If you’re ready to play online poker for real money, the process of depositing funds into your account can be a very annoying stumbling block. Often, players aren’t sure which methods are available to them, or which ones are the best for them to use.
Exactly which deposit options are available will depend on where you live and what poker site you’re playing on. That said, there are several deposit options that are offered by the majority of online casinos. We’ve outlined a few of the most common below, which should give you a basic idea of what’s out there for you to choose from.
Credit Cards
Both credit cards and debit cards are common methods for depositing money in online poker rooms. Because they’re simple to use and can be processed immediately, these cards are one of the quickest and easiest ways to start playing online poker.
However, your ability to use a credit card to deposit money with gambling sites may largely depend on where you live. In most of the world, credit cards generally work pretty well, but nothing is guaranteed. This is because brands such as MasterCard and Visa allow individual banks to set their own policies on how their cards may be used, and some banks are skittish about letting their customers run up gambling debts. If your issuing bank has decided to block such transactions, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to use that card to deposit money on a poker site. However, using a different card that was issued by a different bank might be successful.
Americans will have a harder time in general using credit cards to make deposits. This is due to regulations that restrict the ability of banks to process transactions related to online gambling. Thus, most cards are usually rejected, though Visa cards seem to have the highest rates of acceptance for USA players.
Bank Transfers
There are several ways in which you can move money directly from your bank account to your online poker account. Some sites offer direct bank wires, while others prefer to use e-checks, which are essentially electronic versions of standard checks. These methods are popular for their security, and the fact that you’re playing with your own money rather than putting debt on a credit card.
The downside to these methods is that they aren’t instantaneous. If you’re moving money from your bank to an online poker site, it will often take several days before you’ll see that money in your account. While poker rooms will sometimes allow you to play with your money immediately, this is usually reserved for trusted customers (and is a privilege that can be revoked if a transfer should ever fail).
E-Wallet Sites
Sites like NETeller, Moneybookers and PayPal make excellent deposit options – if they’re available to you. Many sites accept NETeller and Moneybookers, but neither of those payment processors will allow American players to utilize them. PayPal is an extremely trustworthy method for moving money around the Internet, but their strict policies mean that relatively few sites are able to accept payments through them.
If you can use an e-wallet site, however, it does come with several advantages. For one, you won’t have to expose your personal information to each individual poker site you want to play on; only the e-wallet themselves will hold that data. In addition, these accounts make a very convenient way to withdraw your winnings, too.