For players who depended on NETELLER, and who use sites that also offer ePassporte, they can get their money into their bank accounts by first setting up an account with ePassporte, making a deposit at their preferred site to activate it, and then withdraw.
People who have money in their NETELLER accounts can withdraw their money to their bank accounts.
Here's a list of four of the most popular sites and the ways they still accept deposits and withdraws from Americans in America:
PokerStars
PokerStars accepts ePassporte, Visa, MasterCard, Western Union, and players can actually send checks to the site. EPassporte is a company that issues virtual Visa cards that can be used at sites everywhere, but its processing fees are a little excessive. Each deposit of $100 costs $5 and it costs at least $2 to make an EFT. But to make the service more convenient, players may want to order an actual Visa card from ePassporte for an additional $35, which gives players direct access to their funds at retail locations everywhere and can be used to withdraw money from ATM machines.
As of the middle of January, ePassporte is the only option American players have at PokerStars to electronically withdraw their winnings.
Players can use their Visa and MasterCard to deposit at PokerStars, but can't withdraw to them. PokerStars also accepts Western Union, and players can mail checks to the site.
Many players will be making friends with the mailman this year, because PokerStars can mail checks to its players. This takes 10 to 14 business days.
Click here to take advantage of a deposit bonus offered through CardPlayer.com.
Full Tilt
Full Tilt also accepts ePassporte, but it has another alternative in Click2Pay.
Click2Pay charges a 3 percent processing fee if players deposit with their credit cards, but if players set up direct deposit with their bank accounts, it's free of charge. Same goes for withdrawing, and the site claims that a bank transfer takes up to three business days. Click2Pay's customer service may be lacking, though. We tried to get hold of them over the phone for an entire day, but the call never went through.
Click here to take advantage of a deposit bonus offered through CardPlayer.com.
Ultimate Bet
Ultimate Bet accepts ePassporte, Visa, MasterCard, and ATMOnline. ATMOnline is another "eWallet" that players can connect to their bank accounts to make withdraws and deposits. While still servicing U.S. customers, it warns that it will probably change its policy after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act goes into effect later this year.
Setup is free at ATMOnline. Deposit is free if using a bank account and it charges 7 percent if a credit card is used. Withdrawal from sites to the ATMOnline account costs $15, but withdrawal to bank accounts is free. The company charges $10 to mail checks.
Click here to take advantage of a deposit bonus offered through CardPlayer.com.
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
What about epassporte, they issue a credit card that you can use anywhere, supposedly and ATM withdrawls. Will this be a way around the new banking laws? How can they track that? Anyone useing epassporte and are they OK?
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
I agree with Gaval's post below. Things have gotten way too quiet lately and it seems that everyone has given up on the US players playing (anyone else notice how there hasn't been a peep from the PPA since Neteller shut down as opposed to when the UIG bill passed? As someone who's given their hard earned money to that cause its really disappointing that its not being used properly). Also, Click2Pay is no longer accepting new US customers, and I haven't been able to get a credit/debit card approved in 3 years. Why are they being listed as deposit options?
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
A followup to my earlier post. NetTeller finally answered. You have to link a bank account that is in the same country as your mailing address.
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
...also "played" instead of "player" and "WSOP Main Event" instead of "WSOP" -- sorry
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
1st line should read "can cash it"
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
What good is a check from any of these sites if no bank can catch it? That's where this is headed. The absence of any legislative movement in the Congress or Senate toward a remedy speaks to the poker community's lack of political influence to get anything done. Doesn't poker have friends in high places who agree that regulating a still-growing industry is better than destroying it? If those so-called friends are waiting two years for one of their own to become President, online real money poker in the U.S. will be long dead by then. Today's PokerStars Sunday Million is down to 6742, down from last week's 7000+; it'll be interesting to see where those numbers go in the next month or so. Or do poker's rich, famous, and 'influential' so-o-o long for the good-ol'-boy pre-Moneymaker days and take the poker boom for granted that they are content to let online real money poker die without appreciating the role it has player in the poker explosion? The time to act is now. As for casinos, I imagine that some execs appreciate the stimulus that online poker provides but count on WPT, High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark, and the like to keep sending them players. The notable exception, I think, will be the WSOP, which stands to take a hit if this crackdown is extended.
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
and as I read about this case of harness racing (horses with carts) being fixed (jockeys conspiring to finsih in specific places, so the trifecta is fixed) , it makes one seriously wonder how horse racing is allowed over statelines, over telephones, over internet, and singled out (along with state run lotteries) as being ok? the hypocrisy is disgusting.
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
its too bad the casino industry did not take as much intrest in defending online play as the shullmans have. but then what would they gain? online casinos take away their business, and since it is highly improbable that they would be allowed to run their own lonline casino, it is at least understandable as to why they didn't. anything that has helped make poker big is good, as it builds the support base for the game, and perhaps someday laws will change, but as access to the game becomes limited, numbers of players will dwindle. That includes B&M casinos. less people learning online means less people wanting to try playing live (which can be intimidating to those who never have), which means less fish in the barrel. And of course, the biggest barrel, the internet, will be seeing a severe depleteion in the fish population, to the point many poker site will not even survive. With all the people who want to control how others live, it will be a long uphill battle for any positive poker legislation, let alone positive momentum for online gambling.
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
spend that advertising money wisely berry. they may come after the messanger in the dark of the night.
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
click2pay is no longer accepting new US sign-ups. I tried to create an account this afternoon and got an error saying my IP showed I was not a US resident, so I emailed them. Here is the reply: Dear Sir or Madam, Thank you for contacting the CLICK2PAY Service Team. Due to the existing US legal situation the decision has been taken to not accept any new sign-ups from US players. Please respect our decision in this regard. Kind regards CLICK2PAY Service Team
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
Since NetTeller doesn't seem to want to answer the question I'll ask it here and see if someone here might know. If I have a valid Canadian mailing address that I can use and open a NetTeller account with that address but use a US bank account, would I be able to transfer money back and forth to the sites that I play?
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
Sorry, that was support@fulltiltpoker.com
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
I was a Full Tilt player using Neteller. I signed up for Click2Pay and attempted to take out $50 to see if it worked. Transactions was voided. Five e-mails over three days to support@fulltilt.com have gone unaswered. What do you think is going on?
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
The way i understand current online gambling legislation, it's not illegal to play poker via the Internet but it *is* illegal for U.S. banking institutions to process transactions that they *know* relate to making wagers over the Internet. (Please correct me if i'm wrong.) Congressfolk are trying to draft and pass a law that specifically says online gambling is illegal, but it hasn't happened yet. It seems that the establishment of a bank account in another country--one where such banking prohibitions do not (yet?) exist--seems the way to go if you want to play online poker. Again, am i reading Allyn Jaffrey's stuff incorrectly? If you live in Washington (the state), then it *is* currently illegal to make wagers of any kind using the Internet. And didn't they even specify "online poker" in the statute? This law will certainly be challenged. If it does not specify online poker, but opts for "games of luck," then most legalists believe poker will have to be allowed since it is a "game of skill" according to most courts in our country. On that note, billiards, golf, darts, bowling and other sporting tournaments, are and always have been considered games of skill, which--for some reason--has been the litmus test in our legal system for whether an activity is Good or Bad, Should Be Legal or Should NOT Be Legal. For instance, 5-card draw used to be the only form of poker allowed in California because it was a game of skill, whereas "stud poker" and other games were deemed "games of luck" that couldn't be spread by card rooms. I have yet to make a real money wager online but i now have the bankroll and feel i have the ability to make it a profitable venture. I'd love to find out how to do this legally, but as others have said, the article above presents us with 2 poor choices. Are we to live by the old adage, "Beggars can't be choosers"?
POSTED ON: Jan 21, 2007
Aside from apprehending Public Enemy #1, a.k.a. PokerStars' Lee Jones (must be the sunglasses), the next step we can expect Justice or Treasury to take is to bar banks, credit card companies, online poker sites, and companies like ePassporte or Click2Pay from ALL financial dealings with American players. If players can't get money through ePassporte or the like and if the banks are prohibited from cashing checks from the poker sites or their proxies (and Big Brother has ways to find out who they are and will notify the banks), U.S. players will be shut out of online real money poker. Depositing funds might be doable, but withdrawing them might be a real problem, an impossibility if the powers that be have their way. Not only will the WSOP Main Event take an immediate hit, but there will be a cascading effect on the entire industry by alienating millions of online players or prospective players who don't live near a casino and thus have no access to a satellite tournament. Take away a convenient training ground and source of hope (and money) in a developing player, and his interest will shrivel. This could happen tomorrow. If Congressional leadership doesn't get involved with this as soon as possible, Americans can kiss online real money poker goodbye. Poker will more spectator sport than a dream that millions pursue, and less fish is never a good thing.
POSTED ON: Jan 20, 2007
I should clairfy what I mean. I know the PGA and Pool tourneys are not held online. I am just saying. There not considered wagering. Why should playing a online poker tourney be different?
POSTED ON: Jan 20, 2007
Ok, I have a question. How can they stop us from playing a tourney? They keep saying that is not legal to wager on line. We are not wagering(unless u play cash games) We are simply paying an entry fee into a tournet. Just like the PGA or Pool. I think the goverment needs to keep its nose out how we spend our money. Hmm if only there were other things such as a drug problem, rappist walking the streets that could tie up there time instead of inocent online poker players...
POSTED ON: Jan 20, 2007
Paul Kroh. You say "why are barry and jeff being shills for these online sites??? what have any of these sites done for poker players" Have you noticed the poker growth this decade? Your post show that at least we do not censor silly comments. :)
POSTED ON: Jan 20, 2007
First of all, I had spent a whole day trying to open my bank account abroad, and I miserably failed. Can you be more specific, Mr. Brown? When I was filling out the registration form, it asked to provide my ID, so can I give them my DL or SSN? I don't own a passport either. I don't know how long this article will be posted here, so when you rean mine, can you email me back at hkmoon0072@yahoo.com. Thanks, Mr. Brown.
POSTED ON: Jan 20, 2007
Sorry, Chris...but I have a bank account at the Hamilton, Ontario branch of the Scotia Bank. Never left Las Vegas to establish it either, and my statements come here to Las Vegas. The Social Insurance Number is not needed if you are a U.S. citizen. You must go through the International Banking section.
POSTED ON: Jan 19, 2007
THe Canadian Bank option DOES NOT work unless you are a canadian or you happen to have SIN...Did I say it right? It is similar to our SSN. I thought about getting a physical addess outside USA such as New Zealand, then again, I cannot open a bank account there either. So, my options are running out. If anyone has any valuable information at all, please let me know at hkmoon0072@yahoo.com. I really don't think that ePassporte and Click2Pay are the answer.
POSTED ON: Jan 19, 2007
i guess i will have to opt for the check through mail option/ my concern is with the poker sites cuting off americans and not having any avenue to collect my online money/ should i be concerned???? i am so tired of these inconviences and hope changes in the near future for crying outloud doesnt any one in a position of power care about it citizens who play poker !!!!!!!!
POSTED ON: Jan 19, 2007
Many of the payment processors may not care about the US law. Therefore, a Canadian bank account will work if you are using one of those processors that do not care. However, to be safe, you may want to register with the payment processor using a Canadian address - I'm using my daughter's address, for instance. Why play online? You may not live near a US casino. It is hard to muti-table in a bricks'n'mortars cardroom. The rake is lower and their is no tipping which is significant. The propping deals are better. Rakeback is almost always better than comps.
POSTED ON: Jan 19, 2007
Canadian Bank? You will be a US citizen regardless where you open your bank account at. So, that option is gone,,,sorry.
POSTED ON: Jan 19, 2007
I think the Click2Pay is shady. I was trying to open a new account, and I couldn't complete it because its registration process was blocked for some reasons. Therefore, I've tried to reach them by phone. Every call I made for last few days didn't go through. If I would have known the company had "F" rating, I wouldn't even waste my time. I think you should be careful recommending these sites to anyone who still long for online poker. Do more research and give us viable information because we deserve better, otherwise, I wouldn't visit the Cardplayer.com...right?
POSTED ON: Jan 19, 2007
Why couldn't an American get a Visa through a Canadian Bank and deposit/withdraw funds that way? Has anyone trieds this?
POSTED ON: Jan 19, 2007
why are barry and jeff being shills for these online sites??? what have any of these sitesdone for poker players except hustle them with high rakes lousy service and every delay in the book on getting your money out. wake up players get back into casino card rooms . at least americans will get the benifts of a job
POSTED ON: Jan 19, 2007
Ultimate Bet is not paying. Thy have given me excuse after excuse as to why it is delayed. Should we worry...U Bet!!!! Brian