Bodog Casino Review
A massive online gambling corporation offering tons of services
Casinomeister's Verdict
Bodog Casino was established in 1994 and is an online gambling operation in Antigua and Barbuda. While the site’s history isn’t all innocent – their founder has experienced legal problems (mainly due to the aggressive nature of the US government when it comes to online gambling), Bodog Casino itself is a solid online casino with poker, live gaming, and sports betting facilities on offer too in the Bodog sportsbook.
Here at Casinomeister, we have no issues recommending Bodog Casino to our readers – and you can find out why and what the casino has to offer – in our Bodog review.
Popular Bitcoin Casino - Been Around for Years
First Impression
One of the first things we do when reviewing any online casino is to take a general look at the casino’s layout, the game selection on offer and have a general browse to see what we can find out about the casino – how they’ve operated so far – and what people are saying about them on the internet.
Bodog Casino, on the whole, appears to have a fairly solid reputation, and one of the main things they have going for them, in their corner, is their age; Bodog Casino has been around for decades, and while their owner has had his fair share of legal issues, the company itself appears to operate above-board and legitimately.
A while ago, we published a review here on Casinomeister – and that saw Bodog Casino placed into our grey zone. This means the casino is recommended – but hasn’t passed through the Baptism by Fire process to become an Accredited casino.
Still, generally speaking, Bodog Casino is a pretty solid site – and Bodog appeals to a wide variety of players, thanks to the fact that they offer everything from video poker, real player-vs-player poker, casino games, and more. Let’s kick off this Bodog review with a look at the main casino bonus available to new players. The live betting screens on other online sportsbooks might confuse players, but this platform is formatted well.
Pros
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Casino, sports betting and poker
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A trusted and well-known brand
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Great mobile betting
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24/7 support
Cons
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Country restrictions can be a pain
BONUSES AND PROMOTIONS
Like all casinos, Bodog offers new players a welcome bonus – and we’re going to be looking at the details of this welcome bonus in the following section. We’ll also be looking at some of the other promotions you’ll find on offer at the casino – so let’s get started!
Welcome Bonus
The main new-player casino bonus at Bodog is split into two parts, and the first part of the welcome bonus is designed to be used with the site’s slot games. It’s delivered in the form of a 100% matched deposit bonus up to $400, and it has wagering requirements of 25X – pretty low, especially in today’s iGaming world.
The second part of the main casino bonus Bodog offers is called a games bonus. Again, this is a 100% matched deposit bonus, although this time, it’s worth up to $200 and has wagering requirements of 40X. Both welcome bonus offers combined allow you the chance to claim up to $600 in bonus funds – which is a bit lower than we might expect to see, but the low wagering requirements for the first part of the sign-up bonus are low, so it’s not all bad news.
No-Deposit & Free Spins Offers
At the time of writing, Bodog doesn’t offer any no-deposit bonuses or free spins promotions. However, they do run a number of offers, particularly in the sports Bodog betting side of their online gambling operation. You can find more information about these other welcome bonus offers and promotions from the main ‘promotions’ page at Bodog.
VIP and Loyalty Programs
All players at Bodog qualify for a cashback promo, which sees you earning points and rewards for every real-money wager you place at the site. The number of points you earn depends on the amount you wager and the game you’re playing.
For every 100 points you accumulate, you’ll earn $1 worth of cash back. On Friday, provided you’ve earned at least 500 points ($5), the points you’ve accumulated will be converted to cash, and this cash is then yours to do with as you, please.
In addition to these bonuses, Bodog Casino also runs a number of other pretty cool promotions, including Refer a Friend, weekly offers, and special sports betting promotions. As an added bonus, poker players can also claim special bonuses, details of which can be found in the relevant subsection of the casino. You can use your poker points to buy a casino bonus.
Banking & Payment Methods
When making deposits and withdrawals, Bodog Casino offers players a wide variety of banking options. Still, you should be aware that the payment methods you’ll be able to use depend on which country you’re from.
What’s more, Bodog has a number of different websites, all country-specific, so you’ll only be able to play at the site that holds a valid license for your jurisdiction. Like most online casinos, Bodog accepts all major debit and credit cards. However, the minimum deposit limits are quite a bit higher than other sites; debit and credit cards require you to deposit at least $25.
Canadian players can benefit from two country-specific payment methods, including an Interac E-Transfer and a direct bank transfer. Interac requires a minimum deposit of $20.
As a bonus, Bodog Casino also accepts Bitcoin. They were one of the first casinos to offer cryptocurrency. If you choose to make a deposit using Bitcoin, you’ll need to deposit a minimum of $20.
Deposits are credited to your account immediately, and as another bonus, Bodog Casino doesn’t charge any fees for you to make deposits. However, you should be aware that they don’t accept payment methods like Neteller and Skrill at their Canadian-facing site, which may be a turn-off for some.
Bodog Casino Withdrawal Speed
Unfortunately, when it comes to withdrawals, Bodog Casino does charge fees; your first withdrawal every month is free, but after that, withdrawals can cost up to $50! This is incredibly high and likely reflects that their payment processors charge them high fees to process withdrawals.
The maximum withdrawal is $3,000, so if you decide to make a few withdrawals, you can end up paying quite a bit in fees, something we don’t like to see.
Thankfully, processing times at Bodog are relatively fast, and the casino aims to process withdrawal requests within 48 hours. While we’ve seen a number of complaints about Bodog taking longer than this to process withdrawal requests, we’ve also seen players commenting that their cashouts have been completed within a few hours.
Responsible Gaming
Responsible gambling has never become more important than now, and nearly all online gambling authorities expect licensees to include a range of responsible gambling resources to their players. When writing this casino review, we discovered that the platform encourages players to keep an eye out on their gambling to ensure that it remains a form of entertainment and not a problem.
At the bottom of the website, you will notice, in the footer section, there is a link to a responsible gambling section. Pressing this link takes you to a short page where Bodog Casino runs through some external support resources for those who feel as though gambling may be becoming problematic. They also provide links to checklists and quizzes, which you can take to find out whether you may be showing indications of having gambling problems.
Players may also opt to take a time-out at any time. This temporarily suspends the account for up to a month and is beneficial for anyone looking to take a break from online gaming. When a player’s online gaming becomes out of hand, the online casino also provides a self-exclusion option. This disables access to your account immediately for six months to five years, which also applies to all other online casinos operating under the same online gaming license.
Unfortunately, like most crypto casinos, Bodog Casino doesn’t offer players the ability to set deposit or wager limits, so you are, essentially, limited solely to self-excluding your account.
Customer Support
One of the things we always look for when writing a casino review is how responsive – or not – the casino’s support team is. While our team was reviewing the Bodog Casino, they were pleased to find that the customer support representatives are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The customer support team representatives are happy to talk to you about virtually anything, and they can help you with creating an account, making deposits and withdrawals, explaining bonus promotions to you, and more.
There are a couple of ways to get in touch with the Bodog Casino customer support team, and the first is via live chat. Live chat is the method of contact we would always recommend, as it connects you with a trained member of the customer support team in real-time. What’s more, at Bodog Casino, the live chat facility is available on both desktop and mobile devices, so it is widely accessible.
If you are unable to use the live chat facility – or simply prefer to communicate via email, you can also reach the support team by emailing the relevant department. You can find a full list of the email addresses used to get in touch with the casino directly on their website through the help and support page.
KYC
Bodog Casino is one of the few crypto casinos that takes KYC checks seriously – and from what we’ve heard, both from players and the online casino itself – all players need to undergo a KYC at some point. However, unlike online casinos licensed in the United Kingdom, for example, Bodog Casino doesn’t require you to submit KYC documentation upon signing up.
There doesn’t appear to be a set time frame for when a KYC check will be carried out – but it appears as though it will happen once you make a withdrawal totaling $1,000 or more. However, please note that you may be asked to undergo a KYC check before this limit – it all depends on several factors.
So, what is a KYC check, and why is it required? Well, here’s what Thales Group has to say: “KYC process includes ID card verification, face verification, document verification such as utility bills as proof of address, and biometric verification. Banks must comply with KYC and anti-money laundering regulations to limit fraud.”
Once you submit your KYC documents, the team at Bodog Casino aims to verify them within 48 hours; however, the team stress that this is the maximum time frame – and usually, they’ll be processed within just a couple of hours.
Website Experience and Features
Desktop and Mobile Gaming
When we were writing this Bodog Casino review, we made sure to test out the functionality and overall user experience of the website. Overall, we feel that Bodog Casino has a pretty decent job in developing their site. While it is not as modern as some other online casinos, we see operating today. The user interface is easy-to-use and easy to navigate. The main navigation menu makes it relatively easy to work your way around and find the games you’re looking to play.
We were also happy that Bodog Casino’s website is fully mobile-optimized. This means that you can enjoy playing in their mobile casino from all of your mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. You do not need to download or install software to play in the mobile casino. All you need to do is open your mobile device’s Internet browser and navigate directly to the Bodog Casino website.
You will then be automatically redirected to the mobile-friendly version of the casino, where you can log in or create an account and begin playing your favorite games.
Unfortunately, Bodog Casino is not yet available in a dedicated mobile app. Mobile applications are expensive to make and require a lot of effort to maintain, so it is unsurprising; however, in the future, particularly as Bodog Casino continues to grow, we would like to see them release a dedicated mobile application for android and iOS users, as it makes mobile gameplay significantly easier and more convenient.
A Fantastic Poker Room
Poker is also available at Bodog Casino – and they’re one of the biggest poker sites on the planet, with the likes of Pokerstars being one of the only major companies who hold a bigger presence in the niche.
Bodog poker is known for offering players a huge selection of games, ranging from conventional online poker cash games to online poker tournaments, sit’n go’s, and more. While writing this Bodog review, we found that the poker area at Bodog Casino is frequently cited by many a Bodog customer as being one of the core reasons they chose to join the site in the first place.
After all, many poker players like to play casino games – and vice versa – so it makes sense to join a site that offers both. We like that the site allows you to play both their casino games and poker games for really low stakes – and while writing this Bodog review, we found poker games available for as little as $0.05!
Once you become a Bodog customer, you’ll immediately be able to enjoy access to both the casino games and the poker room. Bodog Poker Bodog was one of the first websites to offer a real money online poker room. This poker room is famous for having soft competition because many users play poker on the side.
Brand games
Providers
The game selection at Bodog Casino is extensive, and you’ll be pleased to know that – like at most online casinos – all of these games can be played through what’s known as instant play mode.
You don’t need to download or install any special software to begin playing; all the video slots, casino table games, live dealer games, and video poker machines load up directly within your internet browser.
The number of software providers offered at Bodog is impressive, and they’re always working hard to add new brands. At the time of writing, however, some of the most popular game developers available at the online casinos included 2by2 Gaming, Betsoft, Booongo, Bulletproof Games, Habanero, Jade Rabbit Studio, Leander Games, Microgaming, NextGen Gaming, Proprietary Games, Realistic Games, Red Tiger Gaming, Revolver Gaming, Rival Gaming, Real-time Gaming, Spadegaming, Spinomenal, and Wazdan.
Slots
Bodog offers a wide variety of gaming options, including video slots. Below, we’ll look at some of the most popular online slots currently available at the online casino.
Immortal Romance is one of history’s most well-known and famous video slots. It’s from a game developer called Microgaming, one of the biggest software providers on the planet and a company that’s responsible for some of the most successful games in history. Immortal Romance features heavily around a Twilight-esque theme, and the eerie graphics and soundtrack make playing the slot an immersive experience. There’s a cool base game feature called the Wild Desire that turns between one and five reels fully wild, and there are four free Spins bonuses to choose from.
Highlander is a game we were quite surprised to see offered at the online casino because it never proved to be one of Microgaming’s most popular releases. Despite that, we feel it’s one of the developer’s best game efforts, and most of the win potential you will find is packed into the game’s free spins bonus triggered by landing three or more of the scatter symbols anywhere in view.
We were also quite astonished to find that Fish Party is available to play the casino, as this is one of Microgaming’s oldest video slots and a game that can be quite hard to find online casinos today. However, we were pleased to see it offered, especially since it’s a game that focuses on the free spins bonus. That’s because wild symbols are stacked across all five reels during the free spins round, so it is theoretically possible to land a full screen of wilds, resulting in a guaranteed massive payout.
You’ll also find 3D slots at Bodog Casino. These 3D slots are a unique variation of slot games that make the playing experience even more realistic, putting you right into the heart of the game’s action!
Bodog Review: Live Casino
Bodog Casino offers a small yet sufficient live dealer casino, which can be easily accessed by clicking the live dealer tab in the main game navigation menu.
While writing this Bodog casino review, we discovered that the games provided within the live casino are powered by a company called Visionary iGaming. Although they may not be one of the biggest developers in the iGaming space, they have managed to put together a fairly reliable live casino software that allows you to play a plethora of live dealer games.
Of course, you’ll find classics like roulette in Blackjack. Still, the live casino provider also offers some more unique titles, including Super Six Blackjack as well as a small selection of other game variations.
One of the things that we liked while writing this Bodog casino review is that many of the live dealer games can be played for really low stakes. For example, the Blackjack tables allow you to wager as little as one dollar per hand, while the roulette chips can be worth as little as $0.10. This is great, as it allows those on a lower budget to enjoy the action as much as those with a big bankroll.
In the future, we’d like Bodog Casino to add more live casino developers to the poker site. For example, it would be great to see the likes of Evolution Gaming making an appearance. We feel this will greatly increase and enhance the selection of games available and the desirability of the casino’s live gaming area.
Roulette
Whether you’re looking to play European Roulette, American Roulette, French Roulette, or other variations of this classic casino table game, you’ll find them all at Bodog Casino. The casino offers a really impressive selection of Roulette games for you to enjoy, and this makes it super easy for you to find the games you’re looking to play – and enjoy.
What we like about Bodog Casino is that many of the Roulette games can be played for really low stakes, too. This ensures you don’t worry too much about breaking the bank. You’ll find titles playable from as little as $0.10 per chip!
Blackjack
You’ll find a huge selection of Blackjack games to enjoy at Bodog Casino. The site offers everything you could want, from Single Deck Blackjack, High-stakes Single Deck Blackjack, European Blackjack, Pontoon, 21+3 Blackjack, and Perfect Pairs Blackjack.
Table Games and Video Poker
Whether you’re looking to play classic casino table games like Roulette and Blackjack or more unique variations, you’ll find it all at Bodog Casino. As we’ve just seen, Bodog Casino offers everything from Single Deck Blackjack and European Roulette to more obscure game variations… but they also offer a huge selection of video poker games, poker games, and other casino table games for you to enjoy.
Take, for example, their video poker games; you’ll find everything from Deuces Wild, Double Jackpot Poker Jacks, Bodog Poker, Jacks or Better, Jacks or Better Multi-Hand, Jacks or Better Deluxe Bonus, Deuces Wild, Bonus Deuces Wild Poker, Double Bonus Poker, Double Chance Poker Bonus, Joker Poker, Jackpot Poker Double Chance, Joker Poker Bonus and more.
You’ll also find a huge selection of ‘other’ casino table games on offer, including Pai Gow Poker, Vegas Three Card Rummy, Caribbean Stud Poker, Tri-Card Poker, and so on. All of the games Bodog Casino offers can be easily sorted and filtered, too, making it easy to find your favorites.
Games like Pai Gow Poker and Double Poker Bonus can even be used with the main casino bonus/sign-up bonus, so, as you can see, Bodog Casino caters to all different types of players.
Progressive Jackpots
While writing this Bodog review, we also wanted to look at the progressive jackpot games. Of course, looking at progressive jackpot games isn’t exclusive to this review; it’s something we look at in every online casino review!
We were happy that Bodog Casino boasts an impressive selection of progressive jackpot games, including hit titles from Microgaming like Mega Moolah and Mega Moolah ISIS, along with some progressive jackpots from smaller, less well-known software providers.
The progressive jackpot games at Bodog Casino can be easily accessed under the ‘jackpots’ tab on the main game navigation menu.
About the Team and History
Bodog Casino has a long history – and the online casino is one of the longest-running online gambling platforms on the web. It was first founded back in 2000 by an entrepreneur called Calvin Ayre. Here’s a Wikipedia entry talking about his success (and subsequent Bodog legal problems) with Bodog Casino:
“In 2000, Ayre launched online gambling company Bodog, the success of which made him a billionaire. Ayre’s notoriety increased in the mid-2000s as online gaming’s popularity surged, landing him on the cover of Forbes magazine’s 2006 annual Billionaires edition and Star magazine’s “Most Eligible Billionaire Bachelors” list in late 2007.
In 2012, Ayre was indicted by the US Attorney for Maryland on charges of illegal gambling and money laundering. Despite the Antiguan government’s view that the charges against Ayre were “completely contrary to binding international agreements,” in 2017, he pled guilty to a single misdemeanor charge, and all other charges against him were dropped. In August 2017, Ayre was appointed as an Economic Envoy for Antigua and Barbuda to advise on developments in blockchain technology.”
Bodog Casino is now one of the best-known names in online gambling – and the fact that they’ve licensed in so many countries – and accept players from around the world – ensures they’ve become a mainstream figurehead in the iGaming industry.
Complaints and Track Record
While writing this Bodog review, we found that our members – along with players in other online gambling communities – have, generally, positive experiences while playing at Bodog Casino. Of course, there are mixed reviews. Some may have a negative sports betting experience– and you must remember that most players only post negative complaints; they won’t join a review site just to highlight a positive!
That being said, in the interest of transparency, we wanted to give you a full overview of Bodog Casino – and here are some of the issues our players in the forum have faced.
Back in the day, a forum member called Freds had an issue with Bodog’s payout times. He wrote: “I don’t understand why it takes 40 business days to send a check to players. I am expecting a payout, and I will not receive all of my payout for a total of about 3 months, as they only send out a certain amount per check per week.
They don’t wait 40 business days to get my deposit. Why is it so difficult? There must be a better way. This is unacceptable customer service.”
Thankfully, it doesn’t look as though the casino takes this long anymore to process cheque withdrawals.
One of our oldest members, jetset, has experience with Bodog poker – and had this to say about the brand in general: “Calvin Ayre’s Bodog group has a pretty good reputation, and they have certainly been reaping numerous awards this year.
Pokeraddict can better comment on this, but I recall they did a deal with Micropower for their software rather than deploy the more usual LVFH that RTG casinos generally use. They then made their improvements, so it is virtually a proprietary product now.
The Micropower network of poker rooms (branded Power Network) was about 15 strong last time I looked at PokerPulse.”
Sure, Calvin Ayre himself has a somewhat chequered past – but Bodog Casino, itself, appears to operate above board and legitimately. We don’t have any major concerns with them and would go as far as to recommend them to our readers.
Casino Facts
Founded | 1994 |
Accredited | No |
Casino representative | |
Affiliate program | BestPartners |
Is this casino certified at Casinomeister | No |
Payout Time | 72 hrs |
Reverse Time | 48 hrs |
Payout Limits | N/A |
Weekend Payouts | No |
Locks Withdrawals | No |