Bovada Review

Bovada Sports is an online sportsbook operated as part of the larger platform of Bovada products. The site also operates a casino, racebook, and poker room. Bovada is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and services only the North American market. If you live outside of the US or Canada, you aren’t allowed to open a Bovada account. As a consequence the site only does business in American currency. Bovada is now owned and operated independently of Bodog by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, though originally it was a US-facing spinoff of that brand.

Operator Info

1-5 days Payout Speed
$3k / check Withdrawal Limit
6 Years in Business

Established 2011

Licensed By Kahnawake

Payment Options

  • Bitcoin
  • MasterCard
  • MoneyGram
  • Person to Person
  • Visa
  • Western Union

Banking

Because Bovada deals with Americans and Canadians, customers whose access to major payment methods is tentative or complete cut off, the number of banking methods available is extremely limited.

Bovada customers can pick from three available deposit methods:

  • VISA/MasterCard – Requires a 5% fee. May not work for all customers.
  • Western Union – Requires a hefty fee of 6-15%. Bovada will reimburse you for fees incurred for making a deposit of $300 or more.
  • Moneygram – Requires a slightly lower fee than Western Union. Bovada will reimburse you for fees incurred for making a deposit of $300 or more.

When it comes time to withdraw winnings, three methods are available:

  • Western Union – You can only use this method if you deposited via Western Union.
  • Moneygram – You can only use this method if you deposited via Moneygram.
  • Check – Available at no cost to you. May take 2-3 weeks for delivery.

After a year of membership, you can apply to earn access to direct bank deposits and withdrawals.

If you wish to learn in detail about Bovada banking methods, click here.

Bonuses & Promotions

Two of Bovada’s bonuses are aimed directly at sportsbook customers:

$250 Sports Welcome Bonus

First-time depositors to the sportsbook are eligible for a 100% deposit match bonus worth up to $250. A rollover requirement of 5x deposit plus bonus is in place. Bets on any sport, wager type, or odds are eligible for clearing this rollover requirement.

Refer-a-Friend Bonus

With Bovada’s referral offer, you can earn 200% of your friends’ qualifying deposits up to $100. Bovada offers an unlimited number of referral bonuses, but limits customers to $200 in referral bonus withdrawals per month. A rollover requirement of 5x the bonus is in place.

Read through Bovada’s terms and conditions for these bonuses before you decide to join and chase the free cash. Both of these bonuses have rollover requirements that make them totally worthwhile for a lot of sports bettors, but you need to read the fine print to know if the bonus is something you’re interested in. Kudos to Bovada for making their bonus T&C’s easy to find and easy to read.

Learn more about Bovada bonuses here.

Design & Interface

Bovada’s overall design and interface is nothing special. It looks clean, meaning all the text is easy to read, and it is simple to use, because everything is exactly where you think it should be. It’s intuitive and easy on the eyes; so even if it won’t win any design awards, it earns my thumbs-up.

You’ll find all the available markets listed on the left-hand column, as well as a list you can customize to include your favorite sports without the need to scroll through the whole list. Major events and announcements are available right in the center of your screen. A set of tabs at the top allows you to switch between lines. Links to prop bets and live wager options are located a single click away.

I do want to brag on Bovada’s Bet Slip design. Your bet slip is automatically compiled when you click any check box next to an available wager. You can even click and bet by risk amount, win amount, or as part of a larger parlay at a single extra click. Your bet slip will stay current no matter where on the sit you navigate.

Now, let’s talk about Bovada’s Live Betting feature. Bovada doesn’t currently operate any kind of streaming service whereby you can watch the match as you wait for your wager, but a nice little pictorial representation of the event pops up at the top, updating with new scores and game news.

As for the list of available markets – it’s hard to say, exactly. Because of the nature of live betting, the markets available in this category will change from time to time. As sports go in and out of season, the list of sports Bovada provides live bets for takes on the character of the time of year. For instance, here’s the list of markets with available live wagers on the day I wrote this review:

  • Basketball
  • Tennis
  • Soccer
  • Baseball
  • Golf

Available Betting Markets

  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Soccer
  • Tennis
  • UFC/MMA
  • Golf
  • Hockey
  • Boxing
  • Motor Sports
  • E-Sports
  • Rugby League
  • Rugby Union
  • Cricket
  • Darts
  • Snooker
  • Horse Racing
  • Aussie Rules
  • Entertainment
  • Politics
  • Futures

Conclusion

I recommend Bovada Sports to American and Canadian sports bettors all the time. The interface is easy to use, the list of available markets is growing, and customer service works 24/7/365. Because Bovada is aimed exclusively at Americans and Canadians, North American customers will have few of the troubles they face at other sportsbook sites. If you like casino games, betting on horses, or head-to-head poker, this all-in-one site will be even more appealing to you.