PayPal Online Poker Sites

PayPal is a widely recognized brand. If you didn’t know who they were I’d have to ask where you’ve been the last decade. They're best recognized as the payment processing company for (and owned by) Ebay, the world's largest auction / classified website. They've processed billions of dollars, nearly half of which was for Ebay.

PayPal can be used for more than buying and selling on Ebay, though. You can use them to send money to friends/family, shop online and to accept payments for your business. That's what I primarily use them for. I bill my clients using PayPal on a weekly basis, and take care of my bills using my PayPal debit card.

PayPal can also be used for gambling. However, it's not nearly as common an option as Neteller, Skrill or any other e-wallet. They don’t accept US casino or poker players, for one thing, probably to comply with US/UIGEA laws. And they only work with safe, legal and legitimate (international) poker sites and casinos. You won't find paypal accepted by one of the newer poker rooms.

But for those of you that can use them, I highly recommend that you do. There are few, if any real downsides to funding your poker or casino account with PayPal, but there are multiple upsides. Find out what those are, as well as how to setup a PayPal account, below.

How to Setup and Use PayPal to Fund Your Account

Setting up a PayPal account is simple. Lets walk through the steps on how to do that.

1. Visit PayPal.com. Click the 'Sign Up' button, located in the top-right of your screen. Then choose how you'll use PayPal, for personal or business use. Chances are that you'll be using it solely for 'personal' use.

2. Enter your information. This includes your email, desired password, name, address, city, zip code and phone number. Then click submit.

3. Link an account. You can choose to link your bank account or debit or credit card. This does a couple of things for you. One, you can transfer money to and from your account. Two, if you spend money directly from your PayPal account, using their debit card or from an online store that accepts PayPal, and you spend too much, your linked account will pay the difference.

Once done, you'll be asked to verify your account and linked bank or debit/credit card. This is usually done with a small deposit (from PayPal). You just tell them how much it was for, and your account will be verified.

That's it.

From here you'll need to fund your account. You can do that using your linked bank account, which can take a couple of days. You can also receive money from another PayPal member. Another option is to use a credit card (if you haven't already from the setup process), or buy a MoneyPak (prepaid) card and use that to load your PayPal account.

Funding Your Poker Account With PayPal

This part is even easier.

To make a deposit with PayPal, just visit the poker cashier and choose PayPal. You'll then be asked for your PayPal email address and password, how much you want to deposit and if you have a bonus code. Then hit submit. You should be ready to go within minutes.

Benefits to Using PayPal

There are several reasons why you should consider using PayPal to fund your poker (or any type of gambling) account.

Fast - When you make a payment with PayPal the money clears instantly. Just like a credit or debit card. So you won't have to wait hours or days before you can sit down to play. You should be able to play within minutes. PokerStars, 888 Poker and Party Poker all accept Paypal deposits / withdrawals. Since PokerStars operates Full Tilt Poker, we except FullTilt to offer it as well.

Convenient - PayPal is accepted at a number of poker, sports betting and casino portals. But you can also use PayPal to shop online, send money to friends and family, or to accept payments for work. They're also convenient because even if you don't have all the funds in your account, they'll still complete the payment and debit your backup source within a couple of days.

Safe - PayPal is very selective in what casinos they're willing to work with. It's not an option available everywhere. What this should tell you is that the casinos they are willing to work with are safe and worthwhile to work with. They’re basically endorsing them, whether they mean to or not.

The protection goes much further than that, though. You're also protected against fraudulent activity, unauthorized transactions and purchases that you're unhappy with.

Debit / Credit Card - I have their debit card and it's easily one of the best things about them. Instead of waiting several days for the funds to be transferred from my PayPal account to my bank account, I can use my debit card to withdraw money from the ATM, or to use in the meantime until the funds are transferred.

Cash Back - My debit card receives 1% cash back on all purchases I make. Although it's not a lot of money, it still servers as a buffer against any money you gamble with.

The only downside to PayPal is that they do charge fees on incoming transfers. However, the fees are only 3%, which isn't very much in the grand scheme of things. Hell, it's cheaper than a wire transfer until you hit the $1,000 mark. Assuming you're making that much, you'll probably have to pay taxes, in which case you could write off the fees anyway.

The bottom line is that if you can use PayPal to fund your poker account, you should do so. At least give them a shot and compare them to your current solution. I think you'll be happy you did.