Bodog US Poker Room Review

Bodog are a huge sportsbook and casino brand, and for many years were an ‘alternative’ smaller poker site which players went to for the occasional change of scene. With the major sites pulling out, Bodog have been catapulted into 2nd place in the US-friendly poker sites listing – and are offering their new found players some great incentives to keep playing too!

I have to note that Bodog have announced their brand is leaving the US at the end of the year. What will happen is that US players will get transitioned onto a new brand at this point. Since we have a good amount of warning, this will not be the same as the other pullouts – you will be managed (and probably offered some great incentives to continue playing!!). Non-US players will continue with the old brand under their newly won UK license.

For me the key feature of Bodog is that the sports betting and casino are integrated with the poker. I am not recommending that readers start to ‘gamble’ here – the benefit of this is the other way around. You will find a constant stream of players arriving in the poker games with nothing more than a what-hand-beats-what knowledge of poker. As you probably know, these players will be parted from their money very fast by more experienced players, adding a lot of action to the cash games up to surprisingly high levels.

Bodog have enough player  volume to give you a choice of games, especially the No-Limit Holdem cash games up to 50c / $1 and MTTs / SNGs up to $11. There are enough players for a weekly $100k guaranteed tournament, as well as a lot of smaller guarantees. You will also find reasonable action in the PLO High games for those who prefer the 4-card variations.

>> Click Now To Check Out Bodog Poker For Yourself <<

You will have a great selection of promos and bonuses to keep you topped up at Bodog, including a lot of reload bonuses! New players get a 100% matched welcome bonus, max of $1000 which clears in $5 chunks, plus entry into $15k worth of points freerolls with just 25 points collected from the tables. There is a bad-beat bonus, royal flush bonus and a change to turn points into cash. You’ll need to keep an eye on the website for the one off-promos, which change all the time – at the moment there are satellites to tournaments Caribbean paradise destinations on offer.

Welcoming US Players For The Rest Of 2011

100% to $1000 Sign-Up Bonus + Cool Promos

Lots Of 'Gamblers' From The Betting Side Of This Brand Keep The Games Pofitable!

Bodog Poker Review 2011 – Cash Game Selection

With the 2nd biggest choice of games open to US players, you will find plenty of NL Holdem cash game action and a decent chunk of Pot Limit Omaha too.  Soft games are the norm here, you will find the occasional grinder – though they are more than well balanced by the gamblers who come in from the casino or sports betting side of this brand.

Tables are 2, 6 and 9-handed with blinds starting at 2c / 5c, then 5c / 10c, 10c / 25c, 25c / 50c, 50c / $1, $1 / $2 and $3 / $6. To give you a snapshot of the action, there were 5 $2 / $4 tables and 2 $3 / $6 ones with 9 at $1 / $2 and many more at smaller buy-ins… while it is not the Pokerstars volume that many US readers were used to, there are still a choice of games and enough tables to get the 4 games Bodog allow at once running if you wish.

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Bodog Poker Review 2011 – Tournaments And SNGs Selection

Compared to the other US-Friendly sites (with the exception of Cake Poker and Carbon when they eventually return) the tournament selection at Bodog stands out as a good one. You can play a weekly flagship with $100,000 guaranteed for $162, this has plenty of satellites in tournament and Sit N Go format too. There are many mid-sized guarantees too including $10k, $7,500 and many around the $2k to $4k range.

All of the tournaments at Bodog are in NL Holdem format, with variations including double-shootouts, turbo and super-turno and rebuys. There are designated beginners tournaments which you can play for your first 30 days (extra soft fields!).  I’m recommending Bodog for those US readers who enjoy tournaments – while other sites have them, the selection and guarantees make this list stand out from the crowd!

Sit N Goes are busy up to the $13 level, as usual there is a focus on the lower buy-in levels and also on the ‘double-or-nothing’ variations which can make excellent bankroll builders. Sit N Goes at Bodog are now available in PLO (including High-Low) and 7-Stud high low as well. You get a nice mix of 2 / 6 / 10 handed games. All in all a reasonable selection for the size of the site, in fact I was pleasantly surprised that they are busier than ever, having not checked them since before Black Friday.

>> Click To Check Out The Bodog Tournament Selection For Yourself! <<

Bodog Poker Detailed Review – Software, Service And Deposits

Software, ah, the software… well, the lobby has certainly improved over the years, in fact it is quite smart these days, including collapsing sections for cash games, tournaments and sit n goes. Nothing wrong with the filters and navigation either! What always baffles me about this site are the ugly tables with their plain old hexagonally lined views. I’m going to be positive, the game play is fast and there is nothing missing as far as options go. If you are more interested in the soft games than the look of the site then it is certainly profitable to overlook the ugly table layouts!

I have dealt with the customer service at Bodog several times in the past, my advice is to get them on the phone rather than using e-mail. This turned a frustrating lack of response into having my issues solved straight away.

Service extends to the deposits and cashouts too, there are dedicated agents to help you with this process. Options for US players include credit cards (they work surprisingly often still!), instant transfers (eChecks) and bankwire. For overseas players the usual list of electronic wallets are also available. You will see live chat support at the bottom of the cashier window – please do use this, these guys are in business only because they are great at getting money transfers sorted out smoothly.

Bodog Poker Detailed Review – Summary, Rating And Next Steps

Adding together the positives have made me look at Bodog in a new light, not only are there some generous incentives on offer – starting with a 100% match up to $1000 – there is a big enough level of action on this site to keep all but the most hardened pros happy. While the software is still ugly, this is more than made up for by the soft games and nice selection of mid-range cash games and tournaments. I am almost tempted to say that US players should add a few percentage points to my 8/10 ratings for Bodog.

Make sure you check out Bodog Poker today, you’ll be surprised how soft the games are!

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More US Poker Site Reviews

Carbon Poker (temporarily stopped accepting new US players, though existing accounts can still play)

Cake Poker (Biggest site still accepting new US Players)

Doyle's Room, A review of their site on the new home of the Yatahay network.