Bodog Poker Software Compatibility
Bodog Poker is available on PCs and MACs. Their software is also compatible with some of the most popular tracking software on the internet.
Platform Compatibility
Personal Computers
As usual, Bodog Poker is fully compatible with PCs. Their download function assumes PC use and players can be up and running in no time. Players on PCs have access to all of the functions and features on Bodog Poker including their tournaments, SnGs, cash game [including multi-tabling].
Bodog Poker Instant Play
You can now play Bodog Poker anytime…anywhere – with Instant Play Poker!
If you can’t access the full featured download version or if want to play instantly without having to download, then this is your answer. Play Bodog Poker right from within your web browser.
This Instant Play version of Bodog Poker allows you to play at one cash game table. If you want to play more than one table at a time, or if you want to play in tournaments, then you need to download the full version of the software.
What’s Flashy about Instant Play?
It’s Mac and Linux compatible!
You can now quickly play Bodog Poker on your buddy’s computer or snatch a few games at work (or anywhere with downloading restrictions).
Enjoy the same great games – right in your web browser!
Featuring…
At your fingertips: more single table Texas Holdem Cash Games than you can shake a mouse at. These run 24/7 – so order in the energy drinks.
Don’t forget to bookmark (control-D or apple-D) Bodog Instant Play in your web browser so you can get back to your games fast.
Tracking Software and [HUDs]
Bodog Poker can be set up to utilize the best poker tracking software available. As explained below, however, players who wish to use this software will need to purchase a 3rd party software package in order to use the software. Heads-up Displays[HUDs] allow players to set up their tables to display a plethora of information on their opponents and themselves. How often does this player limp into pots? How much has he won in hands I’ve been involved in? How does he react when I 3-bet him? Regardless of personal opinions, a good tracking software and HUD can mean the difference between winning and losing ot between earning 1 Big Bet or two.
Poker Tracker™
Players using the newest Poker Tracker 3™ [PT3] software can virtually plug and play at Bodog Poker as this version includes IdleMiner’s™ Hand Grabber program built into the software.
Those players who are still using Poker Tracker 2™ will need to purchase the Idleminer™ software [cost is currently $49.99] in order to fully use Poker Tracker™ with all of its features, charts and HUD.
Holdem Manager™
Holdem Manager™ is compatible with Bodog Poker, but players must purchase the Idleminer™ Hand Grabber software mentioned below in order to avail themselves of the hand histories at Bodog Poker. Once installed, Handgrabber will work with Holdem Manager in facilitating the capture of hand histories so the program can fully utilize this information in a timely fashion.
IdleMiner™ and Hand Grabber
IdleMiner™ has developed a series of HandGrabber tools to help players garner their hand histories from sites with non-standard hand history files. Bodog Poker is such a site. Without HandGrabber [currently selling for $49,99], players at Bodog Poker cannot use their Holdem Manager™ software. Bodog Hand Grabber captures and saves both hands you participate in, and hands you’re just observing to disk in a plain, human readable format. These files are suitable for manual review or for use with Holdem Manager™.
Bodog Poker Cash Games
Bodog Poker hosts Texas Hold’em, Omaha, 7-Card Stud and 5-Card Stud cashgames. The majority of cash games played is Texas Hold’em with most of the action on the No-limit Texas Hold’em tables. Bodog Poker is well known for having some of the loosest cash game tables on the internet. One reason is that it is a smaller site with a lot of aggressive European players, but also that the major tracking software can only be used by purchasing a 3rd party program to actually upload the hand histories. If you are capable or like to play without the safety net of a Heads-Up Display [HUD], you’ll love Bodog. Definitely one of the best kept secrets of online poker.
Texas Hold’em
Like everywhere else online,Texas Hold’em is the dominant form of poker played at Bodog Poker. Bodog Poker offers No Limit [NL], Pot Limit [PL] and Fixed Limit [FL] cash games. Players can play in Fullring, 6-Max and Heads-up poker.
No Limit Hold’em
Players can find games in NL Hold’em in Fullring [9-person tables], 6-Max tables and Heads-Up formats. Buy-ins range from NL5 to NL2000. The traffic above NL400 is sporadic at best and usually populated by the best NL short game and Heads-up players on Bodog Poker. However, at buy-ins at or below NL200, traffic is very good and players should be able to find a game of their choice at most times during the day.
Limit Hold’em
Fullring games [these are 10-person tables as opposed to the NL and PL 9-person tables] as well 6-Max and Heads-up are available with stakes from $0.05/$0.10 through $30/$60. Players will find limited action at Bodog Poker Fixed Limit tables, although they have respectable 6-Max and Heads-up tables as high as $4/$8.
Pot Limit Hold’em
These tables are all 9-person like the No Limit tables with buy-ins ranging from PL10 to PL200. Traffic is very sporadic with a full table rarely running although players can play defacto short of Heads-up.
Omaha
Omaha Poker is not a big draw at Bodog Poker. Games can be found especially amongst the Pot Limit tables. The games at Bodog Poker are very loose, so expect a bit of fluctuation in your bankroll. In the end, if you play Omaha well, you’ll do very well at Bodog Poker’s Omaha tables.
Omaha High Only
Bodog Poker offers Omaha High-only cash games. Although they offer both Fixed Limit and Pot Limit, traffic rarely exists for a Fixed Limit game. Players will find they have access to 9-person and 6-Max games which run from PL5 to PL2000. Most of the PL Omaha High traffic is in the lucrative 6-Max games which run consistently as high as PL400. It is rare to find a Fullring table of PL Omaha High Only running.
Omaha Hi/Lo or O/8
Bodog Poker’s Omaha Hi/Lo games [also known as O/8] are available in both Pot Limit and Fixed Limit formats with 9-person and 6-Max tables. Like the Omaha High Only games, Fixed Limit games rarely run. The PL Omaha Hi/Lo, however, tends to have a bit of traffic up to PL200. With buy-ins ranging from PL5 to PL2000, players will usually find the most traffic in the 6-Max games at or below PL200 with sporadic 9-person tables at the lowest buy-ins. Like all things Bodog, these tables tend to be very loose making for a grand opportunity to make some serious inroads in increasing your bankroll.
Stud
Although Stud poker is spread in three different formats, traffic is low to non-existent at Bodog Poker. Got a group of friends who like to play together online? Bodog Poker spreads a lot of different styles, limits and tables for your group to make an online get-together happen. All of Bodog Poker’s Stud tables are 8-person tables which are available only in a Fixed Limit format.
5 Card Stud
5 Card Stud has table stakes of $0.25/$0.50 to $5/$10 although few games run on a daily basis. Those games that occasionally run tend to be very loose as players of 5 Card Stud are not as well practiced on the play of the game.
7 Card Stud
Games of 7 Card Stud are available with stakes of $0.25/$0.50 to $5/$10. Although traffic is small, players can get on tables with 4-7 other players at $1/$2 and lower during peak hours at Bodog Poker. The games, much like 5 Card Stud, are very loose and players with even a modicum of talent in the game have a huge advantage over the players who generally are looking for a change of pace.
7 Card Stud Hi/Lo
Although the same stakes as 7 Card Stud are spread at this game, it is extremely rare to see anyone sitting at these tables. Perhaps if Bodog Poker started spreading HORSE [the ‘E‘ in HORSE stands for 7 Card Stud Eight or better] tournaments and cash games in the future, these tables would see some action, but in the present, don’t expect to see any action here.
Bodog Poker Tournaments Guide
Bodog Poker offers a variety of tournaments each day and week. Their weekly $100,000 Guarantee which runs each Sunday at 4:00PM EST offers the biggest weekly overlay on the internet. With $20,000 to $30,000 in overlays each Sunday, this tournament is one of the best values in online tournament play. Players at ITH remark about how soft the fields at Bodog Poker truly are. Try the Beginner tournaments at $4+$0.40 and $8+$0.80 running daily. These tournaments generally pay out more places than a regular tournament.
Sunday $100,000 Guarantee
Sunday $100,000 Guarantee
Overlays of $20,000 to $30,000 each Sunday are quite common in Bodog Poker’s largest weekly tournament. This tournament starts each Sunday at 4:00PM EST. Players may buy directly in for $150+$12. Players may qualify for the weekly $100,000 Guarantee by winning seats in Bodog Poker’s Satellites.
$100K Cheap Seats
1 player for every $34 in the prize pool will win an entry into any $100K Semifinal or Last Chance Qualifier. Buy-in is $1+$0.00.
$7+$0.70 $100K Semi-final Rebuy
1 player for every $162 in the prize pool will win an entry into the $100K Guaranteed. 1 Seat is guaranteed. Rebuys and add-on must come from player cash instead of tournament credits. Blinds increase every 12 minutes.
$16+$1 $100K Semi-final
1 player for every $162 in the prize pool will win an entry into the $100K Guaranteed. Blinds increase every 12 minutes.
Guaranteed Tournaments
Although the big Sunday $100,000 offers the biggest overlay in online poker tournaments, players can find overlays in some of Bodog Poker’s other guaranteed tournaments. Players can find freezeouts, rebuys, deepstack, super stack, 6-Max and turbo guarantees running each day. Buy-ins range from freerolls to points freerolls all the way to the $5,000 Guarantee with a $200+$15 buy-in cost.
Freeroll and PTS Tournaments
$100,000 Guarantee New Player Qualifiers
As a new Bodog Poker player, once you’re ready to try out the real money tables, you will get an invitation for 6 exclusive qualifiers for the Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed tournament.
To get invited is easy. Simply:
Create your Bodog Poker Screen Name.
Make a first deposit (All first deposits are eligible for a 110% Match Signup Bonus)
Once you’ve done both, you’re eligible and will be invited to participate in 3 special tournaments per week for 2 weeks – that’s 6 exclusive freerolls!
Tournament Information:
Name: $100K New Player Qualifier
Buyin: $0 (Free!!)
Payouts: 1st place wins T$162 to play in the $100,000 Guaranteed on Sunday at 4pm ET, 2nd to 10th place win T$17 in any $100K Semifinal
Max Players: 1000 per tournament
Registration: 48 hrs before start (be early to ensure a seat)
Start Times: Tuesday & Thursday at 8:35PM EST / Saturday at 3:05PM EST
Winning the tournament gets you a seat directly into the $100,000 Final on Sunday. Placing 2nd to 10th gives you a seat in any $100K Semifinal with a $17 buy-in. Play in any $100K Semifinal and win your $162 seat in the $100K Guaranteed.
$300 PTS Freeroll
Every evening at 10:40PM EST, Bodog Poker hosts a $300 PTS Freeroll with a buy-in cost of 30 Bodog Points. Players start with 1200 chips and levels last 12 minutes.
$500 Freeroll
Each day at 2:40PM and 9:40PM EST, players can participate in a $500 freeroll. Initial buy-in is simply registering and being ready to play. However, unlike a true freeroll which is a freezeout, Bodog Poker’s $500 Freeroll allows rebuys and a single add-on. Players may purchase unlimited rebuys during the first hour of the tournament for $1.00. Players get 1,500 chips for each rebuy. At the end of the first hour, players can purchase one 3,000 chips add-on, also for $1.00. Players start with 1,500 chips and each blind level is 10 minutes.
Live Tournament Satellites
Bodog Poker offers a variety of satellites throughout the year to some of the World’s largest live tournaments including the World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker Europe. Look to this section of Bodog Poker’s Tournament review for these exciting tournaments when Bodog starts running their satellites.
Bodog Poker Specials
Bodog Poker Open
Bodog hosts a semi-yearly Poker Open over the course of a week to 10 days each year. These tournaments are value-added tournaments where Bodog Poker adds cash to each tournament adding to their already fantastic overlays. Players generally will find good action and the qualifiers ensure that each is filled with some of the loosest players on the internet. Look to this space for any announcements to the Bodog Poker Specials as Bodog Poker releases their details.
Tournament Credits
Qualifier tournaments will pay out in Tournament Credits (displayed as “T$”). These credits can then be used to buy into the next level of the tournament. When you win a Qualifier tournament you have the option of selecting which event you would like to play in based on the tournaments offered at Bodog Poker and your personal schedule. Unlike many other online poker sites, we do not pre-register you for any tournaments when you win a buy-in – we give you the choice. Tournament Credits cannot be converted to real money, though if you do not use them for the tournament series they were paid out for, they may be used like cash to buy-in for almost all scheduled multi-table tournaments that Bodog Poker offers.
Bodog Sit and Gos or SNGs
I like Sit and Gos [SnGs] because they allow for a lot of poker action in a large variety of situations. You get the early stages, the mid-stage where being good at bubble play is important and the late stage where, hopefully, you get heads-up with another opponent for the top prize. Certainly, SnGs don’t pay the top positions nearly as much as a real deep final table run in a multi-table tournament, but the added benefits of SnGs more than make up for the larger fields of MTTs. Good SnG players can make a good living at poker and most of the time with less variance than the typical tournament grinder.
An added benefit of a SnG is the field size and start times. Heads-up, 6-Max, fullring and anywhere from 1 to 20 tables are all available to the SnG player. The ultimate benefit, however, is the start times. You register, wait for the SnG to fill up with opponents and start play. There is no necessity to put the family on hold for that special 8PM tournament you like. You don’t have to worry if that late breakfast with your dad is going to make you late for that morning’s $100 rebuy. In the era of high-speed internet connections and rapid lifestyles, SnGs are the ultimate in plug-and-play poker.
This brings me to Bodog Poker’s “Beginner” Sit and Gos. When I first found their Beginner SnGs I initially thought that players would only have access to them for a limited amount of time after signing up for a new Bodog Poker account and depositing. This is not the case.
The name is a bit of a misnomer. They are listed as “Beginner” SnGs due to the very different prize structure. Rather than pay out to the top 3 spots as per traditional SnGs, the Beginner SnGs pay out the top 5 spots of players [10-person tables]. This is very user-friendly for players who are new to SnGs….and to good players who are looking for a little less variance. I know what you are thinking. Aren’t these basically just Double or Nothing SnGs where the top 5 players earn double their buy-in sans fee? On the surface, yes. The top half of finishers get prize money, while the bottom half do not. Where they vary is in the payouts.
In a Beginner single table Sit and Go, the prize pool is split 30%-25%-20%-15%-10% paying out 1st to 5th, respectively. Players get less variance, but at the small cost of less of the prizepool when they finish in the top two positions. The added benefit of the Beginner SnGs is consolation prize money when they hit 4th or 5th place.
So how do Beginner level SnGs compare to regular SnGs? If you were to play ten $2 SnGs of each type and finished in each of the 10 possible positions, both SnGs would garner you a return of $20. This would give you a Return of Investment [ROI] of -9.09% in each type of tournament. Keep in mind that even though you won as much in prizepool as you paid into it, you gain a net loss of $2 because that is how much you paid in fees to play. Now, let’s switch it up a bit. You play ten $2 regular SnGs and ten $2 Beginner SnGs. This time you win twice, finish 2nd and 3rd once each and finish 4th twice and 5th once in each. The other 3 times you finish somewhere between 6th and 10th. Here is what your results would look like.
You’d make an extra $1 in profit playing the regular SnGs under this example with an ROI of 36.36% compared to 31.82% for the Beginner SnGs. However, just finish one more time in 5th place and the ROI for the Beginner SnGs increases to 40.91%. These “bubble” finishes in regular SnGs won’t pay off like they will in the Beginner SnGs.
Like anything else, players need to find what they are comfortable with. I like both regular and Beginner SnGs. The key, however, is that Beginner SnGs are only available at Bodog Poker, so when I play there I like having the opportunity to play them.
Single table Beginner SnGs are available in the following buy-ins: $2+$0.20, $4+$0.40, $8+$0.80, $16+$1.60, $32+$3.
Beginner SnGs are also available in 2-Table $4+$0.40 and 3-Table $2+$0.20 variety, paying 8 and 10 places, respectively.
Good Luck at the tables!
March Madness at Bodog
March Madness – Every year there are 65 teams vying for the biggest prize in college basketball – a National Championship. Bodog Sports will spread all of the contests for your betting pleasure.
After all the regular season schedules have been played out. Contests between conference and non-conference opponents decided. After the Conference Tournaments.
Then comes March Madness. 64 contests starting with a play-in game on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010. The winner of the play-in game will face a number 1 seed as a 16 seed. A #16 seed has never won a March Madness game. Could this be the first time? Only time will tell.
March Madness starts on Sunday with the NCAA selection committee picking the 65 teams to fill out the tournament bracket. Once their bracket’s are finalized, the fun begins. Pick your winners.
Sure, the office brackets are fun. Will this team make it to the Sweet 16? Will this one win it all? Who is going to upset the big dogs? How sure are you? If you win your bracket pool, what do you win? A few bucks? Bragging rights? All fine and dandy, but wouldn’t you rather take down some serious cash without leaving your home computer or laptop?
Then do it at Bodog Sports! Click on the link and start placing your bets. On the Bodog Sportsbook page you’ll find all of the action you are looking for. But we’re talking March Madness here. You can find the links on the site itself. Look for NCAA under the Basketball button on the left or under March Madness at the bottom of the page.
All the games are there. So who’s it going to be? I’ll be making my picks before the play-in game tip-off. After that, the Madness begins in earnest on Thursday, March 18th.
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