Bovada "CLOSED" my bonus and took out $750! What am I missing here? Please help.

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  • PeteS457
    SBR Rookie
    • 03-08-12
    • 9

    #1
    Bovada "CLOSED" my bonus and took out $750! What am I missing here? Please help.
    After 15 years with 5Dimes, I was suddenly without a sportsbook. My signup "bonus" with 5Dimes was reduced juice so I didn't deal with cash bonuses and rollovers. However, I had a couple books before and had cash bonus and rollover, so I thought I knew how they work. Anyway, at the beginning of football season 2020, I went searching for a new sportsbook and read the reviews here. I liked the site payout and SBR review for Bovada, so I opened an account with Bitcoin.

    In September 2020, I sent the cash equivalent of $1,000 in bitcoin to get the maximum 75% bonus ($750). My account was opened with $1,750 and it was my understanding that with a 5x rollover requirement, I would have to make $8,500 in bets for the bonus money to be made permanent. During football and basketball seasons, I have place a few thousand dollars in bets, but not enough to satisfy the rollover requirement as I understood it. Anyway, yesterday I checked my Bovada account and the account had been charged and $750 had been taken out of the account without my knowledge. (WHAT?!?) I went to view the transaction log to see why and there's an entry that says April 8, -750.00, "Bonus Closed". What's that? Did I totally not understand how bonuses work? If so, bonuses seem to be worthless, a bait and switch. Now, all that being said, I have not reached out to Bovada for an explanation yet, I thought I'd come here and ask the experts if you know what's going on before I talk with them. To say I'm freaked out about this would be an understatement.


    So my questions:

    Can anyone explain why this happened? Boy, I thought after 20+ years of betting online books, I thought I understood the rules.

    Does anyone have a good/preferred way to communicate with Bovada about this issue? I would much prefer to speak to someone directly about this, but Live Chat and email seems to be the only ways I've found. If so, which is better?

    Thanks to all help and support with this issue.
  • Crusherrr
    SBR MVP
    • 06-27-16
    • 3646

    #2
    If you took the bonus in September then it probably expired. If you don't meet the rollover requirement by a certain date, they close out the bonus. It shows clearly in the progress meter/bar when you need to meet the wager requirement by.
    Comment
    • vampire assassin
      SBR Sharp
      • 03-09-18
      • 296

      #3
      I had a bonus expire once. I wrote them, and they reinstated it once as a good will gesture. You might ask if they will do this for you.
      Comment
      • temple2010
        SBR MVP
        • 03-16-10
        • 1369

        #4
        Originally posted by vampire assassin
        I had a bonus expire once. I wrote them, and they reinstated it once as a good will gesture. You might ask if they will do this for you.
        Yes, I have also done this-
        Comment
        • PeteS457
          SBR Rookie
          • 03-08-12
          • 9

          #5
          Thanks for everyone's replies and support. I have a lot more to say about this at a later time, but for now, I'm just trying to reach Bovada to request a refund of the bonus. And this site really makes it hard to contact them. (Are they all like this now?!?) I wrote to the only email address I could find on the entire site (and it took a long time to find it) - moderator@bovada.lv. Can anyone tell me if this is the best way to contact customer service?

          Thanks for your help.
          Comment
          • pologq
            SBR Posting Legend
            • 10-07-12
            • 19899

            #6
            try live chat
            Comment
            • garyking
              SBR Wise Guy
              • 01-18-07
              • 684

              #7
              Live chat, but not easy to find. Click on help center, then a question, then eventually chat now will appear at the bottom.
              Comment
              • Optional
                Administrator
                • 06-10-10
                • 60633

                #8
                Originally posted by PeteS457
                Thanks for everyone's replies and support. I have a lot more to say about this at a later time, but for now, I'm just trying to reach Bovada to request a refund of the bonus. And this site really makes it hard to contact them. (Are they all like this now?!?) I wrote to the only email address I could find on the entire site (and it took a long time to find it) - moderator@bovada.lv. Can anyone tell me if this is the best way to contact customer service?

                Thanks for your help.
                As you can see from above Bovada will regularly show people goodwill re expired bonuses.

                Ask them nicely will give you the best chance. Demanding won't help as they are not in the wrong if you let the bonus expire.


                service@bovada.lv works

                Learn how to retrieve your forgotten Bovada password in five easy steps. Click on the forgot password icon and Bovada will send you a password reset link.



                You can also try calling (888) 263-0000 but I am not certain they have phone CS right now.
                Last edited by Optional; 04-15-21, 05:27 PM.
                .
                Comment
                • DontTailMe
                  SBR MVP
                  • 03-24-19
                  • 2897

                  #9
                  Originally posted by garyking
                  Live chat, but not easy to find. Click on help center, then a question, then eventually chat now will appear at the bottom.
                  Or just go to the cashier page. Sportsbooks ALWAYS have a chat link in the deposit page. They want to make sure you have no problem sending them money.
                  Comment
                  • ace7550
                    SBR MVP
                    • 05-08-15
                    • 3729

                    #10
                    Originally posted by DontTailMe
                    Or just go to the cashier page. Sportsbooks ALWAYS have a chat link in the deposit page. They want to make sure you have no problem sending them money.

                    So true. Any time I need to find the chat option I just click on deposit
                    Comment
                    • PeteS457
                      SBR Rookie
                      • 03-08-12
                      • 9

                      #11
                      Hi all. I just wanted to let the forum know what the outcome was. At first, Bovada did not respond favorably to my "nice" request for goodwill regarding not knowing about the expiration date for the bonus. (They denied my request.) However, a couple weeks later I get an email and a call from Player Advocacy (playeradvocacy@bovada.lv). The Bovada representative was extremely nice and said they had considered my request and decided to extend my bonus period for three more months. I was very appreciative of this gesture. So now I know what I have to do, it's just going to be hard and I've got to figure out how to make the rollover. Since I initiated the account with a bitcoin deposit equivalent of $1000 to receive the maximum $750 bonus, my rollover requirement was making $8750 in bets (5X). (Right?) They allowed my previous bets to stand and the Playthrough Progress meter says I'm 62% complete with $3750 in bets remaining to meet the requirement. (That math doesn't exactly work for me. My math indicates that Bovada is saying my rollover requirement is more along the lines of $9800 in bets instead of $8750 I calculated - which I don't understand. However, I'm just happy to get the extension.) Now my problem is determining how I'm going to make $3750 in sports bets before August 10 when I rarely make bets this time of year. (I'm mainly a US football and basketball guy.)

                      Thanks for everyone's help and support.
                      Comment
                      • DontTailMe
                        SBR MVP
                        • 03-24-19
                        • 2897

                        #12
                        Originally posted by PeteS457
                        Hi all. I just wanted to let the forum know what the outcome was. At first, Bovada did not respond favorably to my "nice" request for goodwill regarding not knowing about the expiration date for the bonus. (They denied my request.) However, a couple weeks later I get an email and a call from Player Advocacy (playeradvocacy@bovada.lv). The Bovada representative was extremely nice and said they had considered my request and decided to extend my bonus period for three more months. I was very appreciative of this gesture. So now I know what I have to do, it's just going to be hard and I've got to figure out how to make the rollover. Since I initiated the account with a bitcoin deposit equivalent of $1000 to receive the maximum $750 bonus, my rollover requirement was making $8750 in bets (5X). (Right?) They allowed my previous bets to stand and the Playthrough Progress meter says I'm 62% complete with $3750 in bets remaining to meet the requirement. (That math doesn't exactly work for me. My math indicates that Bovada is saying my rollover requirement is more along the lines of $9800 in bets instead of $8750 I calculated - which I don't understand. However, I'm just happy to get the extension.) Now my problem is determining how I'm going to make $3750 in sports bets before August 10 when I rarely make bets this time of year. (I'm mainly a US football and basketball guy.)

                        Thanks for everyone's help and support.
                        Great to hear!

                        In case you aren't aware, only the lesser of your risk & win amounts for each wager counts towards rollover. Maybe that has something to do with the discrepancy you're seeing. Anyways, many thousands of people have achieved rollover at Bovada, and it seems to be calculating just fine for them. Best of luck!
                        Comment
                        • pologq
                          SBR Posting Legend
                          • 10-07-12
                          • 19899

                          #13
                          Originally posted by PeteS457
                          Hi all. I just wanted to let the forum know what the outcome was. At first, Bovada did not respond favorably to my "nice" request for goodwill regarding not knowing about the expiration date for the bonus. (They denied my request.) However, a couple weeks later I get an email and a call from Player Advocacy (playeradvocacy@bovada.lv). The Bovada representative was extremely nice and said they had considered my request and decided to extend my bonus period for three more months. I was very appreciative of this gesture. So now I know what I have to do, it's just going to be hard and I've got to figure out how to make the rollover. Since I initiated the account with a bitcoin deposit equivalent of $1000 to receive the maximum $750 bonus, my rollover requirement was making $8750 in bets (5X). (Right?) They allowed my previous bets to stand and the Playthrough Progress meter says I'm 62% complete with $3750 in bets remaining to meet the requirement. (That math doesn't exactly work for me. My math indicates that Bovada is saying my rollover requirement is more along the lines of $9800 in bets instead of $8750 I calculated - which I don't understand. However, I'm just happy to get the extension.) Now my problem is determining how I'm going to make $3750 in sports bets before August 10 when I rarely make bets this time of year. (I'm mainly a US football and basketball guy.)

                          Thanks for everyone's help and support.
                          you do have the NBA playoffs luckily, assuming you mean NBA and not NCAA
                          Comment
                          • PeteS457
                            SBR Rookie
                            • 03-08-12
                            • 9

                            #14
                            Originally posted by DontTailMe
                            In case you aren't aware, only the lesser of your risk & win amounts for each wager counts towards rollover. Maybe that has something to do with the discrepancy you're seeing. Anyways, many thousands of people have achieved rollover at Bovada, and it seems to be calculating just fine for them. Best of luck!
                            Uggghh....I forgot about the "lesser of risk & win amounts". I was hoping to make some very large bets on heavy favorites and hopefully not pick any upsets. Oh boy....

                            Originally posted by pologq
                            you do have the NBA playoffs luckily, assuming you mean NBA and not NCAA
                            Yeah....I'm an NCAA basketball guy (Go Heels!). Used to like the NBA but the game is not as interesting to me now since it's become a three point shooting contest and seemingly no defense. I haven't watched a single NBA game all year. But I guess it's time. And there are the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Go Canes!).
                            Comment
                            • pologq
                              SBR Posting Legend
                              • 10-07-12
                              • 19899

                              #15
                              Originally posted by PeteS457
                              Uggghh....I forgot about the "lesser of risk & win amounts". I was hoping to make some very large bets on heavy favorites and hopefully not pick any upsets. Oh boy....



                              Yeah....I'm an NCAA basketball guy (Go Heels!). Used to like the NBA but the game is not as interesting to me now since it's become a three point shooting contest and seemingly no defense. I haven't watched a single NBA game all year. But I guess it's time. And there are the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Go Canes!).
                              the game is much different in the NBA, agreed.

                              Canes are a solid pick to ride in the 1st round especially.
                              Comment
                              • DontTailMe
                                SBR MVP
                                • 03-24-19
                                • 2897

                                #16
                                Originally posted by PeteS457
                                Uggghh....I forgot about the "lesser of risk & win amounts". I was hoping to make some very large bets on heavy favorites and hopefully not pick any upsets. Oh boy....
                                This is exactly why they make that rule - so there isn't an easy way out.
                                Comment
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