CreditCardPokerSites.org Deep Dives on US Poker Deposit Options

SANTA BARBARA, CA, August 26, 2010 (Press-News.org) The online poker industry as a whole has seen its ups and downs, bumps and pitfalls, over the last few years. For US poker players, it's been a topsy-turvy rollercoaster ride of uncertainty.

Five short years ago, pretty much anyone - of legal age, of course - could play online poker for real money. There were a multitude of deposit options to suit everyone and plenty of action across the boards. That all changed in late 2006 when the Unites States government passes the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Since that time, a vast portion of the online poker industry has fled the US market, setting sail for the calmer seas of international regions. A lot of online poker sites, however, remained loyal to their American clientele, and for that, hundreds of thousands of US poker players are grateful. But there was another problem.

It wasn't just the online poker rooms who steered clear of the US poker scene, but the payment processors who facilitated the transfer of funds to and from poker rooms and US poker players. The UIGEA wasn't even aimed at criminalizing online poker so much as making it illegal for financial institutions to knowingly transfer funds between Americans and offshore poker sites.

The biggest online payment processing firms, including NETeller and Moneybookers, hit the road first. Click2Pay, Eco Card and many more followed. Suddenly US poker players were left with a decent number of reputable, US-facing poker sites, but little or no way to move funds.

Fortunately, online poker rooms have sought out viable deposit and withdrawal methods to provide their US customer base. Credit cards have historically been the fastest and most reliable way for anyone to purchase anything on the Internet, and making a credit card online poker deposit was no different.

Absolute Poker and UB, among others, have kept their doors open to the US market and maintained the steady provision of multiple deposit options for US poker players. Credit card poker deposits are safe, secure and instantly accepted. In the rare case that a US poker player's credit card deposit is declined, there are other methods of moving funds into the account that are just as quick.

Cash transfer can be made through companies like MoneyGram, over the Internet or via one of the millions of agent locations around the country. The player simply obtains the required information from the poker site, makes the transfer then supplies the poker site with the transaction details. The deposit is generally approved within 10 minutes.

Echecks are an even faster way to make a US poker deposit. There are still a handful of poker sites accepting echecks in 2010. It's virtually the same as writing a paper check, but done over the Internet and accepted instantly. Though the funds have not yet cleared your bank nor been transferred into the operator's account, the poker site can verify the availability of the funds, thereby granting the player use of them instantly.For legal reasons, Full Tilt Poker recently rebranded their instant echecks as "Quick Deposit" to continue offering this deposit option to Americans.

As far as online payment processors are concerned, US poker players are left with just one secure and reliable method - eWalletXpress. This online payment processor has been around for a few years now and is the only reputable ewallet that continues to serve US poker players.

While so much of the online poker industry has put effort forth to avoid the US market altogether, there are still plenty of poker sites, and payment methods, that continue to cater to their American clientele. Here are just some of the popular brands of credit cards accepted by online poker rooms: Maestro, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa, and Laser Debit Card.

For more information: www.creditcardpokersites.org