Did you know you can use gift cards to start playing online poker? If you are thinking about pre-paid Visa gift cards then you can. Of all of the possible deposit options for poker rooms, using a gift card is one of the safest and fastest you can use. Learn how by reading below.
Best Gift Card Poker Sites
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What is a Gift Card?
For the purposes of making deposits at online poker rooms, gift cards mean pre-paid Visa cards. While there may be a poker room that will exchange other types of gift cards for deposits, I am not aware of any. The nice thing about these types of cards is they seem to be available everywhere. If you walk through the checkout area at Target, Walmart, Krogers or just about any other big chain store you see these cards hanging everywhere. You can buy them in preset amounts like $50, $100 or $200 or put whatever amount you want on them. There are even some you can sign up for and load over and over again by paying a fee and having cash loaded on them.
Many banking institutions also offer pre-paid cards. These types of card have basically done away with the traveler’s check market that was so popular many years back. They make a safe and economical choice for making poker deposits.
Top Gift Card Poker Sites Of 2020
BetOnline
Sports Betting
Americas CardroomIs It Safe?
Using pre-paid gift cards to make poker deposits is safe. The main reason is because you can only lose the amount on the gift card. Unlike a credit card where a thief can buy things up to and sometimes exceeding your credit limit, a gift card has a set amount of money available on it and it can’t be used for anything beyond that. The other layer of safety is that you aren’t giving the poker room any of your banking details so you don’t have to worry about them protecting it.
Any deposit method where you can limit your exposure to fraud and keep from sharing your banking details with anyone online is worth considering. While there are millions of financial transactions carried out safely every day, it is always a good idea to avoid tempting fate.
Are There Fees?
There are fees associated with gift cards and pre-paid Vis cards. It usually costs from $2 to $5 for the card and if you get one that can be reloaded there will be a similar fee every time you load funds on the card. Most of them also will limit the amount you can load onto the card at one time in order to make sure they get a fee as often as possible.
Most poker rooms do not charge any fees for using these types of cards. To make sure there are no fees check out the deposit options section while visiting the cashier. Just open your poker room software client, log in and check the deposit fees.
Why Was My Deposit Declined?
Sadly, the credit card market and the gift card market are not very stable when it comes to making deposits into poker rooms. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. So it is likely that if you use these types of cards you will eventually deal with one being declined. When this happens the only thing you can do is contact support and see if they know any way to work around the problem. You may also need to have the zip code match the billing zip code for the card. While many of these types of gift cards will not have a zip code associated with them, the ones that you have to order and reload may be tied to a zip code. Ones you get from banks are also likely to be zip code specific.
How to Deposit Using Gift Cards
To make a deposit using a gift card or pre-paid Visa card log into your poker account and enter the card details into the cashier area just like any other credit card.
Does My Poker Room Take Gift Cards?
Most online poker rooms accept credit cards and if they do you can use any gift card with the Visa logo on it just like a credit card. Simply take a quick look at the cashier or the main web site to find the available deposit options.
What Can I Do If My Site Doesn’t Take Gift Cards?
If your poker site doesn’t accept gift cards there are a few other option. All of these options depend somewhat on where you live, as some are available in certain areas and not available in others. If you are looking for options where you can get cash into an account you can try Western Union or Ukash. If you can open an e-wallet try Skrill or Neteller. The other options are eChecks or a bank wire. All of these issues have their own plusses and minuses bit they all are viable deposit options.
Can I Use Gift Cards To Withdraw My Winnings?
Usually you can’t use gift cards to withdraw your poker winnings. They are only good to make deposits. You will need to find other options when you want to take money out. Popular options include checks, bank wire or one of the online wallets. Complete details can be found in the poker room.
Conclusion
Using gift cards can be a great way to make deposits into your poker account. They are very safe and offer a quick way to get cash from your pocket into a poker room. You may need to try a few different cards to find one that works on a consistent basis for deposits, so don’t spend too much at first. Of course you can always buy something else with the gift card if it is turned down at the poker room.