Quick Guide to Online Poker
Before playing at any online poker sites, there are a few things I would like you to know, at least they are things I wish I had known. Let’s go through some important topics such as safety, legality, poker sites to avoid, and funding. You will find more researched articles expanding on these topics on this page as well as throughout our site.
Is Online Poker Safe
Yes, it is safe but it is not 100% safe. Like anything in life where money is involved so is theft, and there’s a lot of money involved in online poker. Past instances we’ve seen of cheating have been actual operators using accounts where they could see players cards, people using mass collusion (playing together to gain an advantage) in order to win major poker tournaments, and players using software aids while playing. While most of this has been minimized it does still go on.
There are millions of people playing online at any moment so the chance you will ever become a victim of fraud is pretty slim, but the main concern I would look out for is collusion. If you noticed people playing in a way that just doesn’t make sense, or they’re playing very slowly, there is a good chance they are teaming up and colluding. That’s your cue to find another table and report them.
| Online Poker Site | features | special bonus | usa? | bet |
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100%
up to
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150%
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$750
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Is Online Poker Legal
Depending on where you live, online poker is absolutely legal, even in the United States. There is a rampant trend on the news and in US government trying to spread the idea that playing at online poker sites is illegal, but in reality there is no law that says so. On the other hand it is illegal for a bank to make financial transactions to and from online poker rooms, but this doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong or will lose any money over it. This has been going on for years so I won’t bore you with it. If you want more information the Poker Players Alliance Organization does a decent job in keeping players updated about US betting.
This is why I always suggest playing at large online gaming sites because you know even if they get large amounts of funds seized by the government, they won’t “run with your money”. Nobody in other countries would play at their sites if they did this. The most recent event that hurt online poker was in mid 2011 when major internet poker websites had their domain seized and withheld by US governing bodies. This attempt shut down much of the big uptick in online poker that we saw from 2003 to 2011 even with a major similar blip happening in 2006.
Depositing and Withdrawing Poker Money
There is no stepping up to a cage, giving the cashier lady a few hundred bucks, getting your chips and going to the poker table. Actually it can be easier than that if you know what options to choose when funding your poker account. Poker sites have a large array of options, many for US players, some for players in the UK, and some just for specific countries.
This is what I suggest. First try your credit card. Generally it will get declined but some poker sites are getting good at allowing credit cards to become accepted. So, if you credit card gets rejected you may have to jump through some hoops such as sending a check, heading up to western union or sometimes the websites will have “ewallets” such as one that I’ve used called Pic-club which is not against any US laws.
Ok, so you’ve played a few hands, won some money and now want to cashout your money back to your bank account. This is most easily done via a check and expedited by a Fedex or UPS courier. Depending on the amount or how soon you need the money you may want to choose regular mail because the poker site will sometimes hit you with a fee for using an overnight or 2-3 day fast withdraw. If you’re trying to withdraw a large amount, email the customer service and tell them you want the money wired. Typically you can only do this with amounts of $20,000 or more.
Before You Go, Things to Avoid
Don’t trust anyone with your money or your account details when it comes to online poker. You will get all sorts of phishing emails with people trying to break into your account or your ewallet if you have one. Also, don’t do any sort of money transfers with people you don’t know. Lastly, avoid the small hit and run poker sites. It’s very possible and has happened where these sites dry up overnight and you’re left with an empty bankroll with nobody to turn to.
I’ve recently added this paragraph because of major events in the poker scene. If you are going to play internet poker, do NOT keep large amounts of funds in one single site. In fact, I would avoid depositing any amount of money in excess of what you need for basic living because we are seeing many seizures of poker websites bank accounts causing long delays in getting funds. All in allI playing online poker is very safe if you follow common sense.
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