How Wire Transfer Deposits Work:
When you are looking for a way to send real money to your chosen online poker site(s), but want to make sure that it is convenient and secure, you might want to consider using a wire transfer. This is a bank to bank method of making a deposit (or even collecting a payout on the other side). This is simply an exchange of electronic information between the various banks, where one side agrees to give them a portion of your bank balance and the other side agrees to accept it. Your banking account information is transmitted, these electronic systems are highly secure, even more so than when making payments with your credit cards.
This is a system used by all types of businesses, people, banks, and even the governments of the world. It is worldwide, which means that most of the best poker websites are going to be amenable to using this as a way for collecting deposits and sending payouts. In a nutshell, this is how a deposit to one of your chosen online poker sites works:
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You will receive the information needed from the online poker site, then either call or visit your chosen bank (in some cases this can even be done online). This includes not only account number(s) but also special banking codes (IBAN, BIC, etc...).
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The sending bank will then transmit the message via SWIFT or another secure system. This requests the receiving bank to make payment according to the instructions given.
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Settlement, or payment, instructions are included and the process is started.
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Finally, the included banks work out how to actually receive the payment. In most cases, this will simply be a bookkeeping entry, but might also include the sending of actual real cash.
As you might suspect, this service is not free, and payment will probably be collected on both ends. However, chances are pretty good that your online poker rooms will be willing to reimburse you for at least a portion of the cost, which can vary from $5 to $40 or more.
Be aware that there are a number of regulations governing the use of wire transfers. Poker online site locations can affect this. In Europe, for example, the cost of sending a wire transfer with a specified European area cannot cost more than a national transfer. The United States is another matter entirely, and wire transfers can be expensive. Please see the special considerations section below for more information on this aspect. In other cases, these will only be available to registered business, or those who are using a correspondent (i.e. registered) bank.
Making Your Initial Wire Transfer Deposit - Online Poker Sites
With all of the above in mind, you should find one of the best online poker websites that accepts deposits via wire transfers. Start and complete the registration process, which normally involves registering your email address and providing some information about yourself. You will then have to decide which method you will use in order to play: instantly using your browser window, via a downloaded software provided by most poker sites, or through your mobile device (which will require apps from the poker rooms to be downloaded onto your smart phone or other device). The software used by the poker room includes the best features and is always recommended.
Once you have finished all of these preliminary steps, you will be prompted to begin the initial deposit process. Simply choose the wire transfer option and instructions will be provided. Take the banking information, codes, and whatever other directions have been provided by the poker websites and go to your bank (either in person or to their online site, if you have that functionality). Following the instructions, begin to set up the wire transfer.
The only thing left now is to hear confirmation that your payment has been sent and received. If your chosen online poker sites are actually registered businesses in good standing within their jurisdiction there should not be any problem and this is a very secure method of payment. That being said, the amount of time it can take to complete such a deposit method will vary from bank to bank and country to country.
Depositing with Wire Transfers & Poker Site Bonus Awards
Online poker sites want your money! Although this should come as no real surprise to anyone, many online poker rooms will also bribe you to choose them. Think of this as an ethical bribe, in the form of real cash bonuses. For example, if you send $500 as a deposit to one of your favorite online poker sites, they may choose to give you and additional $500 or maybe even an additional $1,000 as a way to thank you for choosing their websites to play poker through.
Most deposit bonuses will be expressed as a percentage of your initial deposit, with a maximum also listed. In the above example, the $500 bonus for your $500 wire transfer deposit represents a 100% bonus. The $1,000 would represent a 200% bonus, and yes, both such offers are quite common among the top poker websites.
You should also understand that these bonuses are one time affairs. Most poker sites are not going to give you bonuses every time you make a deposit. Some might be willing to extend a bonus for your first and second deposits and maybe even a third, but no more. There is also nothing to prevent you from trying a number of different online poker sites and collecting additional bonuses.
Special Considerations for Wire Transfers to Online Poker Rooms
Wire transfers can be difficult to conduct in the United States in a number of cases. As security concerns grow larger and larger, the regulators have been imposing more restrictions on the use of wire transfers, especially transferring real cash out of the country. This can make it quite a complicated undertaking if a US player is looking to send a wire transfer to an international poker room. At this point there really isn't any way around all of this, other than finding out the specific procedures required by your bank, since these will vary from place to place.
The main kicker with a wire transfer of funds is that the amount of time it might take is really unpredictable. Theoretically, these deposit methods should transfer nearly instantaneously, but this can also take an hour, a few hours, or even a few days. There really is no way to tell ahead of time. This should not make you nervous, as wire transfers can be recalled. This actually used to be a big way that online poker sites were scammed by players...years ago, these payments credited almost instantly, so you could go ahead and play, then (if the player lost) simply recall the wire transfer. Most online poker rooms are a lot more careful now and wait until they have solid confirmation that the payment has been fully completed.
Clearing your bonus is another concern. Since most poker sites would actually lose money if they allowed you to access the entire bonus immediately, you will be required to play a number of raked hands first. Even then, your bonus will only 'clear' or be moved into your playing account in $5 to $15 increments. This can also be based on your level of play and what types of stakes you are using. Just beware for any hard and fast time limits before which your bonus will expire.
Another potential issue with wire transfers is the monetary minimums. You might not be able to use this payment or deposit method unless you will be transferring a significant amount of real money into your poker room. Think of about $1,000 as the minimum for wire transfers. Poker online sites might also not agree to pay for the transfer fees unless you are sending an even higher amount. Fortunately, this is not true everywhere, as many of the best poker websites do not have these limitations. But they also might not pick up the fees for smaller wire transfers, either.
WE RATE THE BEST WEBSITES FOR ONLINE POKER WIRE TRANSFERS
Having the option to add real money to your online poker account by direct wire transfers is always great to have but this alone doesn’t make for a top poker room. Don’t get it wrong, it is certainly a step in the right direction since many players have bank accounts and the deposit limits are generally pretty big. But there are many other boxes which have to be checked in order to be the best in 2016.
Now that you saw our top online poker rooms, let us present some of the hurdles they had to jump in order to get on the list.
First off, all online poker sites have to be 100% secure. This is not up for discussion and all player information must be kept safe, with some of the good signs being 128-bit encryption and eCOGRA approval, along with licenses in reliable jurisdictions.
Secondly, no matter if you opt for wire transfers or other payment methods, you are guaranteed a bonus at any of our top online poker rooms. This not only helps maintain a soft competition by basically giving real cash away for free, but helps attract new players to the tables as well.
The best in the business must also have great customer support 24/7 to answer any questions the customers might have.
