Bodog Poker Apple
Apple Poker Ranking: 8.5
Bodog Overview:
Primarily known for its online sports book, Bodog has become synonymous with inventive promotions and a steadily growing online poker room. Its player counts are lower than those you’ll find on PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, or PartyPoker, but its soft cash games and Apple-friendly atmosphere should put the site on your radar.
Bodog Apple Software:
Bodog’s Instant Play option is an Apple poker player’s ticket into the site. The Flash-based client launches right in your web browser in a matter of seconds, so there’s no lag time. However, make sure that you have the latest version of Flash installed on your Apple before firing up Instant Play.
Despite its ease of use, Instant Play on Bodog has a few drawbacks. First, only cash games exist. This means there is no access to the site’s $100,000 Guaranteed and Flight Club tournaments. To play in these, you’ll need to use Parallels or Boot Camp and download Bodog’s traditional Windows software instead. Second, only Texas Hold’em can be found. Omaha and Stud, among other varieties of poker, are non-existent in Bodog’s Instant Play option. Third, only one table can be opened up at a time, making multi-tabling impossible. However, Apple poker players wanting to fire up one Texas Hold’em cash game table or rail someone else will find themselves right at home.
Bodog Tournaments:
Bodog’s primary weekly tournament is the $100,000 Guaranteed. The event is notorious for having an overlay, which means that its actual prize pool (the buy-in multiplied by the number of players) falls short of its guarantee (in this case, $100,000). When an overlay occurs, the online poker site must contribute the difference. There is regularly a $20,000 to $30,000 overlay in the $100,000 Guaranteed, which means an abundance of value for those who play in it. Its buy-in is $109, making it one of the lowest priced Sunday major tournaments. However, be advised that the tournament is not accessible from the Instant Play option, which only includes cash games.
Cash Games:
Texas Hold’em cash games are the most popular type on Bodog. Many of the players you’ll compete against have found their way to the ring game tables from the sports book, so the games are often very soft. No Limit Hold’em tables range in stakes from $0.05/$0.10 to $10/$20. At the time of writing, a very busy $10/$20 game was running with an average pot size of well over $600. Only a handful of Pot Limit ring game tables exist and lack traffic anyway. Fixed Limit tables vary between $0.05/$0.10 and $30/$60. Play Money tables are also available through the Instant Play option.
Clicking on any table in the lobby will display its name, its blinds, the maximum buy-in, number of players waiting, number of players watching, average pot size, average number of players who see the flop, and the stack sizes of each participant. The site’s e-mail address and telephone number are displayed in the lower right corner should you have any questions. Bodog also spreads Omaha and Stud, but these are not available within Instant Play for Apple.
Traffic:
If you’re looking for a soft game of No Limit Texas Hold’em, Bodog will suit your needs perfectly. If you’re looking for Pot Limit and Fixed Limit, its traffic is considerably lower. Bodog accepts players from the United States and is flanked by a team of pros that includes Evelyn Ng, David Williams, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and Jean-Robert Bellande. The team of edgy, yet accomplished, pros has given Bodog a considerable amount of visibility on television and in the poker world. However, its dearth of mainstream advertising in comparison to PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker has resulted in lower player counts.
According to PokerScout, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, Bodog is ranked in the top 15. It has an average of between 800 and 900 cash game players online. At its peak, expect to find between 1,400 and 1,500.
Apple Promotions:
Bodog Flight Club
Your opportunity to claim entries into some of the world’s marquee live poker tournaments, Bodog’s Flight Club has previously sent members of the online poker community to events held as part of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and its Circuit Events, Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), and European Poker Tour (EPT). Packages won during Flight Club tournaments include Main Event buy-ins, travel, lodging, spending money, performance-based bonuses, and updates on players’ progress provided by Bodog. Many of these tournaments have seven-figure first place prizes, making the Flight Club an excellent opportunity to satellite in. However, keep in mind that tournaments are not accessible through Instant Play.
Bodog Poker Open
If you use a program like Parallels or Boot Camp, you’ll be able to take part in the Bodog Poker Open. Similar to the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) and Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), but on a smaller scale, the Bodog Poker Open pits members of the site against each other in a multi-event tournament series. Bodog also includes a variety of bounties on some of its star players, making the Open a very friendly affair.