Bodog poker has been online since 2004. Being stuck on a side-attraction level at a great website which primarily deals with sports betting and casino games, it has never quite realized its true potential.
Because of this reason, the player traffic that you will find in their poker room is probably the lowest of all sites we’ve reviewed so far. There will be around 1900-2000 players online, a number which will obviously dwindle in non-peak hours. Out of this traffic around 70% (I was about to say the usual 70% ) is concentrated on tournaments and the rest on ring games. Texas Holdem is the Game to play, and most players prefer the micro and low limit/stakes version ( limit, no limit, or pot limit).
The room also offers Omaha (Hi and Hi-Lo) 7 Card Stud and 5Card stud, though out of the meager traffic not many players seem to be interested in these games.
The signup bonus is 10% , which is quite modest as well, but at least it’s unlimited so in case you decide to deposit 10.000 dollars you will receive $1000 in bonus. As you see, the fact that it’s unlimited doesn’t really do much to pull it out of mediocrity…
Given the fact that most other online poker rooms out there offer a significantly bigger bonus, I would’ve expected a lot from from a company like Bodog.
As far as other rewards go, Bodog fails to emerge from mediocrity again. They have an action point system in place, called Bodog Poker Points, which grant owners access to guaranteed cash-prize tournaments and that’s about it.
In the promotions sector things are a bit different. There’s a hefty refer-a-friend bonus, as Bodog obviously aims to direct more traffic to its poker room by whatever means possible. This bonus can actually far outweigh your own deposit bonus as it can be as high as $200, since you get 40% of what the player you referred deposits.
There are WPT and WSOP qualifiers too, so all in all the promotions section seems to make up for some of the weaknesses of the bonus system.
The software:
I started playing bodog Poker in around 1997, and back then, as now, I was caught by the simplicity of their poker client’s graphics… It’s simple but it’s great. I like it. Their site itself has a certain aura of coolness around it (something that you’ll see in CK black and white modeling shots) and they transferred that same feel to their poker room. I always thought their site looked simple and cool and so did their poker client. I have read reviews where it was slammed for being way to simple and called downright ugly, but I found that simplicity stylish. Just take a look at the attached screenshot and you’ll be able tell it’s a world away from any of the other poker rooms presented.
Being simple doesn’t mean it lacks any useful features, on the countrary, it has most if not all the options offered by any other modern poker room. On top of that it runs nicely, no bugs and connection-losses will bother your game.
Now for the most important part: the competition. Competition at Bodog Poker is an extremely loose one. At low stakes, NL, Texas Holdem tables - where the bulk of the action takes place - it sometimes happens that the flop is seen by 90% of the players. How do such loose tables translate? Plenty of fish, obviously.
Bodog is used by a whole bunch of new players, who are barely past the phase of not even knowing the rules of the game. Since the room itself doesn’t particularly attract sharks, newbies have a relative safehaven where they can train, and you will have a nice quiet fishing spot handing them their first poker lessons.
As far as money problems go, I suppose Bodog needs no further introduction. You can deposit using Neteller, Firepay and any major credit card. Your cashout will be fast and - as long as you’ve accumulated your bonus (via the rake points) - problem free.
Final verdict for Bodog Poker: there’s a lot of room for improvement in more areas than one at BP, however, there is money in it and the extremely loose nature of the games played here will make sure you get your share of it.
