It's safe
I've been playing at Bovada for about 16 months. No problems except the occasional lose of connection while playing. No disconnect protection. So, a bit irritating. I've withdrawn money twice. Very timely receipt. The first was drawn on a US bank. No problem depositing. The second was drawn on a very large multi-national Canadian bank. My bank charged me $50 to collect it. It only took 3 days to collect. My bank screwed me, for sure. So, you might as well leave your money at Bovada and gamble versus paying unreasonable collection fees. I'm looking for a new bank.
As far as deposit methods, I recommend MoneyGram. If you deposit at least $300, Bovada will add the sender fee to your account. Don't use a credit card!!! You will have to pay a 4.9% fee to Bovada and very likely a foreign purchase fee to your CC company. That is, IF the charge manages to get through.
I have no bad beat or rigged software stories. If you get good cards and play them well, you will be a net winner.