Bovada Deposits and Withdrawals

Bovada is an all-in-one online betting site operated by the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group. The site contains a sportsbook, racebook, casino, and head-to-head poker room. Bovada holds a gaming license from the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and its services are available to US and Canadian customers only.

This site was originally created by global brand Bodog to service the North American market after that company was forced out following the 2006 UIGEA bill. These days, Bovada operates independently of Bodog, but it still continues to do business with a group of mostly American bettors.

Bovada.lv is a gambling site for people with little access to other gambling sites. They’ve made a name for themselves since launching in 2011 by consistently paying the quickest payouts in the American market, offering around the clock customer service, and hosting top-notch software.

What you won’t find at Bovada.lv is a huge variety of deposit and withdrawal methods. Americans (and to some degree Canadians) are restricted from using so many of the traditional online gambling payment methods that Bovada offers just a few ways to fund and receive withdrawals from your account.

Currency Support

The only currency used at Bovada.lv is the US dollar. There’s a good reason for that – since Bovada is strictly available to bettors in the US and Canada, there’s not much need to support a dozen currencies from around the world. I’m sure Bovada’s Canadian customers would appreciate support for the Canadian dollar, but built-in currency conversion systems are in place to facilitate Canadian currency deposits.

Bovada Deposit Methods

Bovada offers two deposit methods:

• VISA brand credit / debit / gift cards

• Rapid Transfer

Of the two, it’s probably easiest to make a deposit via a VISA brand card. If you want to use a debit or gift card, it needs to be one that’s made eligible for all online and international purchases. Not every debit and gift card has this ability, so be sure to check first or you’ll just get rejected.

Bovada warns that even if your card fulfills these criteria, it may not be accepted. This is the downside of dealing with an online casino as a resident of North America – sometimes your card just won’t work.

The minimum card deposit is $20; the maximum is $500. Bovada charges a 4.9% fee for all card deposits (except your first one, which is free, as a kind of perk). I can only think of one other site aimed at Americans that charges a fee like that – BetOnline has been doing that for years. Be careful when making a minimum deposit; the 4.9% fee means that a “minimum deposit” of $20 would actually have to be $20.98.

As for the Rapid Transfer deposit – this is just Moneygram under a different name. In my experience, it takes about twenty minutes for your deposit to hit your account when you use Rapid Transfer as a deposit method. There’s a deposit fee for Rapid Transfer – $12-$20 depending on how much you’re depositing – but if you deposit $300 or more, Bovada will cover the fee. The minimum deposit is $100; the maximum is $800. That’s a pretty high minimum deposit amount, especially considering that you can deposit as little as $20.98 via a VISA card.

Bovada Withdrawal Methods

Bovada.lv offers two ways for customers to receive payouts:

• Check by courier

• Rapid Transfer

There’s some fine print, here – you can only request a withdrawal via check if you made a deposit via a VISA card. If you made a Rapid Transfer deposit, you can only receive a Rapid Transfer withdrawal. You cannot deposit by VISA and receive a withdrawal by Rapid Transfer. Basically, your deposit method determines your withdrawal method.

The check method is probably the best way to receive a payout. You can withdraw anywhere from $20-$3,000 per check. Each month, you can request one free check withdrawal – after that, check withdrawals cost $50 each. Based on my own experience and customer reviews, Bovada’s checks appear in 1-2 weeks, with many customers receiving their check in just ten days.

Rapid Transfer (read: Moneygram) withdrawals are a lot more limited. You can only withdraw between $100 and $750 per transaction. The fee will range from $20 to $60 depending on the amount of your withdrawal. You’ll spend less time waiting for your Rapid Transfer payout, since they require about one business day to transfer. You’ll need to pick up your withdrawal at a local Moneygram agent, which is kind of a hassle.

Take note of a few things I found in Bovada’s terms and conditions pages:

• Player winnings are limited to $100,000 per week. That far exceeds the payout limit of $3,000 per check or $750 per Rapid Transfer withdrawal.

• Though reviews indicate that some checks take as little as one week to ten days, the site warns that check withdrawals can take “up to 28 calendar days.”

• Bovada occasionally incentivizes Rapid Transfer deposits by offering a special bonus or promo for depositors using that method. Pay attention to any emails or promo announcements you’re interested in method-specific offers.

Conclusion

Bovada is one of the better-reviewed betting sites available to Americans, and for good reason. They’ve been providing a quality service to a difficult market since 2011, they offer a familiar and intuitive interface (based on Bodog’s), and you can contact customer service at all hours of the day.

The downside to aiming your services at the US and Canada – a limited variety of deposit and withdrawal methods. But for residents of North America already used to having a limited selection of payment methods, it’s not that big a deal. In fact, because Bovada.lv’s payments are processed faster than other US-facing sites, you might find the process easier than at any site you’ve tried before. Sports bettors, casino gamblers, and poker players in America and Canada should give Bovada serious consideration.