Online poker sites have greatly increased in terms of number and players.
This is all due to the many innovations they try to implement in order to keep players interested, as well as to attract new ones.
A large number of US online poker sites accept Bitcoin deposits. Once you choose your favorite Bitcoin poker site, select Bitcoin as your preferred payment method. You’ll get your own Bitcoin address. To authorize a transaction, your private key and the poker site’s public key, as well as the amount of Bitcoin you intend to deposit will match up. Jul 11, 2019 Ignition is one of the most popular poker sites accepting bitcoin for US and AUS players. Since 2011, Ignition has built for itself an excellent reputation for being one of the few Bitcoin poker sites offering user security and the full regulatory compliance of a US poker room. Pros of Ignition: Lots of poker games and formats are available.
Once of these tactics was adding bitcoins as a payment method. It helps facilitate payment processes and greatly increases the overall security of the players since there is no need to provide personal information during transactions.
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What Are Bitcoins?
Contents
The Bitcoin is an open sourced virtual currency which has become largely popular in recent years. It has existed for nearly a decade now, which was enough time to help the currency develop and increase in terms of value. It basically represents a peer-to-peer payment method which does not require any middle institution to process the transaction. Thus, there are no geo-politic limits except for those countries that have legally banned the use of this cryptocurrency. Apart from them, bitcoins are normally regarded as a commodity.Before you start playing online poker with bitcoins, you will definitely need to procure some. The easiest way to get bitcoins is by purchasing them off the market. Aside from this, there are many online currency exchange platforms where you can exchange some of the major currencies like USD or EUR for a couple of bitcoins. The third option when it comes to acquiring bitcoins is mining. This might require some IT and mathematical knowledge, but it basically allows you to gain bitcoins without spending a dime.
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Bitcoin Poker Deposits & Withdrawals
Deposits and withdrawals can be performed with bitcoins just as with any other currency offered by the poker sites. What is specific about these is the fact that you need to have a specific storage space where you keep the bitcoins and transfer them to and from your poker account.
Bitcoin e-wallets are specific storage places where players keep their cryptocurrency under a given bitcoin address. It is comprised of random letters and numbers, but plays a vital role in all transactions.
Depositing bitcoins at a given online poker site is done by inputting your bitcoin address on the site and specifying the amount of bitcoins you’d like to transfer. In order to do this, the chosen poker site would need to accept bitcoin as a payment method. Withdrawals are done the same way, solely using the address of your bitcoin wallet. These transactions are almost momentary, especially when it comes to deposits. Withdrawals are also performed fairly quickly, although it sometimes takes a few hours for the system to process the overall command. Yet, one of the main reasons people turn to this payment method for their online poker games is its promptness and efficiency.
Types of Bitcoin Poker Sites
Poker sites which accept bitcoins can vary depending on the specific payment characteristics they have. All in all, we can distinguish between three types. When choosing the bitcoin poker site that fits your needs, consider the following classification in order to make the best choice.
Bitcoin-exclusive poker sites are those sites which do not allow their players to perform payments with any other payment method. Many players enjoy these sites due to their claims that it’s less confusing and much safer. The other type of poker sites is bitcoin-inclusive.
This means that the online poker rooms allow their players to choose bitcoin out of a list of payment methods including the regular credit and debit cards, wire transfers, cash transfers etc. Even though these poker sites will normally ask you to perform your deposits and withdrawals using the same method, some poker players prefer these sites for their selection.
The third type of bitcoin poker sites includes bitcoin as a payment method only when it is used with the e-wallet Neteller. This e-wallet service is known as one of the best bitcoin storages. Apart from that, it also allows its users to convert the cryptocurrency into any other major fiat currency.
Legal Regulations & Security
The matter of legality is completely separate from the level of safety provided by this payment method. On the one hand, bitcoins are still a grey area in the global economic sphere. However, the number of explicit prohibitions does not greatly surpass the number of legal approvals. Since they aren’t regulated by any formal institution, there are no legal obstacles for players who wish to use bitcoins in their next poker game.
Online Poker Bitcoin
As for security, the encryption of bitcoin’s system is one of the safest locations for anyone’s funds. Players are able to handle their money without providing any personal information except for the e-wallet address. Plus, this currency is completely free of risk when it comes to inflation due to the fact that the number of bitcoins has been limited at 21 million since the cryptocurrency’s creation.
FAQs
It is possible to play online poker using bitcoin as your payment method. The two options are simple: it is possible to convert your bitcoin into a regular currency at the casino’s cashier, or play at a website that only supports bitcoin. The first option is much more common in 2019 with many of the best poker sites accepting bitcoin deposits.
Overview of online bitcoin poker sites
Playing poker has become one of the biggest gambling businesses in the world with the emergence of online institutions such as PokerStars and Full Tilt and the popularity of live tournaments like the World Series of Poker. The good news for Bitcoin enthusiasts is that there are now several options to use this cryptocurrency as a deposit and withdrawal method.
The beauty of using bitcoin to deposit money at online poker dens is that it is almost instant. However, the downside is that there is increased scrutiny on the use of bitcoin at poker sites. This could be looked at as a positive, with many gambling sites, some we never thought we would see, adopting bitcoin as a deposit method. Global gambling companies such as Bodog that operate in black or grey gambling markets have also brought bitcoin to the mainstream as a deposit method for poker players.
Best online poker gambling sites
Americas Cardroom: Americas Cardroom has been around longer than bitcoin. The popular USA-serving poker website began accepting bitcoin in early 2015. With both downloadable software and an instant-play version, as well as the ability to deposit bitcoin and real money, Americas Cardroom is a great alternative to the USA-banned PokerStars. Read our full America CardRoom review.
Sign-up & verification process
Unlike at PokerStars and other major poker websites you are not obliged to jump through hoops to begin playing at bitcoin poker sites. When you are making an account at bitcoin casinos and poker halls it is simple as making a username and password. You don’t have to give up your identity to play at these places. In fact, you can use an email account that is not even linked to your true identity.
However, this has changed significantly with more heavily regulated online casinos adopting bitcoin as a deposit method. This means most of the best poker sites accepting bitcoin will also make you prove your identity. This is to cover their backsides from accusations of money laundering and other inquisitive regulatory bodies.
Depositing & Withdrawing bitcoins at online poker sites
When you have made an account at a bitcoin casino or poker site you will have your own unique bitcoin address given to you. You can think of it like an account number. This will always be found in the banking section of the gambling site you have signed up at.
To fund these account numbers is a simple process. You need to have a funded bitcoin wallet and you simply send over how much of the virtual currency you want to play with.
The withdrawal process is just as simple. You just repeat the above steps in the reverse order. So you go the withdrawals page on your chosen site and send your balance back to your bitcoin wallet’s address.
Bitcoin Poker – Hold’em, Omaha and Video
Some of the platforms you will find at online poker sites accepting bitcoin are outstanding in 2019, with many big brands accepting this deposit method, including Ignition Poker and AmericasCardRoom. Other major brands that have market-leading platforms such as Pokerstars do not accept bitcoin, largely because it would clash with their tight adherence to global gambling legislation.
The good news is that you will find many different variations of poker at the sites that do accept bitcoin. These include your popular titles like Hold’em, which is hands-down the most heavily played online, while Omaha and Video Poker are also readily available. Basically if you can play it at a regular online poker hall you will find it at a bitcoin establishment.
Bitcoin Poker Sites
If you choose to play at a website that only accepts bitcoin, in our experience the player numbers are not as high as they are at other options, but they have slowly been growing as cryptocurrencies have become more popular.
Omaha Hi-Lo: This is a game where the stakes are generally high. You are dealt four private cards. Five cards are then dealt publicly on the table. The player can then use two cards from their four private cards, along with three cards of the displayed cards. Forming the best poker hand they can out of five cards.
Texas Hold’em: If there wasn’t Texas Hold’em available it just wouldn’t be poker and there certainly is a good range at several different Bitcoin websites. These options include regular tournaments and ‘sit and go’ tournaments. Of course there are also cash games available. Often the pots are quite big at SWC while playing bitcoin poker.
Video Poker: Several Bitcoin casinos have video poker available for their customers. Video poker is just a one-person game. It’s basically chasing poker hands for odds payouts. It’s always worth a few hands when you’re gambling online.
Is bitcoin poker safe?
Like any online gambling, you need to be well aware of where you are playing. If you’re playing at a dodgy website there is a chance that you could be ripped off.
There are several things that you can do to make sure that you remain safe while playing poker at bitcoin poker sites.
The first is to read about the website that you are intending to play at, do your homework, read reviews and make sure people have not had issues with them in the past. For instance cashing out.
The second thing you can do is limit your damage. Start with a small deposit and try the website out, even make a deposit and immediately withdraw it. After all, Bitcoin deposits are generally instant, or at least within 20 minutes.
Finally, it can be a good idea to cash out when you’re gambling at bitcoin gambling sites. While chances are that everything will be fine if you left your funds in the account, you never know what could happen – just ask the players at PokerStars who had their accounts frozen in America, and that was with regular currency.
Websites That Take Bitcoin
The rake and bitcoin poker
If you’re playing poker online you generally pay a fee to the house. This is referred to as the rake. The standard rake at PokerStars is usually around five per cent, but this amount is capped at $4. This means that you can be playing a high-stakes game and the rake will be $4.
The rake when playing bitcoin poker is usually significantly lower, which is obviously a huge plus for players, but you don’t get the associated benefits that come with the rake being higher. But in reality how often do you actually get any bonus of note from websites like PokerStars and Full Tilt.
The host website usually won’t charge a rake during a tournament, but a small percentage of your entry fee will be charged.