that licenses and regulates the majorly online casino, online poker rooms and online sportsbook sites.
Some have it that Bovada voluntarily relinquished its license with the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and others have it that the Kahnawake Gaming Commission terminated the license of Bovada. Whatever the case, the bottom line is that Bovada is operating without a valid license. Illegal? In the least, it means that Bovada is unregulated (read: zero protection for players).
Fairness of the games
If you are to place bets on any casino game, you need to have a chance of winning. If there's no chance that you'll win, then the games are rigged, which makes the site nothing but an official scamming house.
One way of determining that casino games are fair and 'winnable' is to look out for third party audit seals. These third-party audit seals convey that the casino games have been tested and found to be fair and random enough that players have a chance of winning.
Sadly, the Bovada game website he no such third party audit seals. Since such seals communicate the legitimacy of a casino, any casino having them openly displays them; therefore, their absence from the Bovada website is concerning. It can mean that the Bovada games have not been tested for fairness, or that the Bovada games are not fair.
Since Bovada gives us no third party audit proofs that should conclusively end the discussion about the fairness of their games; we did a little searching. The outcome was bitter-sweet.
The sweet part is that the Bovada games are the same games offered by Bodog, and the games have been verified at the Bodog website. The bitter part is that there are a lot of reviews that call out the fairness of the Bovada RNGs (Random Number Generators).
The Bovada blackjack especially seems unwinnable; if you decide to hit and bust, they'll show a slightly higher number than you have; but if you decide not to hit, they'll show a 20 or near 20. Every time, you lose; and the frequency of its occurrence makes it less random and more of a pattern.
Security and Privacy
You give up very sensitive information whenever you sign up and make use of a casino. According to the Bovada Terms and Conditions, 'If you choose to register an Account you will be required to provide your full name, address, date of birth, email address and telephone number'; and sometimes Bovada will require you to submit additional information if your identity cannot be validated. Apart from personal information, when you make deposits, you'll be submitting credit card information and the like.
I don't know anyone who'll want this information to get into the hands of hackers; I mean those who practise the dark art, that is identity thieves, cyber fraudsters etc. Therefore, you'll have to consider if the casino has a structure that protects all your information in their systems.
Games Selection And Gaming Provider
In this regard, Bovada uses a 128-bit encryption algorithm to secure all data in their system. The 128-bit encryption is one of the most secure encryption methods and is still considered unbreakable. The security of your data with Bovada is guaranteed with the encryption standard employed.
However, security-focused organizations such as banks and the military have moved to the longer key encryption (AES 256-bit) which is widely regarded as the best encryption level there currently is. Interestingly, some casinos are also using the bank-grade, military-grade top notch 256 bit; but Bovada sits with the 128-bit encryption algorithm. Should you worry? No, but just saying.
Software Providers
One of the impressive things about Bovada is that their games are from multiple online gaming software providers.
Multiple providers is an important consideration to most players because particular providers include particular graphics and game-play styles. Having games provided by different software providers ensures that the casino offers games that give players different experiences.
Bovada games are from RealTime Gaming, Betsoft and Rival gaming. These are some of the most popular names among online gaming providers.
The download-based and instant play version
Bovada, like most other game sites, provides games that can be downloaded to devices, and those that can be played directly from their servers. The download based version requires that the player has space on his/ her device to accommodate the game; the game is downloaded into the device, and the user can play it from there anytime.
The instant-play versions require that the player access and play the game through a web browser. There's no downloading required, but internet access and bandwidth are required every time to play the game.
Mobile Compatibility
The world is shifting to mobile, more time is now being spent gaming on mobile devices than on desktop. Therefore it is necessary to find a game that supports mobile devices.
Bovada says you can count on them to shift with the mobile trend. True too that the games come across as a true mobile-friendly game.
They offer a ton of mobile games that you can play while on the go. All you need do is simply log on to their site with your mobile device; the mobile-optimized version of the Bovada has the same games as the desktop casino. They even have some games that are available through mobile-only, an example is the slot game – Jackpot Piñatas.
Practice or real money play
In any gambling site, players commit real money and play to win real money or prizes. The Bovada games give this. Also, they also offer practice games that allow the players to have a gambling experience without committing real money. The account gives the player virtual money that can be placed on games; which would either be lost or won just like in a normal betting ground.
Restricted Countries
You'll need to know whether a gambling site allows players from your country before thinking of signing up. If there are strict laws restricting gambling in certain regions, casinos would understandably not support those regions.
This effectively limits the market for casinos. Few countries allowed means a small pool from which casino players can come from, and few countries restricted to mean a large pool from which casino players can co he from. Therefore, it's a big plus if a casino restricts only a few countries; and it's a minus if they restrict too many countries.
That said, Bovada is kind of aimed at US and Canada players; as a result, they restrict almost every other country in the world. That's a deliberate exaggeration, but the list of restricted countries is pretty long.
Available Banking Options
For the same reason, a player would consider whether the casino supports players from his/ her territory, a player should also check available banking options. You wouldn't want to sign up for a site only to find out that you cannot make a deposit because they do not support any payment method available in your region. Players also check whether the supported methods will afford them convenient payments. Therefore a casino should support a wide range of convenient payment methods.
Deposit Methods:
Bovada accepts many of the popular payment methods for making deposits. You can use Credit/ debit cards (Visa or MasterCard). Your first deposit made using Visa, MasterCard or American Express is free; for subsequent deposits, 5.9% fee will be charged on all Visa or MasterCard deposits, and 9.9% fee will be charged on all Amex deposits. You can also make deposits using prepaid visa cards, money transfer via Western Union (the associated fees can be between 6% and 15% of the total), and transfer via MoneyGram (transfer fees are about 5% to 10% of the total).
They have also started accepting bitcoin since 2016; you simply set up a bitcoin wallet and fund it with your credit/ debit card.
The only accepted currency is the U.S. dollars ($). The minimum deposit amount is $20 with cards and $10 with bitcoin; while the maximum deposit amount is $1,500 with cards and $5,000 with bitcoin.
Withdrawals
One of the most important areas to any casino player is payouts. When you make deposits, you are, most often than not, instantly debited; it is also almost generic that players lose bets more often than they win bets. Therefore, when you win bets you want to make sure that you can easily withdraw the money, and that the money gets to you, and fast. We'll examine the withdrawal options that Bovada makes available, and how fast they are.
There are a number of withdrawal methods supported by Bovada. The one most encouraged is physical bank cheques. This also shows that the game site is targeted at the U.S market; cheques get mailed fastly to players within allowed U.S. region. It was also interesting to know that cheque payment does not cost the player anything. Bovada also allows you to withdraw via money transfer through Western Union.
However, this option attracts a processing fee, and you'll also need to contact support. However, it is a very fast means of getting your cashouts. Lastly, Bovada allows players to make withdrawals through bitcoins.
Like every casino in the market, Bovada has a minimum and maximum withdrawal limits, which is also dependent on the payment method is chosen.
For Bitcoin withdrawals, the minimum amount is $10 while the maximum is $9,500; and the number of withdrawal that can be made is limited to one in 3 days.
Cheques by Courier has a minimum withdrawal limit of $100 and a maximum limit of $3,000, and the number of withdrawals that can be made is limited to one in 7 days.
Games that have slow payouts are usually not recommended. Bovada has a good reputation when it comes to payouts. They remain one of the fastest game sites for delivering cash-out checks. Typically, bitcoin payments take mere minutes once the transaction is confirmed, bank transfers take anything between 1 to 10 days, while checks take 7 to 28 days.
Customer Support
Customer support is always mentioned as an important consideration when deciding on gambling site. This is because it is inevitable that a casino player will have to contact the service' customer support team. When that happens, no player will love to be kept waiting for too long to be answered, or worst still to be completely ignored.
The effectiveness of a customer support service is measured by the available options for getting assistance, and the timeliness of responses obtained. Bovada supports all the popular options for initiating direct contact. This includes email support service, online ticket system, telephone support service, and live chat.
Bovada customer service scores high on virtually all reviews. They promise that their customer support team is available 24/ 7 to treat users' issues. True to that, when you send in a support ticket, they endeavour to reply within 24 hours. While this is okay; it can be improved upon to al least a few hours.
However, if you want instant responses, the live chat feature is there for you. The support staff you meet almost all the time tend to be professional, and genuinely interested in walking you through your issue. If you'll rather talk with a support rep, Bovada provides a toll-free U.S. line (1-866-234-1324).
Summary
Bovada is a legitimate gambling site and also one of the most popular betting platform in the US owing largely to other products such as sports betting and horse racing betting.
Bovada games are provided by three of the biggest online gaming providers in the industry (RealTime Gaming, Betsoft, and Rival Gaming). This already shows that there is a variety of great games to choose from. There are over 300 quality games (bettings, slots, table games, video poker and speciality games), which promises a pleasant recreational experience.
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Bovada also gives exciting bonuses which include welcome bonuses and match bonuses. For deposit, they support major credit cards, postpaid visa card, money transfer, and bitcoin. For withdrawal, they support bank cheques, money transfers, and bitcoin.
Bovada Reviews 2020
They secure players information in their system using 128-bit encryption, they have excellent customer service; and they have a reputation of being one of the fastest (if not the fastest) casino when it comes to paying out winnings.
However, despite ticking a lot of the right boxes, Bovada still does not get the 'recommended' status in many reviews. Players from too many countries are restricted from using Bovada; this is a minus, but one that can be overlooked.
What cannot be overlooked has to do with the very legitimacy of the gambling site; that is, the licensing of games, as well as the fairness of the games in the games.
Is Bovada Reputable
The game is now operating without a valid license which, in the least, means it is unregulated, and users have zero protection. Also, there are no third-party audit seals that declare the games fair; and there are too many reports of the casino's RNGs showing a pattern (favouring the dealer) instead of being random.
