Online Poker

Founded in 1994, Bodog Entertainment, with its head office in the lovely island country of Antigua in the Caribbean, is one of the world’s largest media and digital entertainment companies. Owned by the flamboyant billionaire, Calvin Ayre, Bodog offers a poker room, casino, sportsbook, television production and a music label among its many entertainment offerings.

Bodog make sure that all of their products are stylish yet fun and pride themselves on superior customer service.

They're also offering a 100% first deposit bonus up to $1000, with 10% awarded instantly on deposit!

Bodog likes to run unique super-promotions. As a rule, Bodog's promotions are always slick, fun and generous and there are always opportunities to win yourself a spot in a live poker event and life the Bodog Life. They give their players the best treatment of any online room when you are representing them.

We really like the player's choice tournaments, where the winner of a satellite gets to choose which big live tournament they'd like to play in, just about anywhere in the world.

Bodog's 110% first deposit bonus is a little different to most other sites - in a good way.

When you make your first deposit, 10% will be added within 30 minutes, so if you deposit $100, there'll be $110 in your account. Then you are also eligible to earn another 100% on top of that within your first 30 days of being a member. It's a great bonus - get some cash straight away AND you can earn more by playing at the site.

Bodog offers Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo and 5 Card Stud in their online poker room. They also have a full casino with all casino table games like 3 card poker, video poker, craps and blackjack.

Bodog is a standalone poker room, meaning that they are the only brand to use their poker software. Their software was developed in-house by the Bodog team and was upgraded in late 2007 to the version in operation now. Like all things at Bodog, the poker software has clean sleek lines and everything looks great.

The way you play is quite customizable, with the ability to choose between multi-window play or a unique 3-table in one interface. You are also able to adjust the width of the tables, choose not to view the chat area or change the color of the table felt. Players are also able to complete a player profile and choose an image to represent them at the table.

When you first log in, you have the option of using their 'QuickSeat' feature which enables you to skip searching for a table to play and instead just tell the software what sort of table you like with a few clicks of the mouse. I like the Bodog poker software - it's uncluttered and has all the tools you need to play at your best.

Bodog is currently ranked in the world's top ten poker sites in terms of players online, meaning that there are always plenty of opponents ready to play some cards. Because it's linked to a sportsbook, you may think there will be some easy targets in the Bodog poker room. Generally the competition is a little softer than most other big rooms, but be careful who you try to make a move on as there's a few sharks lurking too. Bodog accepts players from all over the world.

Bodog has a team of pro players that represent the site at live poker events. Josh Arieh, Evelyn Ng & David Williams stop by the site often and each week one of them plays a Bodog player for $1000 heads up. Check out the Bodog website for regular articles and advice from their pros.

The marquee tournament at Bodog is the weekly $100,000 guaranteed on Sunday afternoons at 4pm. It's $100+9 to buyin or you can win your entry through smaller buyin tournaments that run every day. There's also a $50,000 guaranteed tournament every night. Each month Bodog guarantees at least $5 million in tournament prizes which averages out at over $160,000 every day.... That's a lot of prizemoney up for grabs.

What I like about Bodog's tournaments is that they are always running WPT & WSOP satellites. If you want to try your luck at qualifying for a big live poker event, Bodog is a good place to give it a try.

Each hand or tournament you play at Bodog earns you 'poker points'. Your poker points can then be used for tournament entries, or other promotions. Poker Points come in especially handy if you are trying to qualify for a big satellite tournament. There are plenty of tournaments you can use poker points to enter, that then pay out satellite tournament entries.

Bodog treats their players very well. Playing at Bodog is a lifestyle choice as much as it is a choice of online poker room, you will feel like you're part of a like-minded community.

There are plenty of payment processing options for players from all over the world at Bodog Poker.

Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Click2Pay, Moneybookers, NETeller, Speedcard and Money Transfer are all avilable. The payment options differ depending on which country you are playing from, but Bodog has a reputation throughout the industry for providing quality payment options and speedy cashouts. One of their marketing slogans is '10 years in business and no missed payouts" - and it's true.

24/7 support is offered via email (poker@bodoglife.co.uk) and telephone (0011-800-1004-2004). The support team is always very friendly and helpful.

Bodog also has a web-based messaging system for getting important news to players and you are able to manage your newsletter & press subscriptions from within your Bodog account to ensure you don't receive any email that you don't want to receive.

Bodog Poker is licensed & regulated by both the United Kingdom and Antigua. And within North America, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, in Canada. Their shuffling algorithm and random number generator have been fully tested by Gaming Associates as a part of the licensing process.

We've met a few of the Bodog staff, but are yet to meet the big boss, Mr Ayre. Bodog earns the maximum possible score of 4.5 stars for a privately held company. Sorry Calvin, but even your face on the cover of the Forbes magazine billionaire issue can't circumvent our rules. Only public companies get full marks.

The software doesn't allow you change your table nickname, so make sure you choose carefully. And if you like playing heads up Sit & Gos, be aware that the levels run by the number of hands played, not a time limit so if you're playing 1 on 1 it can become a bit of a lottery when you reach the bigger blind levels. We'd also like to see some draw poker, just for a change every now and then.

Bodog Poker is great place not just to play poker, but simply be entertained and catch up on the latest in sports & gaming news. I'm a member and think you should give it a try too.

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