How to Make a Quick Deposit for Online Poker Site in USA

To deposit fast into an online poker site you will need to choose a site with a sophisticated processing system that can handle credit card deposits. One of the best sites for quick deposits is Betonline.ag, (a great alternative to Bovada) which has a 65-80% approval ratings on deposit from US credit cards, or IgnitionPoker.eu (previously known as Bovada) which has a 75% approval rate. If you don’t have a credit card, or a debit card with a credit card symbol, then the next fastest way to deposit would be a cash transfer option but that can take substantially longer. It’s not exactly what we’d call instant but it works when you are in a jam.

How to Deposit Cash from the US

To deposit cash at an online poker site, you’ll need to contact that site and get their details for shipping via MoneyGram or Western Union, that is if your credit card did not work. Once you have these details you’ll head to your local supermarket or Wal-Mart, fill out a form and submit payment.

The receipt provided will have either a money transfer number or a money control number which you then provide back to the online poker site, and they’ll credit your account in under an hour or two. While this method is not fast, it does have several advantages which you can read about on our MoneyGram page.

Credit cards are, of course, much easier compared to this method.

Why is it so Difficult to Deposit?

Well, as we mentioned in our intro, Ignition Poker offers fast deposit via Visa as well as Betonline.com, and they both accept MasterCard but with a less success rate. With the two mentioned options being the exception, until PayPal returns to the US market, depositing will be difficult because of the many blocks that banks put on credit cards for transactions at poker sites or any site pertaining to gaming; legal in the state or not.

Extra steps are involved because online poker is considered somewhat of a gray area in the US. To the best of our knowledge, and keep in mind we are not attorneys nor are we qualified to give legal advice, there are no federal laws which prohibit online poker anymore. In fact, poker sites are now legally operated by U.S. companies in three states (Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey) with many in the process to becoming legalized as I write this. It is more or less an unregulated gray area because there are offshore sites that disobeyed US law for many years and service all US states, and casinos in the US that want to open a poker site under “fair circumstances”.

Casinos don’t want outside competition. It’s understandable because they want players inside their casino not at home playing online poker. In reality online poker often funnels players to casinos in order to play live tournaments or satellites.

Why Credit Card Blocks Occur

Credit card companies like taking any transaction where they get to charge a fee, but they live in constant fear of running into trouble with the Department of Justice by accepting transactions related to online gambling from offshore companies. That’s why sometimes you’ll notice your credit card deposit failed to go through and was returned.

This is not the only reason they block the transactions though. MasterCard and Visa have been burned several times by the fact gambling debts are not enforceable under common law (see our credit card page), and therefore, are at risk when allowing players to deposit via this method. That’s becoming rarer these days but it was an issue initially.

In order to get past blocks that credit cards have put on gambling related transactions, most US poker sites rely on third party processors and/or eWallets in some cases. With an eWallet you can fund your ewallet account with a checking account or credit card. From there you can deposit these funds into a poker site, and when you win you can also cash back out to the same ewallet in some instances. Any funds you have stored in this eWallet can be used to deposit at another US friendly poker website or casino, or can be cashed out to your bank account via electronic funds transfers. They aren’t in use and as popular as they once were.

Is Bitcoin the Killer App for Speedy Deposits?

Recently Bitcoin has been gaining popularity both as a digital currency and investment vehicle but it also has some ramifications for online poker.

Online poker sites are finding that Bitcoin is a fantastic way for players to both deposit and withdraw with lightning-fast speed. It also completely anonymous for anyone who values their privacy.

It’s easy to understand why Bitcoin (and other similar cryptocurrencies) has become an ideal way to process funds. As Bitcoin already exists online there’s very little lag in terms of sending it to an online poker site. It’s really just a matter of waiting for the blockchain network to authenticate the transactions and that usually takes less than 10 minutes.

While it’s understandably that some people shy away from Bitcoin because of its complexity, it’s really not that bad once you actually acquire some Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is perfect for online poker because once it’s deposited on an online site it is immediately converted to USD, which means you don’t have to worry about the crazy swings of cryptocurrency and can rely on the static value of the US dollar.

It’s estimated that Bitcoin will surpass credit cards as the premier choice for depositing on online poker sites over the next decade.

To put it simply: If you already have Bitcoin then that’s what you should be using for online poker.

Legal Poker Will Speed-Up Deposit Times

There is currently a movement, which you can read about on our page on US poker laws, to license and regulate state poker sites in the US. As this happens (it’s happened in New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada thus far) more fast options for depositing to US poker sites will be available. Even with state licensed poker/casino sites being 100% legal, they are still having problems and the banks are in a tough position. It’s difficult for the bank to associate what the nature of the transactions are.

In the meantime, if you’re looking to deposit fast we recommend IgnitionPoker.eu (Visa and MasterCard) or Betonline.ag (Visa, MasterCard, Amex, and Discover) to get started. You also might want to consider getting a Bitcoin wallet and acquiring some cryptocurrency for the purpose of online gaming. Also, consider opening an account on a prepaid card so that next time around you’ll be able to quickly deposit at your choice of a trusted and reputable US friendly offshore poker site.