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BODOG POKER REVIEW INFO |
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BODOG POKER REVIEW SCORES |
 4.50 / 5.00
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| Poker Reviews: |
4.50 |
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| PokerRoomReview.com: |
A |
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| PokerListings.com: |
7.1/10 |
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 4.50 / 5.00 |
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Bodog's poker room has really filled out in the last year, as one of their own, Jamie Gold took home poker's top prize (WSOP Main Event) in 2006. Add that to the fact that Bodog still allows US players, and the site has been able to maintain a nice growth rate. With a full load of Texas Hold'em games, fully reliable deposit and withdrawal methods, user friendly software, and an automatic up front bonus that can immediately have you playing with free money, Bodog is one of the best rooms around, taking home a 4.50 out of 5.00 on my ratings system.
While their deposit methods differ depending on the country you’re investing from, Bodog takes Visa, MasterCard, eWalletXpress, and NuCharge from United States residents. All these methods are safe, secure, and easy to use. There is no clear cut maximum deposit, though there are limits from method to method. For all four of the funding methods, the minimum deposit and withdrawal is $20, making this part of the site more user friendly than most others. Smaller deposits and withdrawals makes it easier for the average player to get in and out. Because of their insistence to make sure safety and security comes first, Bodog’s payout times at this time are longer than usual. They have taking steps to reduce the current delays. As of 6/28/2007, the average payout time for a check by courier (FedEx) is 15-20 business days. While this is not a best case scenario, the price it cost to make sure every transaction from Bodog to me is secure and private is fully worth a longer wait.
While the good, helpful people at Bodog give their players plenty of options to improve their overall poker play, some of which include free poker schools, 24 hour service help, advice columns, and guides to learn how to play all their online games, it seems that very few of the people who are actually playing are paying much attention to that aspect of the site. Yes, the general consensus is that Bodog has some of the softest poker in the industry. This makes for a great opportunity for skilled players to take advantage of long term profits. From time to time, you’ll have bad players taking your money on bad beats and suck-outs, but hang in there, and even rookie players can find profit.
Bodog may not have the overall variety of poker games that some of the competition has to offer, but they surely have plenty of Texas Hold Em tables to offer. The poker tournaments all run very smoothly, have plenty of buy-in options and free rolls run every single day. In their Poker room Bodog offers cash games ranging from $.05/$.10, up to $30/60 Limit, and $10/20 NL.
Limits: 5c/10c up to $30/$60 No-Limit: 5c/10c up to $10/$20
Games Selection:Hold 'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 card stud, 7 card stud Hi/Lo, 5 card stud
Ring Games: Bodog has a plethora of game play options for all levels of players; Hold'em limit, pot limit, and No limit; Omaha hi and hi/lo PL and Limit; Stud and Stud Hi/Lo Limit; but most of the action remains at the Hold’em tables. Limits include anywhere from; $.05/.10 to $30/60. The variety isn’t really there, as that’s one of Bodog’s only drawbacks, but the number of options at Poker’s most popular game is perfect. There seems to be cash games open at all hours, as many different players from many different time-zones take part in the sit. The low level games give newer players a chance to slowly build themselves up to the bigger money tables.
Tournaments: There are always tournament possibilities at Bodog. With a varied amount of buy-in prices, they are guaranteed to have a tournament for you. Multi-Table Tournaments, Freerolls, Bodog Poker Point Tournaments (The points you win can be used for buy-ins at cash tournaments), Satellites or ‘qualifiers’ (win here to get into bigger tournaments), Multi Table SNG’s, and Re-Buy Tournaments. Many of the tournaments have different settings for maximum and minimum players, while some are limitless. If you don’t have all the time in the world on your hands, try a sit and go. On top of their freerolls, the range of buy-in tournaments starts at $1 and tops out at just under $300. Bodog Poker offers a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament for $100 buy-in every single week. There are plenty of satellites for this tournament, buy-ins being as low as $1. Lastly, there are also satellites which award $12,000 prize packages to the World Series of Poker Main Event and a variety of other World Poker Tour events!
Sit and Go: Aside from the Multi-Table sit and go’s, there are also regular sit and go’s where blinds go up every 10 minutes, Turbo SNG’s where they go up every 5 minutes, and Super SNG’s which go up every 3 minutes. Bodog also has SNG – Short Handed Tournaments that payout well if you can’t play a full table, as they even have a "heads up" option. These tournaments are known to be exciting and fast paced.
The Bodog Poker software is smooth and easy to use. While the stats available to players are right in front of you and easy to find, Bodog lacks the major statistic representing the number of hands played per hour. Aside from that, the average pot size and frequency of flops seen are both available. The interaction with fellow players is also fun and easy, and the gathering of knowledge about your peers can easily be written down in the ‘notes’ section (this tool is something every player should use). You can play at 3 tables, and are always placed at the centre of the table. There are many options at the download stage that cater to each player’s own needs, including the option to have multiple windows for playing different tables or to just have smaller tables attached to the lobby. It’s nice to have a choice. The visual aesthetic is nice, not too bright or colorful, but easy on the eyes and smooth. There have been some players that don’t like the small size of the cards, but I find them easy enough to see, and they don’t dominate the screen. That brings me to one of my favorite options at Bodog, the ability to have your cards left visible for the entire hand so that you get to see exactly what you would’ve had if you had played the hand out. At house games I never seem to have trouble remembering what I had, but in online poker rooms I’ve been known to forget my cards (especially when playing multiple tables) and thus Bodog’s option helps me pay more attention to the table.
In the last couple of years and especially since the laws in the US have some major poker sites disallowing US players, Bodog has been moving on up. In comparison with some of the sites that no longer allow US residents, Bodog’s traffic is solid. On average, the houses from 5,000 to 7,000 players but can get as high as 15,000 during big tournament times. Because of their continuing allegiance with US players, the site continues to grow daily. With all of the different time zones involved with the site, finding a cash game at any time, day or night, seems to be relatively simple. Since Jamie Gold (who supports Bodog) won last years’ Main Event, the site has been moving on up.
Bodog was founded in 1994 as Bodog.com Entertainment. With its head office located in the Caribbean nation of Antigua, it is one of the fastest growing media and digital entertainment giants in the world. Bodog.com isn’t just a poker room, but also offers a variety of entertainment services, including: online gaming; and international record label; Bodog Battle of the Bands; a publishing division (a magazine, Bodog Nation, and blog, Bodog Beat); and BodogTV, which has produced reality television series, such as BodogFight, Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker and Bodog Salutes the Troops. Truly Bodog is ready to stick its nose in any situation they can boost their gains.
Bodog.com is licensed by the United Kingdom and Kahnawake, Canada. In 2004, Bodog.com became the first company of its kind to have its name trademarked in the United States.
Bodog’s founder, Calvin Ayre, was featured on the cover of Forbes magazine's recent best-selling "Billionaires" issue.
One of Team Bodog's own (Jamie Gold) won the 2006 World Series of Poker's Main Event, helping Bodog’s image just a little bit.
In 2006, Casino Player Magazine ranked Bodog.com No. 1 for having the best customer service and best casino promotions in the online gaming industry.
The rake is the online standard of 5% at a ten person table with a maximum of $3, regardless of the pot’s stakes. It does vary, however, between the numbers of players at the table. In addition, Bodog takes no rake from the pot, no matter how large, if there isn’t a flop.
While Bodog’s bonus of 10% might not match some of their nearest competition, surely an automatic installment of 10% of your investment isn’t a bad thing. There are no points to be won, no amount of games to be played, or any other pot seeing, point winning notion that could eliminate your chance at the bonus money. There isn’t as much to be had, but what they advertise is what you get, without any frills or gimmicks, you’ll soon be playing with there money.
It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3… You initially deposit $500 into your poker account. As a first time player, you immediately get $50 extra to start playing with. And that’s it. The only restriction is that you must earn 3 Bodog poker points for every bonus dollar before cashing out.
It may not be the 100% matched bonus that sites like Full Tilt offers, but you don’t have to play any number of days or hands to see your money. It’s just there. There’s something to be said for that.
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