How Safe is Poker on Bovada?

Bots? Collusion? Other forms of cheating?

I am interested in starting an account strictly for Texas Hold'Em on Bovada. Wondering other's thoughts as this is my first venture into online play.

Quote: Rorry

Bots? Collusion? Other forms of cheating?

I am interested in starting an account strictly for Texas Hold'Em on Bovada. Wondering other's thoughts as this is my first venture into online play.

If you are going to play poker online Bovada is a good place to do it. Hands crank out fast, they even have that turbo poker. You can call CS 24/7 and talk to a real person from BV. They have given me the benefit of the doubt on a few things and refunded buy table buy in. There was 1 case I was 100% sure it was there server that timed me out on me during one hand. They refunded my entire buy in. They have even sent me free chips for being a loyal customer. They often have good promotions.

I have had good success in the tournaments of all kinds, specially the Heads up turbos. I'm kind of pissed they don't have names anymore so I cant target particular players.

If you are in the U.S. and not in NJ or NV then Bovada is the best choice. It is hard to even come up with a decent second place poker site.

Quote: Pokeraddict

If you are in the U.S. and not in NJ or NV then Bovada is the best choice. It is hard to even come up with a decent second place poker site.

Pokerstars banned in the States?

Quote: andysif

Pokerstars banned in the States?

for many years now. Did you miss black friday?

It is funny that I can remember April 15th better than my parents birthdays.

Quote: GWAE

for many years now. Did you miss black friday?

It is funny that I can remember April 15th better than my parents birthdays.

Don't know the details because I don't live in the States.

So Pokerstars is banned but Bovada is OK? Is it because of the country of registration/incorporation or something else? I thought the ban is on all forms of online polker.

Quote: andysif

Don't know the details because I don't live in the States.

So Pokerstars is banned but Bovada is OK? Is it because of the country of registration/incorporation or something else? I thought the ban is on all forms of online polker.

PokerStars decided to cease their activities after getting indicted. Bovada has more of a renegade personality.

Quote: andysif

Don't know the details because I don't live in the States.

So Pokerstars is banned but Bovada is OK? Is it because of the country of registration/incorporation or something else? I thought the ban is on all forms of online polker.

basically the synopsis is:
1. 2006 US banned online gaming
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unlawful_Internet_Gambling_Enforcement_Act_of_2006
2. 2011 US decided to take over the main poker sites. Full tilt, pokerstars, and UB
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Scheinberg
3. Americans scrambled to find other sites to play poker on but most of them were worthless and people lost more money on scam sites.
4. Bodog was also shut down (you can go to bodog . com to see the message that us americans saw on the frightful day of 4/15/11
5. Bovada was formed in costa rica by the owners of the bodog people
6. Bovada is now the safest way to play in the US, technically it is still illegal but there is a lot of debate about that. They are willing to operate in the US for now.

There is a lot more but that is about what relates to the topic of bovada.

Quote: AxelWolf

=I'm kind of pissed they don't have names anymore so I cant target particular players.

I like that players on Bovada are now anonymous. Stop stealing my blinds Axel.

I'll give it a try. Thanks for all the info!

The split pot games are a hell of a lot looser on Bovada than they were on Poker Stars.

I signed up on Bovada long time ago through the Wiz's site.
Always had difficulty depositing money through a credit card so never played there.
Have a Caesars total rewards visa card theses days so its gambling related.
Just deposited 50 at Bovada, woohoo, it went smoothly through.
1st time playing online poker since the hey day of pokerstars and full tilt.
Having a blast. Getting killed in the 2 cent 5 cent cash game lol. Just getting my feet wet again.
Probably get into a tournament tonight.
This is great.

Not sure what to think of this anonymity thing. At first I thought it was bad because I want to know who I'm playing against. But maybe it will bring in a lot of weak traffic and keep the sharks away so would be beneficial overall.

Quote: rudeboyoi

Not sure what to think of this anonymity thing. At first I thought it was bad because I want to know who I'm playing against. But maybe it will bring in a lot of weak traffic and keep the sharks away so would be beneficial overall.

I like the anonymity because I don't like people keeping notes or using Poker Tracker to analyze my play.

Quote: mickeycrimm

I like the anonymity because I don't like people keeping notes or using Poker Tracker to analyze my play.

But without the anonymity you could be doing that yourself.

Quote: rudeboyoi

But without the anonymity you could be doing that yourself.

I hate doing it. I just like to make a quick study of my opponents at the table.

Quote: mickeycrimm

I like the anonymity because I don't like people keeping notes or using Poker Tracker to analyze my play.

Normal ring games I don't care.

People often pop in and out so fast online anyways. If you are playing more them 1 table it gets hard because you can miss the seat change, I would keep track of chip stack amounts. Chat box helps as well.


But with the Heads up I want names, I really want to find the same guys if possible I could target the same guy over and over, match after match, even if he was trying to doge me. Often once you found them they would not, could not turn down a personal challenge. Guys would lose 6, 7, 8 in a row. Now they just disappear to a different table.

one problem is that it makes it easy for colluding players. Newbs could be sitting with the same 3 guys every day and not even know it.

Also guys could hack the site and know who is who and have an unfair advantage knowing who you are and use a poker program to track you.

Just tried out zone poker.
What a neat concept. Cash game, fold and you immediately get seated at a new table. Very fast action.
Its only for 6 people tables and I like 9 player tables.
It is fun with the constant action.

Wish more people were on the site. During off hours, not a lot of people playing tournaments.
I like huge cheap tournaments.
During the online poker hey day, huge tournaments any time of the day.
Also no free rolls :-(

Quote: terapined

Just tried out zone poker.
What a neat concept. Cash game, fold and you immediately get seated at a new table. Very fast action.
Its only for 6 people tables and I like 9 player tables.
It is fun with the constant action.

Wish more people were on the site. During off hours, not a lot of people playing tournaments.
I like huge cheap tournaments.
During the online poker hey day, huge tournaments any time of the day.
Also no free rolls :-(

Full tilt poker had that same concept but it was called rush poker. Much better name.

Alot of disconnects today. Lost $10 from two sit n go tables before I found out how to reconnect to tables :(

Original deposit is 85$

I was strictly playing sit n go's at BR = 20 buy ins.

Dropped down to 50$ and decided to try some .02/.05 heads up cash games. Doubled up again and again and am now at $87. Will keep folks posted.

So far have not seen anything fishy/out of the ordinary except a few players constantly raising during the disconnects to time out other player's blinds.

Played once in Bovada. I think the experience was ok. I wasnt really paying attention to the game.

What surprises me is how many people do late registration to enter a poker tournament.
I'm in a 2 dollar deep stack tournament , 500 guaranteed. Started with about 150 players, late reg allowed for 65 min.
no rebuy. no add on.
Now 300 entries and growing with 25 min to go.
More do late registration then on time or early. fascinating.
Why do so many do late registration. Seems to be a disadvantage. I want to see as many hands as possible so I always register on time.

Another weird thing, showdowns, loser is mucked.
Gotta click on hand history to see losers hand.

It's gambling. If you register late, you start with less big blinds, which is a disadvantage. On the other hand, it only takes you one or two nice hands to chip up. If you register on time, you see more hands, giving you better chance to play good poker, but also increasing your chance of seeing a cooler.

There's no right or wrong answer.

Quote: Deucekies

It's gambling. If you register late, you start with less big blinds, which is a disadvantage. On the other hand, it only takes you one or two nice hands to chip up. If you register on time, you see more hands, giving you better chance to play good poker, but also increasing your chance of seeing a cooler.

There's no right or wrong answer.

Hmm, this is an interesting question.

If it were a winner-take-all tournament and everyone were equally skilled, the chips would have the same value no matter when you bought in, so it would not matter.

More skilled players have an advantage if they have more hands to exercise their skill. So, buying in late is good for bad players and bad for good players, in a winner-take-all tournament.

However, most tournaments are not winner-take-all. In tournaments which pay more than one place, there is definitely an advantage from not having to play some hands, while simultaneously not being blinded off.

So, I would say, for a poor player, you should buy in as late as possible. For a good player, I think that you should still buy in as late as possible unless you are significantly better than the field (or, rather, better than the field will be playing, which can be very, very poorly at the beginning of a tournament that has re-buys). If, by playing early, you will have a good chance to outplay your opponents and build a large stack of chips, then you should. If not, then IMO you should wait, and register late.

Quote: terapined

Another weird thing, showdowns, loser is mucked.
Gotta click on hand history to see losers hand.

Same thing in Pokerstars.

I mean either you can't see it, no matter what you do, or you see it in play.

Having to go to hand history to see it is just plain stupid.

Up to $100 off of heads up cash games. The going is slow but steady.

Quote: Rorry

Up to $100 off of heads up cash games. The going is slow but steady.

What limit. what game? Lets play

0.02-0.05 heads up.

You can find others? I thought it was anon?

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

However, most tournaments are not winner-take-all. In tournaments which pay more than one place, there is definitely an advantage from not having to play some hands, while simultaneously not being blinded off.

How do you figure?

Quote: 24Bingo

How do you figure?

ICM would say he's right.

But ICM isn't exactly everything. I think there's a big edge to be had by having a big stack, especially against weak fields o players. There is a lot to consider when deciding if you can or can't buy late. Personally I don't mind regging late in low stakes tournaments when I'm winding down. Last Sunday I even late regged the 100K (not too late, started with 50BB) because a couple hours before it started I decided to take a nap cuz I'd be more solid. And the field in that tourament isn't too strong, I knew I'd have an strong edge anyway.

Basically I'm OK late regging in fields I'm way ahead of, but usually for small tournaments. For something like the 12.5K GTD I'm fine regging really late, like 8-10 BBs cuz I'm doing it mainly for fun and to wind down, not to mention that if I double up twice I have a giant edge.

Quote: 24Bingo

How do you figure?

Take it to the degenerate case. A starting-size stack is worth a lot when there are only two players left (since the 2nd place prize is, presumably, significantly more than the buy-in). So we know that the same-sized stack changes in value as the tournament progresses. If we also assume that this value change is strictly monotonic, my statement follows.

The strict monotonicity seems obvious to me, but I can't think of an easy way to prove it.

Quote: Rorry

0.02-0.05 heads up.

You can find others? I thought it was anon?

Simple. You need to think how this can be achieved and explain, if you can't figure it out I would fear long term success.

I'm sorry however i'm not interested in that low of a limit .2 .5 isn't worth the electric bill nor is it fun enough.

The absolute min I would conciser would be a $20 Heads up turbo.

Good luck.

poker online can be profitable and a nice fun way to make money. Self discipline, constant learning, record keeping ( https://www.checkyourbets.com/) will help greatly.

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

Take it to the degenerate case. A starting-size stack is worth a lot when there are only two players left (since the 2nd place prize is, presumably, significantly more than the buy-in). So we know that the same-sized stack changes in value as the tournament progresses. If we also assume that this value change is strictly monotonic, my statement follows.

The strict monotonicity seems obvious to me, but I can't think of an easy way to prove it.

I've had a good amount of Glennfiddich tonight (warning in case this isn't easy to follow) and am in a tournament, but I'm only one tabling ATM so I'll try to help you out, because you are right if you ignore skill levels of players. And BTW, your example IS an easy way to prove that. I'm not even going to use any complicated examples, though, just going to describe why you're correct, and when you'd bother to think about late regging to gain a better hourly/even better edge.

The ICM (Independent Chip Model) can be used to figure out how much a stack size is worth in a tournament given that it has information on every other remaining player. Essentially, it is used to roughly estimate the value of a stack in a tournamnent. The scenario you described (having the starting stack with 2 people left) is a perfectly good example of why this type of model would be needed. If you used just chips in your stack times total chips multiplied by buy in, you'd be wrong and your example proves that.

The ICM tries to solve this problem by estimating equities but ignoring skill levels. It does this by saying if you have X chips and there are Y chips in a tournament, then your chances of winning are X/Y. Then your chance of taking second is (100-(X/Y))*(X/Y). Go all the way down the payouts and multiply by earning and you have your ICM equity for a stack size. Note that as more people bust out, your ICM equity goes up even if your stack size remains the same.



Now, this effect RARELY beats the rake while a tournament is in late registraion. There are mega satellites where it makes good sense to buy in on the last level IF there are enough big stacks, simply because of ICM. If you start w/ 1500 in chips in a satellite that has a lot of seats, and a few players have 20k plus in chips you are gaining equity by late regging. In general, though, you're going to gain a bigger edge by buying in right at the start and playing smart poker.

The biggest determining factor is dollars per hour. It makes no sense for me to even touch 5-10 dollar buy ins early, cuz I usually play other games with way higher $/hour rates. So I late register them when I'm bored and I play games I way over bankrolled for later in the night.

I figure you can both jump into a table name decided upon.

My time spent on this is minimal currently, going full time would be desirable. I make so much more live currently and this online venture is simply "testing the waters."