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March 12th, 2010 |
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March 12th, 2010 |
Poker Room Review:
Bodog has the gentleman’s approach to gambling. They cater their players’ natural needs and offer a straight forward gaming experience. Amongst men of honor, incomplete choices or hassles with banking are unknown peculiarities.
Bodog Poker is rather new to the poker scene. The poker site was launched in September of 2004. Bodog, as a gambling institution, is more experienced. They run a casino and a sports book that has been around since 1995. The poker room is not part of a network, perhaps a decision made in a, self-sufficient but all-inclusive strategy. The Bodog brand includes a music label. Anyhow, it is sufficient and they do produce something unique. The traffic is also sufficient, but the mixture of players is not satisfactory. The medium volume of players is the main weakness of Bodog. That the players to a large extent come from their own sports book and are loose, losing poker players are one of their main strengths.
This poker room is for the poker player that for the most part appreciates good, loose Texas Hold'em action at reasonable levels but also enjoys the possibility to play Five-Card Stud or picking a good bet from the sports book. It is also for the player who values good straight forward promotions in an obvious environment.
All the basic poker games are offered by Bodog Poker and to that the classic Five-Card Stud is added. Variations of the games: FL, PL, NL, short-handed, and one-on-one play are all available. However just because something is there, does not mean it is utilized. It is here the medium traffic comes in. The number of players is respectable, but the action is concentrated to Texas Hold'em. Other games are more often than not of a recreational character. This is also a result of many players preferring the tournaments over the ring games. To continue the harsh evaluation with a big poker rooms standards, the players at Bodog have foremost found the micro-limits and in particular the no-limit ones. This poker room is not for the high-stakes player, the supply of high-limit games is too poor for that. The low-stakes player on the other hand can dwell in micro-limit games down to $0.05/$0.10. There is a good selection of short handed tables.
Bodog Poker has a commendable tournament section. There is a lot to choose from, especially with lower buy-ins. The big weekly Sunday tournament has a $100K guaranteed prize pool. An example of good imagination at Bodog is the $25K guaranteed short handed tournament which runs two times a week. Another example is the tournament leader board. Points are awarded to the top 20% of every tournament according to the number of entrants, the buy in and finish rank. For the weekly leader board competition, each player’s top 12 point finishes are counted. The weekly top prizes is to play Josh Arieh or David Williams in a heads up sit’n’go for $1000. There are more weekly prizes and the monthly and annual leader boards have separate prize structures. Bodog does have a well structured tournament area for their size and are starting to find that ‘little extra’.
The software is a prolongation of the no-nonsense, down to business attitude. The interface is one of a kind. The fresh thinking has a futuristic touch. This philosophy is best described by their choice to leave out the tables. Who needs an image of a table to play poker online? The view does take some getting used to but really only facilitates the game. The other trademark of Bodog’s software is how the “tables” are divided. With the last major software update the 3 tables that can be played simultaneously are split within the same screen. One table is shown in full size and two are shown in miniview at the side. The smaller tables have an inferior overview and are harder to handle, there is not enough room to maneuver. However, when you want to study a miniview table more closely getting it up as the main table is done swiftly. While this is an innovative way for players with small monitors to multi-table with better supervision, a more recent upgrade also allows play on 3 separate full screen tables.
With the tables out of the way, the interface provides clear cards and a general good overview. Two negatives: The cards are so integrated in each players box that it is difficult to see who is still active in a hand and “auto-post blinds” is pre-checked which could make you post a big blind UTG when you sit down unless you are active in unchecking it. You are always seated at the center. The personal statistics are updated directly and is combined with the note taking system at the bottom right of the table. Game play is very quick.
The lobby is easy to navigate. The only thing missing in the lobby is hands/hour. There is a “quick-seat” system for those who aren’t very picky with table selection. One nice outcome of the miniview system at Bodog is the possibility to observe a miniview of any table while surfing the lobby. This is relatively useful, and very cool.
Table (click to enlarge)
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Lobby (click to enlarge)
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While there are a number of poker sites who can boost with larger traffic, it is very difficult to find an equally big site with such loose play. The games at Bodog are among the loosest on the Internet, hence the world. This is primarily the result of the large number of customers coming from the sports book or the casino. At the micro limits the viewed flop percentage reaches for the skies. The action is very good up to $1/$2 and at the $5/$10 level loose games are still readily available. The clientele is predominant American but the total volume of players boundaries the critical mass necessary for good play 24/7.
To be honest, promotion schemes can be pretty confusing at times. How and when can that "free money" be earned? Bodog does not distribute its promotion money without setting up some rules, but they are straightforward. The promotional scheme at Bodog Poker is better than most, mainly because of the reliability in them.
The signup bonus does not have a ceiling. 10% of the first deposit is added to your account straight away. In other words the bonus is paid upfront, unusual amongst poker rooms but common for sports books. 3 bonus points for each dollar in bonus is needed before you are qualified to withdraw the bonus money. This is a high conversion rate. It is good even though a full bonus point is not awarded until the rake reaches $1. A rake in the interval $0.50 - $0.95, yields 1/2 a point. While a rake in the intervals $0.25 - $0.45 and $0.05-$0.20 yields 1/4 and 1/10 point respectively. So the bonus is easy to clear at $1/$2 and above, at lower limits it is still moderately easy.
Cash games in not the only way to collect points, 3 points are awarded for every $1 in fees paid to enter tournaments (single- or multi-table). Points are also earned with playing time - every minute spent playing at free games as well as real money games and tournaments counts. 1 point is awarded for every 60 minutes of play. The signup bonus or any other bonus ever expires, but you cannot make a withdrawal before the bonus is cleared or else the bonus will be forfeited. So depositing a huge amount of money for a huge signup bonus might tie up a lager amount of money than desirable.
Here is what not, the catch is. The signup bonus is not a one time deal. Every deposit you make follow the above rules. Another way to express this is that this poker room's reload bonus is active every day with the same simple conditions.
Apart from clearing deposit bonuses the points can be used for tournament entries. All player accounts will start with 50 points. Some campaign contests are run and where Bodog really leaves the simplicity is with the friend referral. It is a deviation for the better though as each friend’s signup can yield up to $200, based on 40% of their first deposit.
The rake is on par with the industry, possibly a bit better than average. The rake table at Bodog is very detailed. The intervals at which rake is collected varies a lot with the stakes (size of blinds). Also the cap (the maximum rake taken out of a pot) varies with both the stakes and the number of players at the table. An ordinary “no drop – no flop” policy is in effect and the rake aims at 5% of the pot with a maximum of $3. With the comprehensive layout of the rake schedule Bodog do a good job of getting close to 5% all of the time. However they never get above 5% and never above $3 either, something they are getting lonelier and lonelier by enforcing. If the tournament fees are included in the rake grading, then Bodog are definitely better than average. The fees are never above 10%, not even for buy-ins below $10, but instead as examples: $3+$0.30 or $7+$0.50 and standard fees at $10+$1 or $100+$9.
With an established betting company – and more – standing behind this poker venture, the security is good. There are no registered complaints with how Bodog conducts its business. The speed and quality of the customer service are excellent. They are available by mail and over the phone24/7. The 10% constant reload bonus is handled in a reliable manner, no hassles what so ever. The sturdy number of deposit option makes it easy to get money into your Bodog account. It is not as easy to get it out, withdrawals to bank accounts and credit cards are namely not possible. The other options that are available for payouts are all handled fast, especially to Neteller.
