Depositing Money to Online Poker Rooms

This portion of our guide will discuss how to deposit real money to online poker sites. If you decide to play real money poker you will have quite a few poker deposit options for depositing money, although USA players have slightly less options than non-USA players.

This article will list all of the online poker deposit methods, tell you who can use each of the methods, and will discuss deposit fees and time frames.

Poker Deposit Options

There are five primary poker deposit options:

• Credit/Debit Card Poker Deposits
• eCheck Poker Deposits
• eWallet Poker Deposits
• Prepaid Card Poker Deposits
• Bank Wire Poker Deposits

We will discuss each poker deposit method now.

Credit/Debit Card Poker Deposits

The simplest way to deposit money to an online poker site is by using your credit or debit card. To make a credit card or debit card deposit, you have to provide the poker site with the name on the card, the card's number, the card's expiration date, and the card's security code (the three or four digit number on the back of the card).

Most poker rooms have a minimum credit/debit card deposit of $20 or $50, and a maximum daily credit/debit card deposit of $600. If you would like to deposit more than $600 per day, you can contact the poker site to have your deposit limit raised. In order to do this, you usually will have to fax over some information to confirm your identity.

Once you make your deposit, the money will show up in your poker account instantly. Between the instant deposit and the lack of any deposit fees, credit/debit card deposits are by far our favorite type of poker deposit.

Most poker sites only accept Visa or MasterCard credit/debit cards. If you are in the USA, credit/debit cards are hit and miss for online poker deposits, but the worst that can happen is you get declined. If you are outside the USA, you will have no problems.

eCheck Poker Deposits

Our second favorite poker deposit method is eChecks. eChecks (also known as electronic checks) allow you to instantly transfer money from your bank account to your online poker account, devoid of fees.

To make an eCheck deposit, you have to provide the poker site with the:

• Account Holder Name
• Routing Number
• Account Number
• Account Type (checking or savings)

If you have a checkbook handy, you can find all of the information on one of your checks. On the bottom left of the check, you will see two numbers separated by a symbol. The nine digit number on the left is the routing number, and the ten digit number on the right is the account number.

Most poker sites make you deposit a minimum of $100 via eCheck, and a daily maximum of $600. Again, you can contact the poker site to confirm your identity if you would like to raise the deposit limit.

Just like credit/debit cards, eCheck deposits are instant and don't carry any deposit fees for the player. USA and non-USA players are welcome to use this option.

eWallet Poker Deposits

eWallets are another common form of online poker deposits, but we don't like them as much as credit/debit cards or eCheck deposits. eWallets (also known as electronic wallets) hold money in an online account, and allow you to move the money back and forth between poker sites and your bank account.

To make an eWallet deposit, you have to provide the poker site with your eWallet's account number as well as the name on the eWallet account. eWallets that are currently servicing the online poker world include:

The reason we don't like eWallets is because they are (in our opinion) useless. You have to fund your eWallet account via credit/debit card or eCheck anyway, so you may as well cut out the middle man (and the middle man's time delays and fees - some eWallets charge up to 8.9% per transaction and take days to process deposits!).

Prepaid Card Poker Deposits

The fourth type of poker deposit option we are going to discuss is prepaid cards. Players can purchase prepaid cards at live stores (including convenience stores or kiosks), and then use the unique PIN number on the card to fund their online poker account.

Advantages of prepaid cards include the fact that you never have to provide the poker site with your personal bank details, you don't have to pay any fees, and you are able to process an instant transaction (once the card is in your possession).

Prepaid cards are only available for players located outside of the USA. The most popular prepaid card used for poker deposits is the Paysafecard.

Bank Wire Poker Deposits

The final poker deposit method we will discuss today is the bank wire option. Bank wires are usually reserved for players making large deposits (five figures or more) who cannot use any of the other deposit methods on this page.

To make a bank wire deposit, you need to contact the poker room to see if they accept bank wires. If they do, they will send you wiring instructions which you then take to your bank so they can send the money. Once you have sent the wire, the money should show up in your poker account within one businesss day.

Bank wires usually carry $50 fees and are available for USA as well as non-USA players.

Next Article » Comparison of Cash Games, MTTs, and SNGs