Bovada

[New Leader]

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Bovada is a separate poker room with some unique features. The main difference from the other rooms is that the screen names of the players are not shown. So you are playing at the anonymous tables. This feature makes Bovada the room where all poker software (trackers, HUDs, hand databases) is useless.
Personally I consider it as a great advantage cause it equalizes the chances of all players.

U.S. poker players are welcome. Moreover players outside USA not permitted (they have to register through Bodog).

Deposit options: Visa, Money transfer, Rapid transfer

Withdrawal options: Check by mail, wire transfer, money transfer, Rapid transfer

Get a 100% bonus up to $1,000 on your first deposit.

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[jacaranda]

When Black Friday hit, it was actually a nudge away from poker that I needed. I was a 95+ percentile player but was spinning my wheels a bit with my bankroll. Since then I've opened a successful business and am in the process of opening a second. So it was all a bit of a blessing in disguise.

Still, I ache for some good poker action from time to time. I already had a little chunk of money at Bovada (from when it was Bodog) because I liked to play their Sportsbook.

So I downloaded their poker client and have been playing there on and off ever since. There were a number of things to get used to after playing so long at Full Tilt. The most obvious one is the anonymous tables. It's weird... and stupid. I hate it. But I put up with it because I have to. Also, you can't multi more than 4 tables. But, on the plus side the action is very soft and they have triple up SNGs which is like taking candy from a baby.

I have done one cash-out with Bovada and it went smooth. They sent a check to me in about 3 weeks and it cashed just fine.

So here's my overview on Bovada:

Pros

-Easy deposits and withdrawals for USA players
-Decent activity for Cash games and Single-table SNGs
-Your bankroll can be used for poker and their Sportsbook which is hands-down the best Sportsbook on the internet.
-Soft action
-Although there are still many holes, the Gameplay client is way better than it used to be when they were Bodog

Cons

-Anonymous play rendering Notes and tracking software useless
-Maximum of 4 tables open
-MTTs are mostly small and Multi-table SNGs are nearly non-existent.
-Gameplay client problems such as - Check/Fold button doesn't stay clicked, tables come to front regardless if you're done acting at a different table, chat is wonky because if action comes to you in the middle of a sentence, your text gets erased (???) entering a bet other than Min or Pot is difficult and a few other little issues like that.

All in all, Bovada feeds my jones for online poker but if Full Tilt or Pokerstars ever opened back up to USA players, I would go RUNNING back.

[CatHerder]

Ace Poker Solutions (the same people that make Leakbuster) put out a HH converter for Bovada a bit ago. It takes the Bovada format and converts it to a readable format , so you can import into PT or HM.
So while everyone will still be anonymous, you can now see stats, graphs, review hands, etc on yourself. Has definitely made playing there a lot better.

As an added bonus, in one of the last updates you can now see mucked cards for all players. nice to be able to see when you got bluffed, hand ranges, and that sort of stuff.

[CatHerder]

Ace Poker Solutions (the same people that make Leakbuster) put out a HH converter for Bovada a bit ago. It takes the Bovada format and converts it to a readable format , so you can import into PT or HM.
So while everyone will still be anonymous, you can now see stats, graphs, review hands, etc on yourself. Has definitely made playing there a lot better.

As an added bonus, in one of the last updates you can now see mucked cards for all players. nice to be able to see when you got bluffed, hand ranges, and that sort of stuff.

Bovada HH converter now supports SNG/MTT's, as well as Zone poker. They just updated it this past week.