* Residents of Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, and New York are not allowed to create accounts.
$500 Poker Welcome Bonus, TL;DR
100% up to $500
Awards Bonus in 6 Tiers
5,000 Poker Points
Bonus Expiration
Any Deposit Method
No Code
33% Cashback
Bonus is Cashable
Creating an Account at Bovada
But before you can claim any bonus, you must create an account. This poker bonus offer is only valid for new players.
Click here to visit Bovada to start the account creation process. Overall, it only takes a few minutes, and can be done from any device.
Step 1: Visit Bovada.lv
Step 2: Fill in Your Details
Step 3: Verify Email & Deposit Details
Step 4: You're All Set!
Making a Real Money Deposit at Bovada
Once you have finished setting up your account, you will need to deposit in order to take advantage of the $500 welcome bonus offer.
Bovada offers two different options to fund your account:
Credit & Debit Cards
Bovada accepts Visa, MasterCard, and AMEX. Although the most convenient, using cards can prove difficult as some banks may reject the deposit. Some banks have tighter restrictions for gambling. Credit cards also have a 5.9% fee attached to each deposit. However, the fee is waived for your first deposit.
It’s also possible to use a prepaid credit or debit card, which can be purchased online or at larger retail stores. However, these also have the same issues or being rejected. To improve the chances it will be accepted, make sure the card is set up to receive international payments and can be used for online purchases.
Tip: If depositing via credit card, MasterCard tends to have more success than Visa or Amex.
Bitcoin
If you have a bitcon wallet, the easiest way to deposit is Bitcoin. Bitcoin deposits also have the added benefit of no fees.
All you need to do is select Bitcoin when making a deposit and choose your deposit amount. Then you will receive an email with further instructions which will include the address to send your Bitcoin to from your Wallet or exchange. Bitcoin deposits are usually confirmed within minutes.
Deposit Help
Bovada is very helpful if you’re having deposit issues. You can contact them via phone 1-888-263-0000 or by using the live chat feature on the Bobada.lv website.
Claiming & Clearing the $500 Welcome Bonus
Note: When making a deposit, don’t worry about selecting anything under “Claim a Bonus”. The poker bonus will not be listed here.
After you make a deposit, download the Bovada poker client (see our Bovada Poker download review for more details.) You can manage your account and track your bonus progress within the client.
As you play real money games, you earn poker points. These points are used to keep track of your bonus progress and give you some extra benefits (more on this below.) The rate at which you earn poker points is shown below:
Tournaments: 3 poker points for every $1 in tournament fees
Cash Games: Up to 1 poker point per hand based on the amount of rake you contribute to the pot, as shown in the table to the side.
| Total Rake | Points Earned |
|---|---|
| $0.01 - $0.04 | 0.05 |
| $0.05 - $0.24 | 0.10 |
| $0.25 - $0.49 | 0.25 |
| $0.50 - $0.99 | 0.50 |
| $1.00+ | 1.00 |
| Tier | Poker Points Required | Bonus Release | Value/Cashback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | $5 | 100% |
| 2 | 70 | $20 | 85.71% |
| 3 | 100 | $25 | 75% |
| 4 | 315 | $50 | 47.62% |
| 5 | 1,000 | $150 | 45% |
| 6 | 3,500 | $250 | 21.43% |
| Total | 5,000 | $500 | 30% |
This means you must earn 15 poker points to release the first tier bonus of $5, then 70 more points to release the tier 2 bonus of $20, etc. You will earn the full $500 bonus once a total of 5,000 points have been earned. Partial bonuses are not awarded, you must earn the total points at each level to receive the bonus! In other words, even if you earn 4,999 points, you will not receive any of the tier 6 bonus until you reach 5,000 points.
This bonus must be earned fully within 30 days of your first deposit! Any unearned portion of the bonus will become invalid after this time. Remember, there is no Bovada Poker bonus code needed to activate the bonus, simply make a deposit and download the poker client.
Bonus Value & Cashback
Looking at the numbers from the table above, the difficulty increases at each tier, and such the value decreases. You receive 100% cashback on tier 1, which lowers to 85.71% on tier 2, etc. The hardest tier is tier 6, which awards the final half of the bonus, and pays 21.43% of your rake paid back to you as the bonus.
Overall, the 5,000 points required to earn the $500 bonus comes out to an even 30% cashback. This is using poker points earned by paying tournament fees, as it’s an exact calculation. The amount you earn back by playing cash games will vary based on how much you contribute on average.
- 5,000 points required
- $1 in rake awards 3 points
- Value of 1 point is therefore $1 / 3, or $0.33
- 5,000 points * $0.33 = $1,666.67, which is the total amount of take you will need to pay to earn the $500.
- $500 / $1,666.67 = 30%, which means you get 30%, or $500, of the $1,667.67 you pay in rake returned to you.
%
Cashback Value
Claim Your 100% up to $500 Bovada Bonus Offer
Remember, all new poker players can qualify for this offer. Visit Bovada now to sign up and get $500 free to play poker!Poker Points Benefits
In addition to keeping track of your bonus progress, you can use the Bovada poker points you collect to convert into tournament tickets or bonuses.
100 poker points is equivalent to $1. Although you can’t convert directly to cash, tournament tickets can be purchased and used in any tournament.
If you want to use your points for poker, currently the only method is by purchasing tournament tickets. To do this, open the Bovada Poker client and navigate to the dashboard, then click the My Poker tab, and select Points to Tickets.
Here you can see your current points total and offers you can select. It doesn’t matter which buy-in level you choose, a larger ticket won’t get you a better deal. In other words, a $5.50 ticket will cost 550 points, and a $55 ticket will cost 5,500 points. This means that the 5,000 poker points you earn which clearing your bonus is worth an additional $50.
Adding this extra $50 on top of the $500 bonus changes the total to $550, and overall cashback value improves to 33%.
If you prefer, you can also purchase sports or casino bonuses, which must be cleared to earn. Unfortunately, there are no poker bonuses available to purchase. These sports and casino bonuses have a slightly better conversion rate, but remember the terms and rollover requirements must be earned or you basically just wasted your points. You can see the bonuses offered below:
- $10 Sports Bonus: Issued within 24hrs, 3X rollover. Cost: 900 Points
- $10 Casino Bonus: Issued within 24hrs, 20X rollover. Cost: 700 Points
- $5 Sports Bonus: Issued within 24hrs, 3X rollover. Cost: 450 Points
- $5 Casino Bonus: Issued within 24hrs, 20X rollover. Cost: 350 Points
Converting Poker Points to Tickets
Bovada Points T&C
After 18 months of inactivity on your account, all points in your account will be removed – this includes points earned via poker, casino, and sports. Make sure to use your points before their expire! Bonuses purchased will be issued within 24 hours. Failure to meet the rollover requirements of bonuses purchases with points will forfeit the bonus and points used to purchase.
For the casino bonuses, the following games do not count towards the rollover: Blackjack (single or double deck), Baccarat, Sic Bo, Craps, Roulette and sportsbook or racebook mini games. There is no time limit to meet the rollover requirements.
More Bonuses at Bovada
Bovada is more than just poker, and offers more bonuses you can claim once you’re done (or before) your poker bonus is redeemed:
Bovada Casino Bonus
The standard Bovada Casino promotion offered for new players is a 100% up to $1,000 deposit bonus. This bonus can be redeemed up to three times, which brings the total amount up to $3,000. Use the Bovada Casino bonus code NEWWELCOME when making your deposit to claim the offer.
However, you can earn even more if you make your deposit using Bitcoin. Bitcoin deposits can receive 150% up to $1,500, which can always be claimed up to three times, for a total of $4,500. This offer requires the Bovada Casino bonus code BVCBITCOIN150.
Both bonus offers require a 25x playthrough requirement, meaning you must wager the amount of your deposit and bonus 25 times before it is fully cleared. You can learn more about these offers in our Bovada Casino bonus code review where we break down the bonuses and clearing requirements.
Bovada Sports Bonus
If you prefer sports betting, Bovada also offers a 50% up to $250 deposit bonus in their sportsbook. A $500 deposit will unlock the max bonus of $250. There is no Bovada bonus code required when making your deposit, it’s automatic on your first deposit.
Just like their casino bonus, Bovada also offers an enhanced sports bonus if you choose to use Bitcoin as your deposit method. The bonus amount doubles, 50% up to $500, when using the Bovada bonus code BVSBITCOIN50 and depositing with Bitcoin.
These sports bonuses have a playthrough requirement of just 5x, meaning you must wager your total deposit and bonus amount five times within the sportsbook. We spell all of this out for you in our Bovada Sports bonus code review.
Poker Bonus
Casino Bonus
Sports Bonus
Total Bonus Cash
Bovada Poker Software
- Zone Poker: Play poker faster than ever before
- Downloadable desktop client
- Mobile friendly instant play (works with any mobile device.)
- Instant Hand Histories
- Anonymous Tables
- The most popular variations: L/NL Texas Hold’em, L/PL Omaha
- Cash Games, SNGs, MTTs
Play from virtually any device against thousands of others!
If you want to learn more, our Bovada Poker download review goes into greater detail on how to download, install, and use the Bovada software. Learn more about useful features and how to get started at Bovada!
Poker Tournament Schedule
Bovada currently guarantees over $1.5 million every week in multi-table tournaments. Daily buy-ins range from $1 up to $109, meaning there is a tournament for all bankrolls and skill levels.
The most popular guaranteed tournaments at Bovada are highlighted in the table below:
| Time (ET) | Tournament | Gtd Prize Pool | Buy-in | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:00 PM | $100K Guaranteed | $100,000 | $162 | Weekly (Sunday) |
| 6;00 PM | $75K High Roller | $75,000 | $325 | Weekly (Sunday) |
| 7:00 PM | $10K Monster Stack | $10,000 | $27.50 | Daily |
| 7:25 PM | $40K Monster Stack | $40,000 | $215 | Daily |
| 8:00 PM | $25K SS | $25,000 | $55 | Daily |
| 8:45 PM | $8K (10K Chips) | $8,000 | $11 | Daily |
In Conclusion…
A hefty, cashable bonus (no Bovada Poker bonus code required), slick software which works across all devices, and stakes/games for all bankrolls and skill levels. It’s clear why Bovada is the best online poker room offered to US players.