Online Poker: Transferring Money

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The deposit process breaks into clumps with a few possible points where you have to just... wait. Be patient and begin the process with the following steps:

1. Pick a quality online poker room.

2. Select your transfer method of choice from the online poker room's cashier.

3. If the transfer method involves a third party (meaning any method that doesn't send your online poker room a real-life paper check), go to the third party's Web site and register appropriately.
Make sure to follow the site's directions for account creation and verification to the letter. (If you send a check straight to the online poker site, skip to Step 9.)
At this point you may encounter a time lag. If you use an online holding company, its tickle (the amount the company initially puts toward your account to make sure it has the correct bank info) and your verification of the account balance could take as long as a week.

4. Check your online poker room for first-time bonuses. Weigh this figure against how much you're willing to use as a poker stake and determine the amount you want to deposit into your online poker account.
Many sites give you bonus money to play with for making their site your room of choice.

5. Transfer the necessary funds from your real-world account (checking account or debit card) to your online third party (the ACH provider or online holding company).
Don't forget to move enough money to account for any service fees that the poker site or holding company charges you along the way. You may experience a delay of a day or two as your funds seep from one account to the next.

6. Verify that your online third party deposits the correct amount of money and that your real-world account reflects the withdrawal properly.
An error anywhere in this entire process is unlikely; but if one occurs, it may be something like a double withdrawal.

7. Make the deposit to your online poker room from your third party.
This action is typically instantaneous, but you may experience a lag period of a day.

8. Read the confirmation dialogs of your poker room carefully to see how soon you can expect the deposit to show up.

9. Verify that you receive the funds in your online poker room in the expected time frame.

10. Verify with your online third party that it has withdrawn the proper amount of cash relative to your poker room deposit.

11. Play online poker shrewdly.

12. Play in a promotional event that wins you a seat in the World Series of Poker. (Optional)

13. Win the World Series of Poker in the brick-and-mortar world. (Optional)

The list may look daunting and vague, but the process is practically automatic, although it varies slightly depending on which site you head to. All it really takes is money and a little patience. After you complete your first transfer and become comfortable with a certain method and provider, the rest of your transactions go much faster.

If at any point your money transaction looks suspicious or just plain wrong, contact your transferring parties immediately. The best way to communicate is by e-mail (so you have a verifiable trail), and anytime you have a phone conversation, be sure to follow up with an e-mail recap.

As you make transactions (or dispute transaction errors), be sure to take notes — and save them. This helps you keep track of all details — dates, times, and the names of people you speak with as you go along.

Keep a separate record of all your online poker room deposits — not only to follow your deposits and withdrawals in the real world, but also to track whether you win or lose money over the long run.