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I had occasionally put a small deposit on the what is now Boavada poker site which used to be Bodog. It changed just recently. I began to start having my doubts as to weather or not the site was somehow corrupt or fixed considering the abnormal things that would occur during play. When i say abnormal i guess you just need to be a player and experience what i had while playing on the site. It seems like hands were fixed and various other things. Unfortunately i can not show any physical proof as to what i am saying but making a complaint just makes me feel better. On new years day I put 30 dollars on the site and began playing. I did ok in the beginning and thought ok maybe this isn't so bad. However a couple days later once i had built the funds up it was literally like they flipped a lose switch on my playing. For two days straight they literally drained my money out. I am a pretty solid player to and i came to the definite conclusion that the site is absolutely fixed. The things that happened to me over the last two days have been nothing less than completely bogus. I don't care if anyone believes me but I am gonna make the complaint anyway as at least a warning to anyone who dares put their money on the Bovada site. They are very slick to with the way they arrange it all so beware of underlying deception. Also to top it off their payout process and methods are totally ridiculous and it takes weeks before you even get a check and you are lucky if it will even cash at a bank. Also you can only make one free cashout per calender month otherwise its a fifty dollar charge to get your money which like i said doesn't even arrive until weeks later.
Ok, listen up everyone. I am a poker pro with a world ranking and I have played on several sites. I used to agree with this years ago when I was less experienced and believe me, I have wanted to quit the game and jump off a bridge with the way things run online and the crazy things that happen. But here is the fact: I have cashed out over 6, 000 dollars on Bovada since beginning in August 2012 with one 200 dollar deposit. I build it up to 2, 000 and i take out 1, 500 leaving me 500 to play. I have done this several times. I always get my check in a timely manner and the check always clears. Remember it could be coming from Taiwan. It takes time and it comes courier DHL or Fed Ex which is why there is a charge if you take out money more than once a month. I think it is nice actually that they give you this free. It is an expense for them and not coming US Mail. So heres the thing. All players think they are better than they are. Remember you are talking about playing other people in this game and there are a lot of bad ones. While bad beats happen and variances occur it is the players job to play well, read the board, control the betting and know when to get out. There is a lot to know and I doubt someone playing small stakes against bad players with a 30 dollar deposit is a good judge. I play the highest stakes on the site and if i go down to small stakes, guess what? I lose because you can't beat every bad player. They are going to get lucky and they don't think the same way as a good player. There is not enough time to give a poker lesson here but the game is about levels of understanding. Thats why chess players, really intelligent people, economists, pshcologists do well in this game. You need to study and you need to work hard at this game to be good and win regularly. Yes the things that happen in poker online is maddening. I have wanted to quit...I have screamed...I have pulled the hair out of my head and I have wanted to kill someone but guess what? The site may be built for action, yes. Maybe the lead changes hands a lot at each stage of betting and crazy things like 2 fullhouses with quads on the river happen but this happens live too! My best friend who is an excellent player is about to give up the game over the bad beats he gets in live play...stories you would not believe! And that's live. The best poker pros in the world can go an entire year or more of "running bad" and lose millions of dollars. You need to be humble in this game and this game will humble you. If you do not have respect for your opponent or the game, you will lose. If you get mad, you will lose. And if you don't understand pot odds, position or people, you will lose. Study up...suck it up...and check your ego at the door when you sit down to play. Practice, practice, practice and accept that there is a small percentage of luck in this game but that small percentage can kick your ###! Variance happens and bad players are the ones who are going to benefit from it. Don't expect the bad players to think like you or play like you. They don't...they are bad. And the only way they are going to win is to get lucky. They know this...they rely on it...and fish need to eat too sometimes. Control the size of the pot and leave yourself a way out if you need to. Stop shoving. Less is more sometimes and know who you are playing. It's not easy but if it were everyone would win.
If you don't agree that the site is Totally RIGGED than you are either on the con yourself or you are being paid to say this. Yesterday I played in a 3 table tournament. player #15 or 27, went all in 7 hands in a row and played crazy hands like K 10 off or 8 9 off and won every time with a straight. It was crazy that at the beginning of the tournament play#15 went all in hand after hand and won every time I was the 7th he took out. I stayed at the table just to watch what was going on and every single hand he played he won. he called all in many times with 7 Q and won with a set or 4 of a kind. Player #15 won every single hand that he played. He had to have know what everyone's cards were as well as what all 5 cards were going to be. I had planned on using the replay feature today and record the whole thing and post it on YOUTUBE, Amazingly today the site is down today for some maintenance. I would have never thought it was rigged but it has to be. If this company was smart they would try to hide it. this was unbelievable # RIP-OFF
this site has gotten worse, done with it, not worth playing, no wonder the government wants to shut down Internet poker
You are all ###ing noobs. You suck at poker and think it is rigged because you lose. ### happens, thats poker. You try dealing that many hands and some crazy ### will happen. Give up losers
I confronted this site repeatedly via emails and they could deny nothing that I said. The reason for the numbered players is because many are software generated. 100% true and they could not deny it or provide proof of any actual player that I claimed was not real. You are playing against 75% computer created players. You can see this for yourself by timing the speeds of the play or trying to communicate with suspected non-players. They started this practice years ago and unfortunately not the first to use it. It started when they couldn't meet the amount of players in guaranteed payout tourneys. They filled the low traffic by adding fake players because they figured the more Bots they have advancing to the money, the less they have to payout to real players. Bovada is in my top three of most crooked and corrupt online poker sites. Please do not ever put one dime onto this site because it is a scam. By the way, if they do ever let you win some money, they will still get a huge cut because they charge ridiculous fees to withdraw or deposit money on their fake site. This is one site that I believe is so corrupt and dirty that legal action should be taken against them.
I have been playing online (poker and casino) for well over a decade. I have had my ups and downs but always received what I thought I was paying for which was an opportunity to make money. In the days when pokerstars, full tilt, and back in the day party poker existed as USA options, I made many deposits and withdrawals without issue. I never feared my money was not "safe" and that I wouldn't be paid when I won. For the past 4 months or so I have played on Bovada. There have been many red flags that should have stopped me... only a few tables had "cash players" on them; players were identified by number and not name, etc. Also, the deposit "fees" are truly ridiculous (4.9% and then another separate conversion "fee"). I made a number of deposits over the past several months and then there are others were simply were not made by me. I noticed a pattern that whenever I increased my casino wager, I would win. Decrease the wager, then I would lose. Every session I would build up to $[protected]. I have played enough to recognize the pattern of reduce bet lose, increase bet win. This mind game continues until the winnings are blown. Well during all of this I'm waiting for a withdrawal (of less than $1000) for well over 1 month. Meanwhile I successfully make deposits with about a 10% surcharge that are approved instantaneously. What I have figured out after speaking with "customer service with Bovada" on a regular basis is that they are reading from a script, promising to call me back, promising to provide a tracking number for my check that was requested over 1 month ago (policy originally stated would take 15 days to receive payout). So now I believe that I have been a victim of fraud. Some deposits that I was charged for were in duplicate and then the others that I actually made with the belief that I would be able to cash out winnings are fraudulant as well as I have not seen my small cash out. I therefore am disputing all charges with my bank because of the above. The charges on my account say "spa services, camera purchase, retail clothing etc" none of which I ever received. The online gaming industry is a thing of the past. Do NOT play with your money unless you plan on losing. If you "win" you will never see your money. I would never dream of not paying a debt that was legitimate. However, I can't imagine that I could let over $10, 000 in deposits go to a "company" that rigs its games to suck you in and then doesn't pay you.
yes...I played Bodog for years...this is the biggest no win system I have ever seen...It takes and does not pay out...if you do win...it is like it flips a switch and sucks it all back...I have tried about 4K here and do not recommend it to anyone...it does not have 1/10th the action that Bodog had...the customer service is out of the country in Indonesia or something...they cannot even answer basic questions about policy without giving you bad answers that do not reflect the written policy...
These guys are crooks...
I have had a pretty fair experience. I have gotten a few bonus chips with my play but I have played alot.
Ever since Bodog became Bovada I have had nothing but problems. First of all, it happened over night and it would have been nice to be given a heads up since I had money in my account. It's not like they didn't know the change was coming. My comps never equal out to the right amount. If I deposit $100 and lose it I expect to receive a $25 comp which equals 25% of my losses. And then the loosing piece...I haven't had a payout since the change. I used to have several per month. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Bovada!
Company does not pay out winnings. Have been waiting 6 weeks to get a check for a sports bet I won. First I was told it would take 15 business days, than 20 business days. And I have read online that when/if I finally receive the check it will bounce. DO NOT USE THIS SITE!
yeah well you think poker site is bad you should check out the casino site it is even worst. When it had the bodog monicker you could at least win some money once in a while but now under bovada it is inpossible to win any type of jackpot regardless of what they print. It seems they are just money hungey and i agree there are bots on that site and lots of them
(Originally posted on kickasspoker.com)
Oooh, I wish I had read some of these reviews BEFORE I put $210 on this site. Initially, I figured ‘this is about as good as it gets in the US/ I’ve heard many people played on Bodog so perhaps it was legit’, but at this point I’m 90% convinced the site employs BOTS to take wins from ‘humans playing with their real bankrolls’ if not downright employing ‘house players hiding behind those anonymous numbers’ that are using technology that we aren’t privvy too (One of the settings offered is to ‘see the next card that would have been dealt’, a bit of a waste of mental effort/ tool of frustration but you can see the types of things THEIR end of the software is able to do…ie SEE THE NEXT CARD). I even called their tech support and riddled them with a ton of questions. They were mostly in either the Phillipines or the Carribean, and pointed out the RNG certification located somewhere on the site. I figured ‘better than nothing’ and proceeded to deposit. The first night I had a few swings but I know my ability at small sit n gos, heads up matches, and limit cash games, and felt the $50 or so I came ahead was just. Then I took it slow and made about $10 a night just to get a feel. Night 3 or 4 I COULD NOT WIN A GAME. 6 down in a row and yeah, I got frustrated and went heads up for $100, I remember making a K high straight for all my chips and ‘somehow’ the river made broadway for the other guy. On the bubble of another sit n go, the river made the nut flush for me and a freakish full house with 73 off suit for the ‘other guy’/ bot. I still had chips but the KK pocket pair I was dealt the next hand wasn’t going to help me out. I SWEAR, at one point it REALLY FELT like they could see the cards I was playing…anytime I had a strong hand, or a strong pocket pair, it was IMPOSSIBLE to get them to play, like clock work. I know good players can sense things but this was ridiculous. Too many times, a high pair will be sucked out on by a lower pair that makes a set on the flop. I could go on (and yes I took detailed notes of these hands to think about that variance), but you get the point. CAVEAT EMPTOR ABOUT BOVADA. Also, besides the ’tilt ware’ garbage, I actually caught some kids in a limit cash game talking about ‘is my microphone working?’/ they were colluding with their cards and trying to get an edge in a game with an average pot of about $3….sad.
Any other site like say (NLOP/ Southpoint Freerolls, 888 poker, etc.) I’m banging at these sit n’ gos for play money (Bovada too) and the game plays like a real game/ it FEELS real, bots or no, I trust I’m able to do well. But once you start to bump up the limits a bit on Bovada, the ‘doom switch’ is out to get you if you can even catch any cards at all! Just consider for a moment that the ‘house player’ can see your cards/ knows what will come next and it really explains a lot how it feels to play in some of these games. Also consider how a $5 tournament that offers a $500 prize pool will have ‘rebuys and late registration’ for over an hour, I placed in 12th out of 818 players, but for all I know, I might have been the only ‘paying customer’ to have even cashed, for all I know BOTS took up the other spots! Those Bots also cause the prize money to be spread out REAL THIN, etc.
What’s sad is that I’m considering putting on another $50 just to try the micro cash games and sit n gos, bots or no…but I think I’ll be disappointed. – John in Vegas (aka carpenns or DocturrA [Doctor Avalanche])
http://www.johnskater.com
100% in agreement with you. I believe their dealing algorithim is fixed and very corrupt. today 3-6-12 i was playing Omaha hi low on the $1/$2 table. first hand I was dealt AA 4 10 double suited. My opponent put me all in pre flop with A247. I lose to a2345. within 5 min I was dealt AA7Q double suited and miracously my opponent was dealt a245 of course he shoves all in preflop for $200 pot and I lose to 3 of a kind 5's. not more than 5 min later the my opponent who shoved me all in first time does it again. this time I was dealt aa55 and he had once again a259. of course I lose to 56789 straight. I would love to know the odds of being dealt aaxx and each time having your opponent have a2xx and lose all 3 hands? I called cust service to express my displeasure and of course was told they have no control over the way cards are dealt. I would not recommend playing on Bovada at all. I have never blogged or complained about anything on the internet but I hope by doing so I can save the next person some money and frustration. I love to play poker and find it so sad that as an american there are no honest sites to play on.
I totally agree. They took the names off players so that they can enter their own "no named" bots in to win back their own "gaurenteed money" . They play is so bogus and it repeats. 4 times in 4 nights, when I was right at the money bubble SAME thing happens. Im basically saying that I am PLAYING nothing until the bubble cracks. and then what do you know. My big blind goes all the way around the table unraised... so I get to play free cards. Then POW I flop two pair. Push to just take down some quick money and POW I am CALLED AND DRAWN OUT ON. BOOM! OUT OF THE MONEY. TOTAL FIX.