Online Poker Deposit & Withdrawal Methods

In order to play online poker for real money you’ll need to choose a viable deposit method that is accepted by your chosen online poker site. In addition, you’ll need to use a viable withdrawal method in order to cash out of the poker site. Sometimes, you can use a single option for both deposits and withdrawals. Although most online poker sites don’t assess fees for the majority of their deposit and withdrawal methods, some methods are saddled with a 3rd party fee. Let’s take a look at the most common deposit and withdrawal methods for online poker:

Credit Cards

If you’re accustomed to online shopping, you might automatically assume that your Visa or MasterCard will be a natural choice for an online poker deposit and withdrawal method. In reality, this isn’t necessarily the case. Although many online poker sites will happily accept credit cards as a deposit method, the credit card company itself will often terminate any transactions to or from a company that they perceive to be involved in the online gambling industry.

In addition, credit card deposits are often considered as “cash advance transactions” in some locations, such as the UK. This means you’ll be charged by your card company for a “cash handling fee” when using a credit card to deposit funds into an online poker site. In other words, you’re getting ripped off. If you need to use a card then it’s far better to use a debit card such as Maestro or Solo, which are not subject to these additional fees. For most players, it’s more convenient to use an e-wallet.

U.S. players: while depositing with credit cards is still possible with some online poker sites, making a withdrawal with a credit card is extremely rare. For depositing with a credit card we recommend NetSpend pre-paid credit cards.

E-Wallets – Neteller and Moneybookers

E-Wallet sites such as Neteller and Moneybookers are among the most popular methods of making deposits and withdrawals at an online poker site. This system consists of an online money account that is separate from your bank account. Generally, you’ll first have to set up the e-wallet account. From here, you link your e-wallet to your bank account and transfer funds back and forth.

Here’s a screenshot of Neteller, which is our recommended e-wallet provider:

Transferring from your bank account to your e-wallet, or vice versa, will usually take a few business days (quicker deposits may be assessed with a small fee). From here, you can transfer funds from e-wallet to your online poker account in order to make a deposit. Similarly, you can typically withdraw money from your online poker account to your e-wallet when you’re ready to cash out. This is convenient because it allows you to use a single method for both deposits and withdrawals.

U.S. Players: Unfortunately Neteller and Moneybookers are not an option for you. Some sites will accept deposits/withdrawals via e-wallets such as eWalletXpress, but we don’t recommend them as they charge a 10% fee for withdrawing funds. Your best bet is….

E-Checks, Paper Checks, and Direct Bank Transfer

If you’d rather not deal with credit card rejections or go to the trouble of setting up an e-wallet account, you can make deposits to your online poker site through e-checks or direct bank transfer. An e-check, as the name implies, is simply an electronic version of a paper check. When you make a deposit with an e-check, the poker site will request the deposit amount from your bank. After the payment is authorized, the funds are ready for play. Similarly, you can use a direct bank transfer or wire transfer to make a deposit.

This can be done by visiting your bank or going through online banking. Often, there will be higher minimum transfer amounts with this method, and additional fees may apply. If you don’t mind receiving your withdrawals through regular mail, many poker sites will be happy to cut you a check for the amount of your withdrawal and send it through the mail.

U.S. Players: While you can use other faster methods for depositing funds, this is your best method (and in many cases, only method) of withdrawing funds from online poker sites.