For whatever reason, trying to deposit money at a casino or poker room can be slightly difficult. It may be that you're not sure what options are available to you or perhaps the casino you're playing at doesn't accept your preferred deposit method.
If you're based in the US then you also have the UIGEA bill to contend with which requires financial institutions to attempt to block any transactions which involve an online gambling site. While this doesn't outlaw online gaming, it can make it hard to allow US players to wager for real money.
So we thought we'd have a look at the more common deposit options open to online gamblers.
Perhaps the most traditional way is to transfer funds directly from your bank account using a bank wire transfer. There are a number of cash casinos which allow money to be deposited in this way. We'd suggest checking with your bank before you go down this road though as some institutions may well charge you a set fee to transfer money in this way, but if it's a feasible option for you then it's one you should certainly consider. Bank transfers cut out any middle man and generally ensure that your funds arrive at your chosen casino within an hour.
If those charges are too much for you, then your next step should be the various eWallets which have opened up over the last few years. Some of the more popular providers are the likes of Paypal, Moneybookers and Neteller who are all firmly integrated within the gambling community and have a long history of working with online gaming sites.
Again a fee will be involved in any transaction, but this is minimal (usually a couple of dollars based on how much you're looking to deposit) and the transaction is processed instantly meaning that you'll be able to start playing your favourite games almost as soon as you've instigated the transfer!
Unfortunately though, neither of these two options are particularly viable for US residents. The eWallets won't accept US members and setting up direct transfer is unlikely to be successful given that your bank will be legally required to attempt to block such a move as a result of the UIGEA bill.
Therefore, we'd recommend that US gamers first try to deposit using their credit card. Many of the online casinos are set up for this and it is a secure and fast method which generally yields very good results.
If, for whatever reason, that doesn't work someone like Western Union is another good option. A number of casinos have recently started taking transactions from Western Union, and given their size, a Western Union kiosk can usually be found in many shopping malls or on shop corners.
