FUNDING YOUR CASINO - POKER ACCOUNT

Everyone knows that playing casino games on the internet can be a great deal of fun, and many players play for hours in "fun" mode, simply for the enjoyment of the game and the fast action. For most players, of course, there will come a time when they want to play with real money, and try their luck at winning some real cash. These online gamblers have several options for getting the money from their account to that of the online casino. Back in the early days of internet gambling, all that was required was a simple download and a major credit card and you were off and running. Things have changed a bit lately, however. There are some new restrictions on gambling deposits by credit card, and there are also some new services to make funding that casino count easier.

While credit card deposits are still a popular way to get money into casino accounts, many of the largest credit card issuers will not permit their cards to be used for online gaming. In addition, MasterCard will not allow gambling winnings to be deposited back on to cards which bear their logo.

Those banks that do allow their cards to be used for online gambling may charge a different (higher) interest rate on these transactions, sometimes as high as 21%. In addition, these transactions are often excluded from the traditional grace period common on credit card transactions, so the interest may begin to accrue as soon as the money hits your casino account.

Debit cards are a popular alternative to credit cards in the world of online gambling, and they do not have many of the restrictions of credit cards, due of course to the fact that the money is coming directly out of a bank account instead of being borrowed from the bank that issued the credit card.

Bank transfers are another popular way to fund a new or existing online casino account. Transferring money directly from the bank is similar to using a debit card, except that in most cases the money is not immediately removed from the bank account and placed into the account at the online casino. There can be a hold of up to five days on such transactions, so you may need to be patient when using bank transfers.

While Paypal once could be used to fund online casino accounts, this is no longer the case. The biggest players these days in the world of online casino payments are Moneybookers, NETeller, Stormpay, Citadel and of course Western Union.

All of these services work in much the same way, in that the individual opens a free account with the service, and people can deposit money into the account using either a debit card, credit card or wire transfer. Once the money is in place, it can be used to deposit and withdraw money to and from the online casino. In most cases this transfer happens instantly. All of these methods have their own services and fees attached, and it is important to pay close attention to the fees that are charged. Some of the percentages charged by NETeller and other services can be as high as 4%, 5% or even more, so it is important to read the fine print carefully.

One of the big advantages of these online accounts, however, is the ability to deposit and receive money in different currencies. These payments are automatically converted to the preferred currency at the most favorable conversion rates. This makes it easy to transfer money between casinos, and to send your winnings directly to your bank account.