Is Bovada Legal in USA in 2023 - how, where, which states?

Fans of online sports betting, poker, and casino games often inquire: Is Bovada legal? Is it legal in the USA? What states is Bovada legal in? Are there age requirements? This article will answer all those questions and more.

As one of the foremost online gambling brands, Bovada caters to residents of the United States who are looking for betting action from the comfort of their homes. Before depositing their hard-earned cash, many users wish to assure themselves that Bovada is legal where they reside.

We've done the research for you and are pleased to report that, yes, Bovada is legal for residents of the United States to play online poker, enjoy their favorite internet casino games and get involved with USA online sports gambling. Keep reading for more information on why this is so, how Bovada works, is Bovada safe to use where you reside, where Bovada is located, and other details that you might be curious about.

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What Is Bovada?

Before going on with our exploration of Bovada legality, let's go over a few basic facts about the site.

Bovada was formed in 2011 as a US-facing offshoot of the respected Bodog brand that began operation in 2000. Its main product is its sportsbook covering all manner of international and domestic sporting events. There is also a racebook covering horse races around the world, a casino with Bovada blackjack variants as well as hundreds of other games, including a Live Dealer section, and a poker room with cash games, including fast-fold poker, sit-n-goes, Jackpots, and multi-table tournaments. All elements of the site are covered in this comprehensive 7,000+ word Bovada review.

Since its inception, Bovada has grown in popularity and prestige among casual users, reviewers, and industry critics. It is now one of the most well-known online gambling brands available in the United States and consistently posts the highest amounts of active users in its online poker room, versus other US-friendly poker websites and competitors.

The Bovada.lv Website

Where is Bovada Legal?

Now that we have reviewed what Bovada is and does, allow us to answer the questions related to where Bovada is legal.

The short answer is that Bovada is legally offered to customers in 45 of the 50 United States, as well as all of the US minor territories and outlying islands. Bovada does not operate in any countries other than the United States of America after dropping support for Mexico and other LATAM countries in 2018. Those countries are now serviced by a sister site. If you live in those locations, read our Bodog Review as this article does not pertain to you.

What states is Bovada legal in?

Bovada is legal in 45/50 states. Those states include:

What states is Bovada illegal in?

The states Bovada is not legal in is short, only 10% of states. Customers are not allowed to create accounts on the Bovada.lv website from the following states: Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, and New York. In these states, online gambling is state-regulated, and those states have chosen to disallow offshore gambling sites for the time being. We do expect this to change in the future, but the timeline is uncertain.

Are there other options in these illegal states?

Yes, in all cases there are still some offshore sties as well as crypto-only websites which provide a legal loophole for play. In New Jersey, read this article for suggestions. In the states of DE, MD, NV, and NY, we recommend the following options since Bovada is not allowed:

• For Sports: SportsbettingAG
• For Casino: Wild Casino
• For Poker: Betonline

Can I use Bovada in any state?

Bovada can be used in any US state, with a few caveats. The company allows players to create accounts from only 45 states, as covered above, however, they also realize that Americans love to travel and they do not exclude legally created accounts from playing if they happen to temporarily be located in unfriendly jurisdictions.

However, if you are temporarily located in an unfriendly state, you will want to follow the rules for safety listed below, as if you were travelling abroad in another country.

Can I play Bovada while travelling abroad in other countries?

Yes, but it is best to do a few things in preparation for travel outside of the USA if you wish to retain full access to your Bovada account.

• Contact Bovada Support
• Make sure your account has adequate funding
• Avoid using the cashier to withdraw until back in the United States

First and foremost, take a moment to contact support and inform them that you will be accessing your account from a foreign country for some pre-determined time-frame and to please annotate your account. This is similar to how one would contact one's credit card company when intending to use it abroad, to keep the fraud department from shutting down one's access. Next one would want to top up their account before departing. Lastly, one would want to refrain from withdrawing funds while outside of the USA.

If for example one happens to take a vacation to Maryland or Canada and attempts to log into Bovada's website, one will be greeted with a pop-up message which informs them that

"We currently don't offer services in your area." However this same message states "Already a member & travelling at the moment? You can log in below."

Invalid location and travel notice pop-up when attempting to play from unsupported jurisdictions.

As you can plainly see in the image above, for short-duration trips, players are allowed to play from jurisdictions in which they can not otherwise create an account. We do caution players not to abuse this, as eventually the security department will want to know why you have spent months "travelling" to a non-friendly jurisdiction.

Furthermore, we advise players to avoid using the cashier to deposit or withdraw while on vacation, as this leads to deeper security checks and can result in a temporary suspension of account access, due to IP address mismatch. Of course this problem is easily rectified by speaking to support, but why go through unnecessary hassle? We recommend that players deposit and top up their account before they go on vacation and wait to withdraw their winnings until they return home to avoid these issues altogether.

How Is Bovada Legal?

The short answer as to how is Bovada legal is that it is located in Costa Rica and is therefore immune to prosecution under U.S. law. It must comply with the laws of Costa Rica, where it is based, and is not really affected by the moral posturings of bigwig bureaucrats in the United States.

The Federal government might have a different interpretation of Bovada's legal status particularly where online sports betting is concerned. They would probably contend that under the provisions of the Wire Act, Bovada's online sportsbook is in violation of the law and, like other betting sites, is subject to prosecution.

Yet the U.S. government's heavy-handed attempts to criminalize online gambling operations have already been deemed contrary to international law by the World Trade Organization. While rendering judgment in the lengthy dispute between the United States and Antigua regarding online gambling, the WTO noted that international trade treaties that the United States has signed demand that signatory nations allow cross-border access to all kinds of goods and services, like online sportsbooks. By claiming that these sites are illegal, the United States is breaking its solemn treaty obligations.

Regardless of their view that Bovada is illegal, it's really difficult for the U.S. authorities to initiate enforcement actions against the firm as long as nobody associated with the company enters the country. There have been, in the past, executives of sports betting sites that have been arrested when they set foot on U.S. soil. The case of Peter Dicks is one such example. However, after a few similar incidents many years ago, execs at online betting corporations like Bovada are now wise enough to avoid making this blunder.

What About a Possible Repeat of Black Friday?

Some point to the Black Friday crackdown as an example of what could happen to Bovada Poker. On April 15, 2011, several of the leading U.S.-friendly online poker sites were targeted by criminal and civil legal proceedings, and they were eventually forced to leave the U.S. market. However, it was a unique set of circumstances that led to Black Friday in the first place, and those conditions no longer pertain.

Visitors to Several Online Poker Websites Were Shown This Message on April 15, 2011
Bodog/Bovada Was Not One of Them

The Department of Justice proceeded with the Black Friday indictments based largely upon the information given to them by Daniel Tzvetkoff: a prominent online gambling payment processor who was arrested and turned state's evidence. Since that time, most internet gaming enterprises have taken steps to limit their exposure so that a single individual cannot do so much harm to their business interests.

Since the events of Black Friday, there have been a couple of changes in presidential administration, and none of the subsequent DoJ appointees have shown any inclination of launching a new version of Black Friday. The passing of Sheldon Adelson in January 2021 is perhaps relevant here too. The billionaire was widely regarded as the mastermind behind many anti-online gambling laws and regulations, and so his disappearance (and the disappearance of his lobbying money) from the scene heavily reduces the probability of further large-scale prosecutions against internet gaming interests.

We must also remember that Bovada's ancestor Bodog was not one of the companies attacked on Black Friday. In the unlikely event that there is a second wave of legal action against online betting firms, there's every reason to believe that Bovada will again slip through the net.

Players Totally Safe

The effective immunity of the principals of Bovada to prosecutions that the authorities may wish to initiate against them doesn't exactly address matters from the individual player's end. Some potential users of Bovada Poker may be wondering if they're breaking the law by accessing the betting site. A few might even be asking themselves: Can you go to jail for using Bovada? Fortunately, though, the answer to this question is, “no.”

None of the federal statutes that target online gambling sites affect ordinary players at all. The Wire Act focuses strictly on those running the online gaming organizations. The UIGEA too penalizes operators rather than players although it does also target banks and payment processors. Even those few state codes that might theoretically make playing at Bovada's casino, poker room, or sportsbook against the law are never enforced against regular customers.

Thus, there's no chance at all of jail time or even a fine if you partake in the Bovada casino, poker, or sports products online. From a legal standpoint, you're completely safe.

Is Bovada Legit?

Of course, even after assuring yourself that Bovada is legal, there's still the question of whether or not it's a legitimate betting site with fair games and honest payouts. Well, there are two things we can look at when attempting to decide if Bovada.lv is legit or not: its official gaming license and the way it has historically treated its users.

Bovada.lv Online Gambling Licensure

There are several jurisdictions around the world that regulate real money internet gaming companies. These regulatory bodies establish rules governing the conduct of online wagering products, and they monitor their licensees for compliance. Although not the be-all-and-end-all of gauging the trustworthiness of a site, the presence of a valid license does indicate that an entity has met whatever criteria the licensing body has established and is likely not a fly-by-night upstart.

In the case of Bovada, we see that it is licensed by Curacao eGaming. Bovada was formerly not licensed – a cause for concern among some prospective customers – but in January 2021, Bovada announced that it had obtained a Curacao license. This means that it has successfully fulfilled the criteria of the Curacao regulators, and it remains in compliance to this day.

Bovada's Gaming License Is Verifiable Through the Curacao eGaming Validation Tool

U.S. Players Satisfied by Bovada

Of course, official licensure is just a formality that weeds out only the most dishonest of crooked organizations. You should expect more from your legal sports betting, casino, and poker provider than simply a valid gaming license.

Since 2011, Bovada has acted forthrightly and proactively to safeguard its customers and to give them a superb betting experience.

Bovada Poker is part of the largest poker network open to Americans (PaiWangLuo Network). It would have been impossible for it to achieve this #1 status had it not delivered the unbiased shuffling results and action-filled tables and tournaments that its users are looking for. A few malcontents contend that the dealing isn't random, but we have debunked these misinformed theories that Bovada is rigged, it is in fact totally legit.

On the casino side of things, Bovada has also acted in a conscientious way. In July 2016, Bovada Casino got rid of several games from a third-party developer after it came out that there was something weird going on with many of the progressive jackpot titles from that software house. Rather than subjecting its customers to potentially crooked games, Bovada opted to remove them from its menu.

Perhaps most importantly, Bovada has always been known to pay out what it owes. It does not give winners the runaround or subject them to annoying delays when they try to cash out their money. Our regularly updated online gaming payout report shows that Bovada is indeed one of the fastest-paying sites available to Americans.

Bovada Legal Payout Methods: Checks, Bitcoins, and More

We have shown that Bovada is legal to use for Americans and that Bovada's legit as far as the integrity of its gameplay and the no-nonsense payment of winnings. We would like to elaborate a little bit more on the nature of the payouts at Bovada because this is something that many people inquire about before feeling confident in creating a Bovada account.

You can request Bovada checks for amounts between $100 and $3,000. You will receive your check in 10 – 15 business days. Bovada provides all customers with one free check withdrawal per 90 days; any additional cashouts via check within this time window incur a fee of $100 each.

Yet, there are better ways to get your money in this day and age. When you use a crypto-currency like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, or Litecoin to make a withdrawal, you will be able to receive up to $9,500 at a time. Furthermore, there are no fees for crypto payouts. The coins should hit your crypto wallet within a day or two of making your withdrawal request.

Digital coins are also a superb way to deposit funds to your Bovada account. Doing so will let you avoid fees and also spare yourself the possibility of having your credit card declined. Many card issuers block transactions related to online gambling, but this is never a problem for crypto users.

Bovada Accepts Several Cryptocurrencies

Crypto-currency is truly a huge innovation, which has transformed the world of online gaming. If you aren't familiar with how it works, then you can learn more by reading this guide to using Bitcoin for online poker. We have also created guides to two popular “altcoins” that are fully supported at Bovada.lv: Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash.

Who Can Sign up for Bovada?

Bovada focuses its efforts exclusively on the United States, and this is the only country from which it accepts sign-ups. There are other sites within the same group of companies that cater to those in other parts of the world. Bodog offers its services to those in Canada and Latin America while Ignition Casino, in addition to the United States, also serves Australia.

Unfortunately, there are several states from which Bovada does not accept customers. They are: DE, MD, NJ, NV, NY.

One more thing of note, whatever you do, do not attempt to download any form of app for Bovada from Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, or any other "app store" as they are all fake! Bovada self hosts the Bovada app.

Minimum Age Requirements

Another requirement is that you must be 18 years or older. This is the age of majority throughout most of the United States. In case you live in a state with a different age of majority, then it's your responsibility to ensure that you are of legal age to agree to a binding contract before you register for Bovada.

If you are underage, we strongly counsel you not to attempt to play at Bovada. Besides being against the terms of service of the site, gambling while younger than 18 will likely cause you problems during the identity verification that's generally required before any cashout is processed. Therefore, you will not be able to collect any of your winnings if you break the rules.

Is Bovada Legal Conclusion

If you were wondering, “Is Bovada legal?” then the answer is: Definitely. The Bovada legal sportsbook, poker room, and casino caters to people in the United States looking to conduct real money gaming, and there's nothing in the law that makes it illegal for you to bet online at this site.

Besides just being legal, Bovada is also legit. That is, it conducts itself in an upright manner and provides fair, honest games along with reliable payouts.

If concerns about whether or not Bovada is legal in the U.S. have been holding you back from creating an account, then there's no reason for you to worry. Bovada provides a legal and safe venue for you to engage in all your real money online gaming.

If you want to learn more about Bovada legal gaming, you can read this comprehensive Bovada.lv review. If, for whatever reason, you don't think Bovada would be right for you, then perhaps a list of sites like Bovada (Bovada alternatives) would interest you.

Bovada Legal FAQ

There are a lot of ancillary questions that might pop into your head when considering “Is Bovada legal?" We have attempted to address as many of them as possible below in our FAQ.