Bovada.lv – Legality, Licensing [2023]

Bovada is the number 1 Online Casino, Poker, SportsBook and Racebook in the US. This is a review of their Legality and Licensing for US Players

Bovada is a long standing online casino for US Players, with over 20 years of experience in the iGaming industry. They offer an expansive range of gaming that includes sports betting, esports, poker and of course casino.

For many US players, often it is difficult to ascertain that validity and legality of playing at Bovada. Hence, in this article, we explain the licensing and jurisidction of Bovada, the legality of its operations and playing at Bovada, the pros and cons of playing at Bovada, including an update of their games and payment methods.

Update: Bovada is well known for its various payout methods that are reliable, efficient and without hassle. Bovada have improved the speed of payouts with the introduction of Bitcoin. You can now request to have your winnings cashout in Bitcoin, which averages 15 minutes per a transaction.

Read further, for an updated US Citizen guide for playing at Bovada.

Key Information

• Website: bovada.lv
• Welcome Bonus: 100% up to $1,000
• Updated: Welcome Bonus BTC: 150% up to $1,500
• Games: Blackjack, Roulette, Slots, Baccarat, Sic Bo, Dai Sai, Dragon Tiger, Craps, Sports betting, Video Poker, 3 Reel, 5 Reel, In-game betting, Texas Hold’em Poker, eSports, Virtual Sports, Live Casino

Is Bovada Legal and Licensed?

It may come as a surprise to many, however, Bovada.lv is not have a license that is accepted by the US. To clarify, Bovada is licensed with the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. (A reinstatement of the Bodog license). However, the US doesnot recognise offshore licensing within the State jurisdiction.

That said, Bovada is permitted to operate legally within the majority of US States. The impostion of restrictions fall upon payment providers, which excludes the specific operation of an online casino. You will therefore find that there are some banking institutions in the US that will not faciliate deposits to Bovada. To avoid any difficulties with deposting, most players are turning towards using Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.

The laws that Bovada must abide by are the Canadian laws in the territory of Kahnawake. These fall outside US jurisdition and therefore Bovada is legally allowed to operate and accept US Players.

Bovada Games

Bovada has an expansive range of betting that covers all forms of gambing. You name it, they got it. From traditonal casino games to the latest in esports, you will be able to bet on anything.

Casino Games

Starting with its casino games, Bovada has partnered with the most reputable of iGaming Software developers with its origins from the US – RealTime Gaming (RTG). If you haven’t heard of RealTime Gaming, you can Google them, and you will find an extensive coverage of their games. In addition to RealTime Gaming, Bovada has also partnered Betsoft. Together with these two gaming platform providers, Bovada has on offer over three hundred casino games to choose from. Please note, these games exclude Live Casino gaming, and only covers RNG gaming.

Blackjack – Bovada offers the classic blackjack, 21, pontoon, and all the other variations of blackjack.

Roulette – American, European and French

Baccarat – Traditional Baccarat, Mini Baccarat

Slots – Traditional, Fruit, 3 Reel, 5 Reel, various denominations, various themes.

Casino Welcome Bonus

Bovada offers a substantial Welcome Bonus for US Players. By far larger that most online casinos that accept US Players

• Bonus Code: NEWWELCOME
• Initial Deposit: 100% up to $1,000
• Total Deposit Bonus Package: $3,000

Update: For more bang for your buck, you can sign up with Bitcoin. This is by far the most competitive Welcome Bonus package that we have seen for US Players.

• Bitcoin Bonus Code: BVCBITCOIN150
• Initial Deposit: 150% up to $1,500
• Total Deposit Bonus Package $4,500

Live Casino

Live Casino gaming is recent addition to the gaming selection of Bovada. Live Casino has boomed in popularity due to the covid-19 pandemic, with many US players searching for Bovada Live Casino games.

At Bovada, you will find a limited number of options. Though limited, they are very good quality, and cover all the traditional casino table games that you would find at a land-based casino.

The core Live Casino games include: Blackjack, Roulette and Baccarat.

You can have HD streaming through to your mobile device, and play with the same experience of that in a land-based casino. All through the safety and convenience from your home (or anywhere of your choosing).

Note: Casino Bonuses often do NOT apply to Live Casino game. At the time of writing Bovada do NOT include Live Casino gaming as permissible for meeting Wagering Requirements. The Terms and Conditions change regularly, so check up on the T&C’s if you are unsure.

Sports Betting

The Bovada sportsbook is the best we have seen from any US sports betting site. It is professional, efficient and easy to use. Offering wagering on nearly anything that you can bet on. NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, through to the other corners of the world, such as Cricket, Golf, Tennis, and now including eSports. They also have exotic betting, which covers election results, reality TV show outcomes etc.

The range of betting options that Bovada offers is truly mind boggling. There are so many to choose from. They have the simple totals, spread betting, money line, and in-game live betting as well. They unfortunately, don’t have the Asian betting style odds.

Its mobile betting app is fast and quick to place a “Quick Bet” on. Speed is of the essence when live betting, hence the layout and user interface is quick for mobile app bettors. A couple of clicks and you can place a bet while a sports game is being played. The odds are fair and are in-line with market.

Sports Book Bonuses

• New Bettor Sign Up: 50% up to $250
• Bonus Code: N/A

Updated:

• New Bettor Sign Up Bitcoin: 50% up to $500
• Bonus Code BTC: BVSBITCOIN50.

Wagering Requirements are $3,750 to be wagered to meet withdrawing thresholds for the BTC Welcome Bonus

Horse Racing

Alongside sports betting is an extensive number of US and international racetracks covered. Bovada has the ability to offer bets on racing nearly anywhere in the world, due to its scale. With large coverage, horse racing extends to the UK, Ireland, Australia, and other nations with racing. Not only limited to thoroughbred, throw in harness racing.

Greyhound

Unfortunately, for the greyhound lovers, this is not offered by Bovada. However, we expect that this will change soon, due to the opening of markets in the US.

Poker Room

Bovada Poker is part of the PWL (Pai Wang Luo) iGaming network. PWL is an extensive poker program that is one of the largest in the world, operating in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, United States, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Due to the many existing players, great bonuses, and fantastic features, many US players are drawn to playing at Bovada. A special feature that makes Bovada Poker unique is that players are assigned to rooms in anonymity. This prevents players from knowing exactly who they are playing against, removing collaboration and the ability to track player poker “tells”.

In addition there are various types of poker events that players can participate in. There is something for everyone at all player levels.

Bovada US Payment Methods

Age Verification

You must first provide identification to Bovada to prove that you are 18 years or older. In addition, your details will be used to correlate to the deposit method that you choose to use.

Update: Now that Bovada accepts Bitcoin, the deposit method is even faster. Choosing to deposit with Bitcoin is faster with less paperwork, and less time for processing.

Deposit Methods:

• Visa – Min $20 Max $1,500, 5.9% transaction fee
• MasterCard – Min $20 Max $1,500, 5.9% transaction fee
• American Express – Min $20 Max $1,500, 9.9% transaction fee
• Bitcoin – Min $20 Max $5,000, zero transaction fees
• Bitcoin Cash – Min $20 Max $5,000, zero transactioin fees

Withdrawal Methods

The withdrawal methods can vary from the deposit, except for bitcoin. If you choose deposit with bitcoin, you have the benefit of also withdrawing with bitcoin.

Customer Support

• Bovada Hotline- 1-888-263-0000 or
• Live Chat

History of Bovada in the US

The origins of Bovada stems from the initial launch of Bodog Casino over 20 years ago. The reputation of Bodog left a lot to be desired, i.e. it wasn’t the most reputable of operations. Its licensing was with the Canadian territory of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which evetually became rescinded for reasons unknown. Without speculating too much into details, its fair to say, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission would have substantial evidence to support rescinding an application for a gambling license. The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is one of the most respected licensing jurisdictions in the world.

Consequently, the Bodog Online Casino was shut down in 2004. Not only due to licensing difficulties, but also because of the US government’s hard stance of banning the faciliation of casino wagering by banks and other financial institutions for US citizens. To be fair, the change in law impacted the entire online casino industry in the US, not just Bodog.

Eight years later, the Bovada Casino brand was create by the Best Partners interactive gaming group through the acquisition of Calvin Ayre. The name Bovada is derived from Bodog and Nevada. The domain name extension actually comes from the country code .lv, but is a clever branding excercise to also denote Las Vegas.

Best Partners has a wide range of online casinos that includes:

• Bovada.lv
• Bodog
• Bodog88
• Ignition Casino
• Slots.lv
• Slots.com
• Cafe Casino
• Bumbet
• Joe Fortune

FAQ