With more and more people around the world choosing to use their credit cards over cash or checks it’s not surprising that they are are one of the most popular ways for poker players to fund their online poker accounts.

One problem online poker players often run into is that some banks disallow you from using their credit card to fund an online poker account (especially US friendly poker rooms). However, certain online poker rooms have a much higher approval rate than other sites. Below you will find a toplist of poker sites on the Internet in terms of approval rate as well as factoring in other variables like reputation, traffic, promotions, and softness of games.

 

Can I Play Poker With A Credit Card?

Yes, you can deposit  money into a poker sites cashier with it!   This has always been the most popular deposit method by far at online poker sites.  In the time it takes to pull out your card from your wallet and type in the card number, expiry date, and security code, you can have money deposited into your poker site of choice and be ready to sit down and play some real money poker any time you wish.

Choosing A Site

When it comes down to which online poker sites offer credit cards as a deposit option, that part couldn’t be easier.  The truth is, they all do, although the decision as to which ones you want to open an account at and play at is an entirely different story.

There are a lot of considerations that go into picking the best poker sites out there, and even to know how each poker site rates in all of these categories requires a great deal of first hand experience.  If you knew everything you need to know about all of the poker sites that are out there, you would already need to have an account at all of them to know all this, so there would be no decisions here to make.

We, on the other hand, have played extensively at every poker site on the internet worth your consideration, and also know what makes a great poker site great.  So for your benefit, we’ve narrowed down the dozens of poker sites out there to just a few, and all of them are well worth trying out, especially when these poker sites are going to be giving you free money just to check them out. So it comes down to the very easy matter of your just clicking on one of them and taking advantage of their great deals.

How To Deposit

The first step in depositing at an online poker site is to go to the cashier.  This is very easily found by way of a link on the poker software program, and while it is in different locations depending on the poker site in question, it is always in a prominent place and is very easy to find on your own.

Once at the cashier, all you need to do is enter in your card information on the online form, including the cardholder name, card type, card number, expiration date, and the three digit code located on the back of the card.

This prevents unauthorized users who don’t have the physical card from using it online.  Speaking of security, all  transactions at our top recommended online poker sites all incorporate the latest in security technology to provide you with the peace of mind that you need.

In addition to the utter absolute convenience of using this method to deposit at an online poker site, you don’t even have to have the money to deposit right now, as you can borrow it depending on your issuers terms. We would advice against going this as a long term bankroll strategy.

Depositing to a poker room lets you take better advantage of deposit bonuses, where the more you deposit, the more bonus money you get.   Don’t let the bonus bother you too much, but if you can afford it, go to the maximum on it.

How Do I Withdraw?

Credit cards are not really set up as instruments where you can both make payments and accept payments.  In this way they differ from things like bank accounts or internet wallets, which are set up for both money in and money out, where you can both make deposits and withdrawals.

Master and Visa cards are primarily one way instruments, where the user makes payments to merchants with it, but generally cannot be used to accept payments from them.  The payments are made by the user to the credit card itself to offset purchases and cash advances that are made on it.

The one exception to this is in the case where a refund is issued for a past purchase.  For instance, if you buy something at a store and then return it, the merchant can credit your Visa or Mastercard with the amount of the refund.

So when it comes to purchases at poker rooms, some will allow a “refund” of the amount you deposited there, and some will not.  With those that do allow refunds from poker rooms, the maximum amount is the amount that was deposited.

So if you are a winning player, while credit cards are the easiest and most convenient form of making deposits at poker rooms, you are going to want to look into another method to make your withdrawals, as you will be taking out a lot more than you put in. Bank Transer or Wire are probably the best bet for you until; you set up an account with a reputable e-wallet like Skrill or Neteller.

If you are learning the game, I wouldn’t worry about this right now, and you can always set up a withdrawal method for your excess profits later on once you start making them.  For now, there’s no doubt that credit card deposits are very convenient and allow you to get into the game and start playing immediately, and there’s no need at all to worry about withdrawals until later on.

Will Poker Room Transactions Give Me A Bad Credit Rating?

Purchases made on your credit card have no effect on your credit rating.  What affects your credit rating is your payment history, and it’s only when you miss payments that your credit rating is hurt.

What Is The Minimum Deposit For Playing Poker Online?

Each poker site sets their own credit card deposit minimums, which are generally in the $20 and up range.  There are some sites that require less, for instance $10, but putting in at least $20 is a good idea if you can possibly manage it, especially when it comes to your first deposit, the one that you collect your bonus money on.

You don’t want to end up running out of money if you get a little streak of bad luck, and have to get your plastic out and make another deposit.  This is a beginners mistake and one that you want to avoid.

Unless your card is almost maxed out, and you only have a tiny bit of available credit available, there’s no need to not put in at least a decent amount.  However, if the minimum is all you want to start out with, that’s fine, just go ahead.

Poker In The USA

Due to the UIGEA, there aren’t very many cards that you can use to make deposits at online poker rooms.  Most U.S. players cannot use their regular credit cards and they end up buying pre-paid cards to use to deposit.

If you are from the U.S. and want to work around this and use your regular credit card for poker room deposits, you can use one of the few internet wallets that take Americans and move the money from your card to the internet wallet, and you then can deposit to poker sites right from the internet wallet.

So it might take a little time, a week or so, to set up an account with an internet wallet but it can be worth the time, as once you are all set up, you can then make instant deposits with your credit card, and although there are two steps that are involved here instead of just one, it’s still all very fast and convenient.

Having an internet wallet account will also provide you with the means to make withdrawals pretty conveniently as well, as once you have deposited with an internet wallet, you are entitled to make withdrawals with it.

Although no withdrawal is immediate, using internet wallets to make them are generally quite a bit faster than getting checks sent to you through the mail, since these checks are sent from foreign countries and they take a fair bit if time to process and arrive.

For better options and more detail, you should read the US poker players page which looks at more deposit methods in finer detail.

Online Poker In Canada

Canadians may find it easier depositing to online poker sites, but there still are a lot of Canadian credit cards that simply don’t work for this.  In the USA it is very difficult to find one that works, but at least in Canada there are some out there that people have never had any trouble using, and you could apply for and get one of these cards if you wished.

For now though, if you have a Canadian card and haven‘t tried to deposit with it before, it‘s just a matter of trying it out and seeing if it will work or not.  The Canadian credit card that I use works every time, but I’ve heard from others that some work and some don’t, and it’s not just a matter of whether it’s a Visa or Mastercard, as it has to do with the particular bank that issued it.

If you aren’t able to use one of your cards to deposit, there are a lot more options then Americans as far as internet wallets that will take Canadians, most of them do, versus only a very few that take Americans.

So all you need to do is open an account with one of them and then you will be able to not only use your credit card to deposit to the internet wallet, which is the fastest method by far by the way, you can also make deposits from your bank account as well, and also make withdrawals to your bank account.  Since you can’t really withdrawal to your card, although some may allow “refunds“ as I discussed earlier, it’s a great idea to have an internet wallet set up for withdrawals regardless of whether or not you have any trouble using your plastic to deposit at online.

Depositing To Online Poker In The UK

I’ve never heard of any issues with people from the UK using their credit cards at any online poker site, other than the normal things such as the deposit being declined due to lack of available credit or due to some technical issue.

So if you have trouble using your UK credit card at a poker site, and you are sure that you have the available credit to be able to make the amount of the deposit you are looking to make, chances are it might be because your bank is blocking the transaction for your security, especially if you’ve never deposited at an online poker site before.

Sometimes, banks will block certain online transactions that are out of the ordinary for the user, to ensure that the card hasn’t been stolen.  So if this seems to be happening, it merely takes a phone call to your company to assure them that it is you looking to make the transaction, and you shouldn’t have any more trouble with this.