Online Poker FAQ — Beginners' Guide

Sites welcoming US players

Full Tilt Poker
Highest limits, celebrity players, $600 deposit bonus

Ultimate Bet
Aruba and Bellagio freerolls, $650 deposit bonus

Poker Stars
Best tournaments and frequent player freerolls

Absolute Poker
Weekly $150,000 freeroll


Compare all sites.

Dedicated poker bank account

The most convenient way to transfer money into and out of the poker sites requires a bank account for electronic transfers. This avoids all of the fees and most of the delays that have to put up with using other methods. You can use electronic transfers between your bank and either the poker site itself or with a go-between like NeTeller. The only trouble is you must provide detailed bank account information to other party. Many people are not comfortable revealing this information for their primary bank account.

The solution is to open a dedicated poker bank account. You then keep a very small balance in this account except when you need to make a transfer. This way, even if your account information is compromised and misused, the total amount of money at risk is very small. Having a dedicated account also separates your poker transactions and makes it easy to keep your records in order.

You can open a second account at your own bank or at one of the leading online banks such as NetBank. Many banks offer sign-up bonuses of $50 to $100 – just like poker sites! – so check out the MSN banking forum for the latest promotions.

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