Bodog Poker
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Bodog Poker
The Basics of Bodog
Current Bonus:
110% deposit bonus up to $500, which includes a 10% instant bonus!
Major Promotions:
Sunday $100K Guarantee, Bodog Poker Open
Mac Software:
None currently available
U.S. Customers:
U.S. Players Accepted!
Overview
When most people thing of Bodog, they think of its sports book. After all, Bodog boasts one of the top sports books on the planet. It’s referenced by any credible Vegas expert and is home to some of the most unique bets you can make – on celebrities, sports, and politics, just to name a few topics. Because Bodog is primarily known for its sports book and horse racing arms, the players on its poker site are relatively weak. Imagine a giant poker room next to a Bingo hall and that’s what you’ll find on Bodog. If you’re a skilled poker player, however, you’ll quickly fall in love with the soft play in the online poker room and the gigantic overlays in its guaranteed tournaments. Founded by the outspoken Calvin Ayre, Bodog should be on your radar and it even accepts U.S. players.
Section 1: How to Play on Your Mac
Unfortunately, Bodog doesn’t offer a downloadable client for you to play on like those offered on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. There is also not yet a web-based client like the ones you’d find on Absolute Poker, Pacific Poker, PokerRoom, Sun Poker and Party Poker. The solution is to use Boot Camp or Parallels. If you’ve never tried either, Boot Camp and Parallels allow you to run Windows-based programs on your Mac. These include poker rooms like Ultimate Bet and Bodog that currently do not have a Mac-compatible offering.
The Windows download of Bodog will literally take you two minutes to set up. Just register an account using a valid e-mail address, make your first deposit, and you’ll be hitting the tables in no time. The 10% instant bonus for new depositors is very unique in the online poker world. An instant bonus means that you don’t even have to play in order to get some upfront cash. I’ve done it before and wish I could do it again.
Section 2: Playing on Bodog
Bodog recently upgraded its software and the new look is a bit difficult to navigate, in my opinion. Below this paragraph, you’ll find a screen shot of a table at Bodog. Notice that, unlike the more oval-shaped table that you’ll find at poker rooms like PokerRoom and Full Tilt Poker, the table on Bodog has more of an octagonal feel. Each person has their own avatar, which means you’re likely to see images of horses, playing cards, and other gambling-related items. Within the table view, you can check out your notes on each player, review the hand history, and chat with your fellow competitors. One feature I really like is that your table stats – hands won, showdowns won, flops seen, win percentage, and when you fold – are displayed right on the screen for you. You don’t have to open another window or check your hand histories to decipher your stats.
You can actually play three tables at once in the same window, which is very useful if you’re a fan of multi-tabling. However, it’s difficult to play more tables than that given Bodog’s software. There’s also a lot of text and a lot of numbers changing constantly in the on-screen display which took me a little bit of time to get used to.
The lobby is pretty straight-forward to navigate. The default landing tab is Scheduled Tournaments, where you can peruse the tournaments coming up to find one to jump into. It’s the middle of the day as I write this and there are eight tournaments on tap for the next hour, including a $44 buy-in $4,000 guaranteed tournament coming up at 3:30pm ET. If I can finish this review in time, I’m playing in it without a shadow of a doubt.
It’s easy to navigate your way to the Stud, Omaha, and Hold’em games offered on Bodog. There are two $2,000 max buy-in hold’em tables currently running on Bodog along with a $30/$60 limit game. Pots at these two tables can escalate quickly, so if you ever want to watch some high stakes poker, watch these games sometime. You’ll be happy you did. Here’s a look at the main Bodog tournament lobby:
Section 3: Depositing on Bodog
Because of the site’s focus on its sports book, depositing at Bodog is usually pretty seamless. If you happen to have trouble along the way, Bodog boasts some of the best customer service in the online poker industry, hands down. You’ll often receive responses to e-mails within a few minutes. If you like to chat with real human beings, you can pick up the phone and call 866-909-2237, Bodog’s customer service hotline.
Deposit methods available include VISA, MasterCard, CLICK2PAY, ewalletXpress, Instant Checking, NETeller, and Moneybrookers. You’re able to withdraw funds using a check, though at the time of writing, Bodog had not yet developed that capability for deposits. U.S. customers are urged to deposit using ewalletXpress, VISA, MasterCard, or Rapid Transfer. The methods available to you ultimately vary by your location, so visit the Bodog Cashier for more details.
Section 4: Bodog Promotions
Calvin Ayre, Bodog’s founder, is the master of promotion. His stoic nature and standoffish attitude reflects on the rest of the site. Consequently, you’ll find several edgy promotions on Bodog. Each will provide you with a tremendous amount of value as you play against people coming over from the sports book.
Sunday $100K Guarantee
This tournament is a favorite among the top online poker players. It regularly sports an overlay between $20,000 and $30,000 and only comes with a $109 price tag (many of the other Sunday major tournaments cost over $200 to enter). Players on Bodog generally are less skillful than those found on online poker sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. If you’re an up and coming poker player, make sure to check out the $100K Guarantee on Bodog.
There are plenty of ways to satellite your way into the $100K Guarantee. For $1.10, you can play in one of the site’s Cheap Seats tournaments, which award entries into the $100K semi-finals. Alternatively, you can pony up 250 points and play in a tournament that awards one seat for every 27 players that register. The $100K semi-finals have a buy-in of $11 or $22 and award one seat for every 10 players and five players registered, respectively. You can play for your share of $100K for as low as $1.10. It’s hard to find that kind of value anywhere else.
Players Choice Tournaments
Rather than winning a seat into a tournament you either don’t want to play in or are unable to enter, Bodog offers Players Choice tournaments. As the name implies, these tournaments offer entries into the highest stakes land-based tournaments. The best part is that you choose which one you want to enter! You’ll have $12,000 to apply towards events like the World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour, European Poker Tour, or even the Irish Poker Open. A full list of tournaments to choose from is available on Bodog’s website. You’ll win a $10,000 buy-in plus $2,000 in travel money, meaning you can jet set across the world in style. If I won, I would have my sights set on events in Ireland or Italy, which are currently available. Visit the Bodog tournament lobby for information on how to enter the Players Choice Tournaments.
Bodog Poker Open
Just like the World Championship of Online Poker on PokerStars and the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, the Bodog Poker Open dishes out hundreds of thousands of dollars. The very first Bodog Poker Open sported five events leading up to the $500 buy-in Main Event, which handed down a $4,000 watch in addition to the cash. Bodog player and online poker extraordinaire phatcat took down the Main Event and pocketed $76,280 in the process.
The Bodog Poker Open has become the basis of Bodog’s appeal to the high-stakes tournament poker player and the size of its fields was impressive.