Five Top Poker Deposit Methods

When playing poker online for real money, sometimes it can be a hassle figuring out the best way to move money in and out of online poker room accounts. Aside from normal consideration factors in choosing a poker room like how big a deposit bonus is offered or whether the poker room allows US players or not, players should also be considering what poker deposit options and methods are available to use for both depositing and cashing out of funds. Let’s discuss some of the most popular deposit methods available.

Neteller

Depositing and playing poker using a Neteller account is one of the safest and most secure deposit methods available to online poker players. Unfortunately, Neteller is not available to US players but at one time was the premier option for moving funds into online poker accounts.

Players depositing with Neteller will find that both deposits and cashouts are processed much faster, allowing players to easily keep a bankroll within a Neteller account and move money in and out of multiple poker sites to take maximum advantage of bonus clearing and other extra value offers.

While most credit cards reject poker room deposits, you can use any debit or credit card to fund your Neteller account balance. You can also fund your neteller account with a bankwire, or even write an Echeck. Cashing out real money from your Neteller account back to your bank account is simple and only takes on average 3 business days, there is a small fee associated with this cashout.

Neteller is licensed and regulated by the UK financial services authority, and audited on a regular basis by Verisign. In a welcome improvement, Neteller is now offering a VIP rewards program, with lots of ways to win and earn extra cash and prizes using a system called “Netpoints”. As one of the original poker deposit methods, Neteller is a safe, secure, and convenient option for funding your poker account.

Moneybookers

Like Neteller, Moneybookers is in our opinion the single best deposit method available to online poker players. Unfortunately once again US players remain unable to use this method of funding, although we hope this situation changes soon. Moneybookers can be funded with credit cards or via bank account, and funds can easily and usually instantly be moved back and forth between poker room accounts. Fees are charged when withdrawing real cash to your bank account, but seems to vary from country to country. Moneybookers is currently the most popular deposit and cashout option in all of online gambling, with a secure and safe electronic wallet focused on quality customer service.

Paypal

Although only five poker rooms accept Paypal poker deposits a quick glance at these rooms will explain why. As a company owned by Ebay and publicly traded on various markets throughout the world, including the United States, Paypal has been very selective in which online poker rooms will be allowed to use Paypal as a funding option. All sites are licensed and regulated in the UK, and undergo regular audits and verification of shuffling system. If you live in a country where you can make deposits to poker sites via Paypal, this is a great and convenient method for funding your poker account. Imagine digging through the storage room in your home to sell some old and unwanted items on ebay, and then using the cash to fund a new real money poker account. Until the legal environment in the United States becomes clear, Paypal is most popular as a poker deposit method in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with growing popularity in Canada and various other countries within the European Union.

Ukash

Anyone from the UK is familiar with Ukash – a simple and convenient deposit option that allows you to fund and load your account from “paypoints” or actual merchant centers like convenience stores. For anyone wanting to turn “paper cash” into digital currency in order to deposit and fund a poker account will find Ukash as a great option, with reasonable fees and locations virtually everywhere around the UK and Northern Ireland. Ukash is adding more countries and seems to be picking up steam as a wallet service for online poker sites, as a licensed and trusted option players feel virtually certain that funds are safe in Ukash accounts.

Another unique aspect of the Ukash option for funding accounts is that you can fund your Ukash “vouchers” right from your mobile phone. Players looking to load a Ukash voucher can find it at any store displaying the “paypoint” or “payzone” logo, as well as the less common “e-pay” brand option. When looking to cashout, funds are sent fast using the “ukashout” option on the website.

Protip – you can move Ukash funds into a Neteller account, allowing you access to more poker sites !

Echecks

Lately “poker echecks” have become very popular in the online poker community, this way of funding accounts is especially ideal for players from the United States. Depositing via echeck is almost always free, the only downside is that not very many poker rooms offer it. Cashing winnings back out can sometimes be an option, but so far the only rooms offering echecks as a deposit option seem to be displaying a commitment to getting “paper check” cashouts (or bankdrafts as we call it) in the hands of players for cheap and fast. While some poker rooms are charging $25 or even $35 just to recieve a bank draft in the mail, echeck poker rooms are offering checks cheaper and faster. Most notably, industry leaders like PokerStars (first to offer echeck deposits) are issuing check cashouts for free. If you are playing poker at PokerStars, echeck is the best deposit method available. US players report receiving free cashouts via mail within 3-5 business days.

Overview

Hopefully this information has helped you eliminate some of the frustration involved with funding poker accounts online, it is our goal to provide quality information on behalf of online card rooms so that players can start playing confident and with piece of mind. Any deposit methods recommended in this article are our opinion and from feedback players have given. Obviously, the landscape of online poker is prone to frequent changes, so please verify the accuracy of this information before acting to fund a real money account. Next time you need to make a poker deposit, use one of these options for piece of mind.