Last updated February 5th, 2023
Visit BovadaThe well-regarded Bovada Sportsbook is established as a top online betting site for USA bettors. Of that there is little disagreement across all the online review sites. Here at USA Betting, we would go a bit further and say that Bovada is the best option in 2023 without question.
In this Bovada review, we analyze the sportsbook in sections. You could skip straight to any one of these: Bovada welcome bonuses, payouts, betting lines, history and ownership. Otherwise, please keep reading.
Pros & Cons of Bovada At A Glance
| Pros of Betting with Bovada | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Trustworthy, long established & faultless record of service. | ❌ U.S. welcome but 5 restricted states: NY, DE, MD, NV, NJ. Only Americans can join, no other nations. |
| ✅ Pay fast, good cashier system. | ❌ Sports menu system a little fiddly & needs improving. |
| ✅ Hold account & bet in Bitcoin. Crypto friendly. | |
| ✅ More sports betting markets than anyone else in U.S. space. | |
| ✅ Excellent trailblazing, proprietary software & great on mobile. | |
| ✅ Sensible welcome bonus package, with achievable rollover targets. Good rewards program. | |
| ✅ Poker & casino sites are leaders in their class. |
Who Can Join & Bet at Bovada Sportsbook?
This is a key question and that is why we have got to it so soon in this review. There are five restricted U.S. states, namely: Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, New York & Maryland.
So if you are a resident of any one of those locations then you can’t sign up, but you can join either BetOnline or Bookmaker, both of which are excellent alternatives for those restricted locations. Canadians can still join the brand that Bovada originated from, namely Bodog.
In addition, it is worth noting that only Americans are able to register. No other nationalities can have a betting account. Canadians can still join the brand that Bovada originated from, namely Bodog.
When Was Bovada Established & What’s The Story?
Although Bovada Sportsbook launched in 2011, it is a sports betting company with a much longer history. Bovada was simply the new name for the American-facing part of Bodog.
That brand did an awesome job for American bettors for over a decade leading up to 2011. At that time Bovada became the new brand responsible for Bodog’s American-based customers. Bovada continued with the same high standard of service and, even today, has close ties to Bodog.
Now Bovada has had nearly a decade standing on its own two feet, it has established an awesome reputation with USA bettors in its own right. It is a legit site that outscores its rival sportsbooks in a number of ways: betting lines, payouts, honesty, customer service, rewards program and software to name a few.
What Currencies Can You Hold A Betting Account In?
You have a choice of two currencies in which to hold your betting account: USD or bitcoin. That’s right, you can do all transactions using BTC: depositing, payouts and betting. There is no need to swap Bitcoin to US dollars when you fund your account. Every transaction can be done with BTC.
Obviously there is also the traditional USD currency option. You get to pick which one you want your account to be in when you join up.
What Betting Lines Does Bovada Offer?
This is one of the ways that Bovada outcompetes its rival sportsbooks. They all offer NFL football, MLB baseball, NHL hockey and NBA basketball. Of course they all cover the other all-American sports like NASCAR, F1 and all motor sports, golf, the US Open tennis, MLS and World and European soccer, cricket and many lesser sports in terms of handle.
Where Bovada is unassailable is on how many betting lines and markets they offer for each of these events. If we take a typical NFL game as an example. Every betting site has the moneyline, the spread and the points total. With most other oddsmakers, that is about your lot. With Bovada you will also typically be able to wager on: many alternative points and totals spreads, hundreds of prop bets, betting on the four individual quarters, wager on the halves, margin of victory, first score method, first team to 10 points, first touchdown scorer, anytime touchdown scorer and so it goes on almost endlessly.
There are over 100 extra betting lines on the one game. It’s amazing and it’s impressive and it makes for a great online sportsbook to join. That is one of the many reasons we rate Bovada as our No.1.
What Bovada Welcome Bonuses & Offers Can I Claim?
Bovada’s regular bonus in the sportsbook is 50% of your first deposit up to $250 extra. It is a great deal, but make sure you check the terms and conditions on their website to best utilize it and to acquaint yourself with any changes to the rollover requirements. This bonus can be used on sports, the racebook and the casino. The turnover requirement is 5 x on sports and the horses, while it is 30 x in the casino.
If you make a bitcoin deposit then the bonus is even bigger: 75% of the first deposit up to $750. To claim that Bitcoin offer you need to use promo code: BTCSWB750.
The poker bonus is different: 100% of your first deposit up to $500. It is released to your account the more you play.
For an in-depth analysis of all the available Bovada welcome bonuses, offers and ongoing promos, please read our USA free bets page.
Is ‘Rewards Points’ Program Any Good?
It is all well and good having great welcome bonuses, as we have outlined in this Bovada Sportsbook review above, but what about existing customers? You can earn Rewards Points every time you bet in the sportsbook, play a hand of poker or have go in the casino. Rewards Points can then be redeemed for “cash bonuses”. These free bets can be used in the casino or sportsbook and racebook. There is rollover requirement on these, but it is only 2 x for the sportsbook and the racebook, while it is 10 x in the casino.
You will also see mention of “cashback on losses” on the site. This is in addition to the Rewards Points and only happens if you have incurred a loss and don’t have much money in your Bovada betting account. You will then be given “cash bonuses.” The rollover requirement is just x 1 on this.
If these ongoing rewards and cash backs sound a little complex, don’t worry. You don’t need to opt in, jump through hoops or do a somersault to get them. They will be automatically calculated and added to your account as you play. To redeem them just go to the “Rewards Portal” and click “Get My Bonus”. It is really just a nice added extra and something that Bovada’s rivals struggle to, well, rival.
What’s The Bovada Sportsbook Software Like?
The software is slick and lightening fast. The design is modern and stylish. The menu system is a little different. The navigation is still on the left-hand side as with many websites. However once you start drilling down within a sports, say NBA, you use a central drop-down menu to find the event you are looking for.
What can catch newbies out is the “Next 24H” and “ALL” options. It defaults to the 24-hour setting, so sometimes you think the event you are after isn’t listed but you will find it if you click the “All” option because it starts in over 24 hours. It is not a big problem because you quickly learn how to use the system, but maybe they could have made it more intuitive in the first place.
The reason the menu structure gets quite detailed is simply because of the vast numbers of sports betting events within each sport. It is born out of Bovada’s excellent coverage, that we analyzed in our betting lines section of this review.
On the basis that a picture is worth a thousand words, take a look at what we mean:
Why Join?
Firstly the site is honest and that is what it is all about, especially for United States friendly sportsbooks. They have a good cashier system, meaning you get your payouts as expected. They don’t mess their bettors about and they don’t suddenly change the rules on you. This is a firm you can trust and that is the reason why, here at USA Betting, Bovada is our No.1 choice for Americans
Add to the fact that they have an easy-to-use interface with a smooth design and great search system, and you have yourself one of the foremost sportsbooks in the world.
Here is a little bit more detail about what you can find on offer there:
- Sportsbook: Bovada’s sports offerings are tremendous, with every type of betting line on all global events. US sports predominate. So anyone looking for NHL, NFL, NASCAR, MLB baseball or college games for instance will not find a bigger range of odds available anywhere else. There are all the global soccer odds and tennis is comprehensively catered for. There are all lines on politics and entertainment futures also exist. For instance at the time we wrote this review there were odds available on the current Reality TV shows.
- Racebook: If you are looking for big-race futures, such as odds for the Kentucky Derby, then you will find them in the Bovada sportsbook section under ‘Horse Racing’. If you want to wager on the daily racing then head to the racebook section which can be accessed via the tab at the top of the page named ‘Horses’. Not only will you find the location for betting on ‘Today’s Tracks’, but there are also articles and results and more. It is a very well created section, so if you like a bet on the thoroughbreds, it could be up your street.
- Poker: They offer a decent $500 poker bonus but the USP (unique selling point) of the poker tables is that you are anonymous. It means when you change table, nobody knows who you are or how you play. This anonymity has its lovers (such as us) and haters (such as pro poker players). We think it gives an advantage to newbies. The poker room is on the best USA-facing network. It is Bovada’s own software, shared with Bodog and a few other brands. It is really good.
- Casino: If you are into your progressive jackpots then you will enjoy Bovada’s casino section. When we visited for this review there were numerous of them up for grabs, one of which was at $1.6million. A big win here could prove a life-changer.
The reason they can offer such great headline figures is because their casino is part of a much larger network and that means players from many other sites are contributing to the pools that can build up. It is good for you because it means you know there will always be big pots on offer. The network is Real Time Gaming. RTG is the casino software and it supplies many different online casinos. The reason for its popularity is simply because it is so good and trusted. Obviously it is independently reviewed to ensure total randomness in the generation of its numbers.
The online casino has a couple of handy options. There is an instant play option as well as a more complete download option. You may find the former quite handy for certain games. The instant play games include some of the most popular such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat and craps. The differing slot machines and slots games are so numerous that it is almost bewildering, but in a good way. We kind of felt like the proverbial kids in that hypothetical candy store. To read more, just click this link to our dedicated Bovada Casino review.
Bovada’s Payouts, Customer Service & Trust Rating
Withdrawals are often slow at USA-focused bookies. It is one of the weaknesses of the entire industry because they are always struggling to find good payment processors. That is why it is crucial you join a site with a long history of running a decent cashier. Bovada Sportsbook is such a place.
It is one of the keys to their ongoing success, that their clients know they will get paid and, for the American-serving industry, faster than almost anywhere else. They also now accept Bitcoin, which is an amazingly convenient method of depositing and withdrawing as it does not involve a bank at all and transaction fees are virtually non-existent. This is certainly quicker than waiting for a check to arrive.
The Bovada customer service is good and accessible 24/7 by email support or by toll free phone. All the telephone numbers are listed via the ‘contact us’ tab at the top of every page.
What’s Their Mobile Site Like?
It is incredible how many people bet via their smartphones. The traffic at this USA Betting website is largely mobile, desktop is very much in the minority. That surprises the dinosaurs we have working here, although we do use smartphones! So it follows that it is crucial an online sportsbook has a great mobile interface. Bovada certainly does and it is very similar to their desktop version, just beautifully minimalist and optimized for its purpose.
Bovada Ownership & Licensing
Bovada is owned by the Morris Mohawk Group. This is headed up by CEO Alwyn Morris. Does that name ring a bell? He was a gold medal-winning canoeist in the LA 1984 Olympic games. As for the licensing, well that is provided by the Kahnawake territory near Montreal. This jurisdiction license and regulates many gambling sites, and they ensure their licensees are doing a fair and honest job. It also means that Bovada is both legit and legal.
Our Bovada Review Conclusion, Opinion & Verdict
If you are looking to join an online bookie for the first time then there is a strong argument to be made that this is the best of them. If we were allowed to join just one of the USA online gambling sites then this would be it. If you are already a member of a different bookmaker or casino and you are happy there, then it still would be worth you joining this one too. Bovada Sportsbook is such a well operated set-up that it will certainly add to your options as a bettor. USAbetting can guarantee they will be offering betting lines that your current American oddsmaker is not. So our review gives a big thumbs up to this famous online bookmaker.
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I bet on the US Presidential election result and they withheld the winnings due to me for weeks after the result was known. This is nothing more than a scam to retain my funds. I hold my account in Bitcoin and all the time the BTC price had been rising and Bovada weren't paying out, surprise, surprise. Playing for time. What a con and a scam.
Hi, we also had a bet on this market, actually with another of the top sportsbooks. They also did not settle the U.S. presidential betting market for many weeks. The reason was because Trump was challenging the election result. Obviously, were he to be successful, those players who bet on Biden would want their money, hence the impasse. So it was an issue at all sportsbooks and bookies across the world, not just Bovada. We share your frustration at the situation, but it is quite understandable that they had to wait for clarity before paying out the winning bets. We trust you have been paid now, just as we have. Thanks for your feedback.
It has been a very slow time for sport with all the cancellations. Still Bovada has offered everything it can and thought out of the box. They have had eSports and UFC among others, like the racebook, to keep things rolling.
For us Americans, this is the go-to sportsbook. There are some other good outlets if you only wager on the biggest sports betting lines. But for prop bets and more options than the other betting sites, Bovada Sportsbook is the one. I never have to worry about getting my money out. It all works as it should. Also want to give an honorable mention to their online poker site, which is also the top option for U.S. card players. I've been using both for some time.
Betting lines are good, so easy to place a wager and not had an issue with the withdrawal of funds. The thing I like a lot are the rewards points totaling up in the background. You need to bet regularly to take advantage of this, but it's always so nice to get a cash bonus to play with just when I had almost forgotten about it.
I use other sites, but the real benefit of Bovada are the multiple betting markets on each event. I enjoy golf betting and the other US oddsmakers have the lines for the outright, and some for Top 5 finish but Bovada has a lot more. They always do Top 10 finish odds, a preferred market for me. They do a ton of props on the tournaments too. Payouts good, customer service helpful.
Sure Bovada is up there with the best of the USA sportsbooks, but what sets it apart from the good ones like 5Dimes and Bookmaker is that they just have more options to wager on. If you go to an NFL game for example there are multiple markets for the matchup. It is not just moneyline, spread and total as at most betting sites. There are a load of other events too such as first half, first quarter, alternative lines spread (with 60 odd different betting lines) and so much more. It is the same for NBA games and soccer. Bovada just have more to bet on. They make the other outfits look a little lazy by comparison. Yes I see other Bovada reviews mentioning the menu system. Sure it is more complex than the standard but their site has more on it. It needs a more detailed navigation. Tbh, if you can't work out how to find the sport and games you want then you need to have a word with yourself. The other positives we know about - they are not shady or dodgy. They can be trusted. It is just a good all-round book that tries hard and offers more to the average sports bettor like me.
This is a very good site. They do genuinely have way more markets to wager on per game than any of the other offshore sportsbooks that accept Americans. Bovada are genuine too, by that I mean honest and can be trusted. The payouts are fast for an offshore site. I sometimes use bitcoin to deposit and get a withdrawal - it's the fastest method by far. I find one annoyance with these guys, and that is the menu system. It doesn't always work as it should. If I didn't know better sometimes it appears they have say no NFL games or something. You need to make sure it isn't set to 'futures' but to 'game lines' and sometimes it changes to 'futures' automatically. They need to sort the menu system out. It does work, but can easily give you events that you don't want or nothing at all. It is ok when you get used to it, but it has bugs and would be confusing for first time users. It needs making easier and more reliable. It is a small complaint for such a good betting site.
I am finding Bovada very easy to get on with. It all works remarkably simply, with no difficulties. The website is fast and takes no time to get the hang of. I use the search function a lot, to find the teams I want to wager. It's the quickest way to bring up the events I am interested in. The withdrawals are good too.
Tried them all, Bovada's sportsbook is the best for Americans, no doubt. Payouts fastest in industry, though if you use Bitcoin it is even easier with them.
Just try to get paid! Three weeks until you get the check.
Awesome is the word. I do not bet big, but I do have a lot of NFL wagers as that is the sport I follow most. Well, NBA too, oh and the ponies! Anyway I have been using Bovada Sportsbook for quite some while and it is just hassle free, no-issue wagering. I had been through a few of the rival firms, and by comparison I would rate Bovada the best. Most of my bets are in three figures. So I have no idea how they handle bigger bettors, but for anyone from zero to what I stake, they are great.
It is a difficult environment, the USA sports betting space. Bovada have dominated it for a number of years, and before that as Bodog. I have joined almost all the firms that will accept someone from the United States. Bovada still wins out because of their reliability and honesty. Not worrying about the check is key.
Been with them a couple of years. Not bad at all.
I was with Bodog and stuck with them when they changed the name to Bovada. I have accounts with a fair few sportsbooks and this is the one I am happiest with. Always helpful. Some sports lines could be up earlier sometimes.