Why are my funds locked on Bovada? Your balances explained
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Money shows as locked on Bovada when it’s tied to a deposit bonus you redeemed. Your deposit, plus anything you win with it, sits in Locked Funds and moves to your withdrawable balance as you work through the bonus’s rollover.
If you didn’t take a bonus, a different rule may be holding you up. Bovada requires every deposit to be wagered once before you can withdraw any winnings.
The four balances in your account
Click the profile icon at the top of any Bovada page to open your account dashboard. Your money can be split across four balances.
| Balance | What’s in it | When it becomes withdrawable |
|---|---|---|
| Available to Withdraw | Deposits made without a bonus, winnings from them, and bonus money that’s already been released | Any time, Bovada says |
| Locked Funds | The deposit attached to a deposit bonus, plus anything you win with it | Released as you wager and meet the bonus’s rollover |
| Bonus Funds | Money from a match or cash bonus, plus winnings from it that haven’t been released yet | Once you’ve completed the rollover |
| Locked Bonus Funds | Bonuses paid out in stages as you play | As you reach the bonus’s milestones |
Locked Bonus Funds work differently from a normal deposit bonus. Bovada’s poker welcome bonus, for example, releases $5 for every 150 Rewards Points you earn playing poker, within 30 days of your first deposit. Bovada says there’s no rollover on that money once it’s released.
Why your deposit gets locked
When you redeem a deposit bonus, Bovada attaches your deposit to it. The rollover, meaning the total you have to bet before you can cash out the bonus, is worked out on the deposit and the bonus together. So the deposit goes into Locked Funds and the bonus into Bonus Funds until you’ve played through the rollover.
Take Bovada’s sports welcome bonus, a 50% match up to $250 with a 5x sports rollover on the deposit plus the bonus. Deposit $200 and you get a $100 bonus. The $200 goes to Locked Funds and the $100 to Bonus Funds. Your rollover is $300 times 5, or $1,500 in sports bets.
Casino bonuses tie up your deposit for a lot more play. Bovada’s casino welcome bonus has a 25x rollover on the deposit plus bonus, so a $200 deposit with a $200 bonus needs $10,000 in bets that count toward the rollover.
How rollover releases the money
Bovada says locked funds are “released to your withdrawable balance as you continue to wager and meet the play-through requirements on your bonus(es).” It doesn’t publish how much is released at each stage, so the easiest way to keep track is the progress bar.
Click the profile icon, choose Rewards and look under Active Bonuses. The Playthrough Progress bar shows how far along you are, and hovering over the information icon shows how much you still need to bet.
Not every bet counts in full. A winning sports bet counts for the smaller of the amount risked or won, a losing bet counts in full, and pushes count for nothing. Casino games count at rates from 100% for slots down to 0% for live dealer games and craps. Our guide to using bonus funds on Bovada goes through how each bet counts.
The order you spend in matters too. With a deposit bonus, Bovada takes your bets from Available to Withdraw first, then Locked Funds, then Bonus Funds. Any withdrawable money you already had gets bet before your locked deposit is touched.
The 1x rule on every deposit
Separately from bonuses, Bovada says “all deposits must be wagered completely before any winnings can be withdrawn.” That applies whether or not you took a bonus.
Say you deposit $100 without a bonus, bet $60 and win. You’d need to bet another $40 before you could withdraw the winnings.
There’s one exception. Money you re-deposit from an earlier MatchPay, voucher or player transfer withdrawal doesn’t have to be wagered again. If you took no bonus and a withdrawal is still being held up, check whether you’ve wagered your latest deposit in full.
Forfeiting the bonus
You can give up a bonus at any time from the Rewards menu. Bovada’s bonus terms say forfeiting before the rollover is met voids “all funds generated by the bonus (including the bonus).”
Bovada’s help pages don’t say what happens to the deposit sitting in Locked Funds when you forfeit, so ask customer support before you do it. Our article on why you can’t withdraw bonus funds walks through forfeiting step by step.
Other reasons your money might be out of reach
- A pending withdrawal. Bovada takes the money out of your balance as soon as you request a withdrawal, and large amounts are paid in installments listed under Pending Withdrawals. See how long Bovada withdrawals take.
- A disabled account. Bovada can disable an account for inactivity, or while it checks information that doesn’t match up. See why Bovada disables accounts.
- Living in a restricted state. Bovada doesn’t accept players in 19 states and Washington, DC. It tells residents of those places who still have a balance to contact customer service about their options, including a crypto withdrawal.
For everything else about the site, including its bonuses and banking, see our Bovada review.
If you haven’t opened an account yet, you don’t have to take a bonus. Each Bovada offer lists its rollover, so you can decide whether it’s worth locking up your deposit before you redeem one.
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Only bet what you’ve set aside to lose. If gambling has stopped being fun, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738) for free, confidential help, 24/7, or chat online with the National Problem Gambling Helpline.
Sources
- Bovada help center: Types of account balances, How do I use my bonus?, What is rollover?, Can I forfeit a bonus?, Bonus terms and conditions
- Bovada promotions: Sports welcome bonus, Casino welcome bonus, Poker welcome bonus
- Bovada help center: How do I request a withdrawal?, When will I receive my withdrawal?, What are the installments?, How can I enable my account?, Which countries are restricted?