Bovada is an offshore sportsbook, casino, poker room and racebook that still takes US players, but not from 19 states and Washington, DC. It is not licensed by any US state regulator. If you use it, crypto is the cheapest way to move money in and out.
Bovada at a glance
| Status | Operating |
|---|---|
| Operator and licence | Regulators address Bovada as Harp Media B.V. of Curaçao. Its terms say it is licensed by the Union of the Comoros and the Central Reserve Authority of Western Sahara, with Anjouan law governing the terms. No US state licence. |
| US players | Accepted, except from these states |
| Excluded states | Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia and Washington, DC |
| Games | Sportsbook, 300+ slots, table games, video poker, live dealer, poker, horse racing |
| Payments | Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Tether; Visa and Mastercard deposits; vouchers and gift cards |
| Last checked | November 2026 |
Where Bovada came from
Bovada grew out of Bodog, the online gambling brand Calvin Ayre founded in the late 1990s. Bodog’s US-facing business moved its customers to the Bovada name, and Bovada dates its online betting to December 2011. The Bodog name itself was retired in February 2026, when the remaining Bodog site, best known in Canada, was renamed Ozoon.
In 2016 Bovada sold its poker operations to a new sister site, Ignition, then relaunched a poker room of its own about a year later; the two rooms share one player pool. Café Casino is a casino-only site with close ties to the same family of brands.
Is Bovada legal and safe?
Bovada is not licensed or regulated by any US state. Over the past few years, regulators in one state after another have sent it cease-and-desist letters, and each time Bovada has added that state to its restricted list. Arizona’s Department of Gaming, writing to Harp Media B.V., the Curaçao company it identified as Bovada’s operator, went as far as describing the business as an alleged felony criminal enterprise. Its terms say any account accessed from a restricted state loses access and its balance may be treated as void, so do not log in while you are travelling in one of those states.
Bovada’s terms name the Union of the Comoros and the Central Reserve Authority of Western Sahara as its licensing bodies. Neither is a regulator that a US player can realistically take a dispute to. In practice, if a withdrawal goes wrong, no US agency will step in.
Bovada has served US players since 2011 and is one of the best-known offshore brands. Even so, the long list of banned states and the thin licensing are still good reasons to keep your balance small and withdraw winnings regularly. If you live in a state with legal, regulated sports betting or online casinos, those sites offer protections Bovada cannot.
Sportsbook
The sportsbook is the core of the brand, covering everything from the major US leagues to smaller events around the world. If you like multi-leg bets, read our guide to parlays and teasers before you build one.
Bovada also runs a racebook for horse racing on the same account.
Poker
Poker is the part of Bovada that stands out most. The room offers Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo in no-limit, pot-limit and fixed-limit formats, with cash games, sit and gos, turbos, knockouts and more than 100 multi-table tournaments. Bovada advertises $2 million in weekly guarantees, led by a $200K guaranteed Sunday event, and runs regular series such as the Black Diamond Poker Open.
- Anonymous tables: players appear as seat labels such as Player 1 and Player 2 instead of usernames, which stops regulars from tracking and targeting recreational players.
- Zone Poker: fast-fold cash games. When you fold, you move straight to a new table with a new hand, so you play two to three times as many hands per hour. You can run up to two Zone tables at once.
- Jackpot Sit & Go: three-player sit and gos with a randomly drawn prize pool. Bovada says the top multiplier is 1,000 times the buy-in.
Casino
The casino lobby covers slots (Bovada advertises more than 300), table games, video poker and specialty games such as scratch cards. Blackjack is its most popular table game.
A separate live casino streams table games run by real dealers.
Deposits and withdrawals
Crypto is the practical choice at Bovada. It accepts Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Tether, and it does not charge its own fee on crypto deposits. Your wallet or exchange may still charge a network fee, and crypto transactions cannot be reversed.
Visa and Mastercard work for deposits. Your first card deposit is free, but later card deposits carry a fee that Bovada’s help page puts at 15.9% or more, depending on the card, and your card issuer may add cash advance or foreign transaction charges on top. Vouchers and gift cards are other ways to deposit. Bovada does not list PayPal as a payment method.
Customer support
Support runs through Bovada’s online help centre, which has FAQs for each product and a contact option. Bovada does not publish a phone number.
Our verdict
Bovada still offers one of the broadest products for US players in the states it serves: a deep sportsbook, a racebook, a casino with live dealer tables and an anonymous poker room with fast-fold games. The trade-off is risk. It has pulled out of 19 states and DC under regulatory pressure, its licensing is thin, and card deposits after the first are expensive. If you choose to play, use crypto and keep only what you need on the site.
Bovada FAQ
Is Bovada legal in the US?
Bovada is not licensed by any US state, and several state regulators have ordered it to stop serving their residents. It has closed accounts in 19 states and Washington, DC.
Which states can’t play at Bovada?
Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia and Washington, DC, according to Bovada’s terms of service.
Does Bovada still have poker?
Yes. Bovada Poker runs Hold’em and Omaha cash games, tournaments, Zone Poker and Jackpot Sit & Gos at anonymous tables.
Do I owe tax on Bovada winnings?
Yes. The IRS treats gambling winnings as taxable income whether or not you receive a tax form, and that includes winnings from offshore sites.
Gamble only with money you can afford to lose. If gambling stops being fun, call or text the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-MY-RESET.