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U.S. Deposit Methods Pt.1 In today’s turbulent times as an online U.S. Poker Player, you can easily find yourself with the short end of the stack compared to the rest of the "Free" World. It is unfortunate that the muddy waters of politics and law have polluted our ability to participate in “Skilled” online gaming. Through their regulations and laws the U.S. government believe they have disabled the ways and means to deposit and withdrawal money from safe and premium poker sites hence, hampering the everyday U.S. player from playing online. This could be farther from the Truth. In this article series, I will expose the various ways that will allow any player, regardless of location, to deposit and withdrawal money safely, and legally from these sites.
We will begin with the most accessible way to make deposits online to poker sites such as PokerStars. The following will outline the fastest means on depositing money by using Epassporte. I recently deposited using this method and it took less then an hour to begin playing using that same account on PokerStars.
The first step in this process will make a huge difference regarding the timing of your “to-be” deposit. (If You Do No Already Have A PokerStars Account Please Click HERE To Register) 1.) You can use epassporte and upload your online bank account information to make a deposit, this will take up to 7 - 10 days before your deposit will actually be onto your epassporte account. Obviously, this is too long for your initial deposit (if you are like me and a little impatient). I suggest that for your initial deposit onto epassporte, that you use a Visa Gift Card. This entire process will only take the better part of an hour to complete and to be up and playing. You can purchase these at your local bank or drug store such as Eckards. These gift cards are relatively cheap. My local bank only charged me $3.00 to purchase a $60.00 Visa Gift Card. They can come in either requested amounts or if purchased at a store tiered amounts (I.e. 25, 50, 75). If this is your initial deposit onto PokerStars then I suggest that a $60 - $75.00 Gift Visa Card be purchased. During this process you will be able to utilize a special promotional code that will allow you to earn 100% of your initial deposit (up to $50.00). Obviously, there is no such thing as free money regardless of what many Poker Sites promotional ads inform you. You must earn the base requirement of Frequent Player Points (FPP’s) to unlock this bonus. For example, on my initial $50.00 deposit, I can earn an extra $50.00 from PokerStars once I earn the 500 FPP’s required. I have been playing for 2 days on the account and have already acquired 143 FPPs. I have over doubled my initial deposit from just playing and currently have $107.00. Once I earn another 357 FPP’s, PokerStars will transfer me the promotional bonus of $50.00. I will explain the process of using this promotional bonus later on in this article.
Once you have purchased your Visa Gift Card, You can then begin to register an account with Epassporte. The website is www.epassporte.com. You will want to make a personal account which is completely free. Once you have submitted your registration information it is time to upload your funds from your Visa Gift Card. Epassporte charges $5.00 per every $100.00 load or “portion thereof”. For example, from my $60.00 Gift Visa, Epassporte charged me $5.00 This leaves me with $55.00 to be transferred onto Epassporte for me to use at PokerStars. After you enter your credit or debit card information, ePassporte will authorize a pending charge on that card for a random amount between $0.01 and $2.00. You will then be directed to contact your card issuing bank by calling the phone number on the back of the card or checking your online statement to find out the exact amount of the pending charge. (Note: if contacting the bank by phone, please ask the bank representative for the authorization amount in U.S. dollars).
ePassporte requires you to do this in order to ensure that your credit or debit card is not used fraudulently on our website. This authentication process protects you because only authorized Account Holders can gain access to information such as pending charges placed on your credit or debit card. Be assured, however, that ePassporte will not charge you for the pending charge, and the authorization will drop off of your credit or debit card statement within a few days.
The ePVerify authentication process is actually very simple. After you've obtained the exact amount of the pending charge (in U.S. dollars), return to the ePassporte website and log in using the User ID and Password you previously selected (in case you forget these, your User ID and Password are sent to the e-mail address you gave ePassporte when you signed up for your Account). You will then be asked to enter the amount you've obtained from your financial institution. If you enter the correct amount, you will have successfully completed ePVerify and you may proceed to load funds onto your Account.
Please note that if you use a Visa or MasterCard credit/debit card to purchase or load funds to your ePassporte Account, you may be required to undergo the Verified by Visa or SecureCode authentication process along with ePassporte's ePVerify authentication process.
Your Are Now ready to transfer your funds into your PokerStars account. To do this, Log onto PokerStars and go to the Cashier, Click on “Buy Chips“. You will then see a list of financial site along with ePassporte. Sign into your ePassporte account and select the amount of funds to transfer into your PokerStars Account. I suggest that for your initial deposit, you transfer $50.00 so that you will earn the maximum bonus of $50.00. During this quick transfer, You will be asked by PokerStars for any Promotional Bonus’s. You will need to submit the promo code “First2007”. The entire process of transferring the funds from ePassporte to PokerStars will be less then 2 minutes. You will receive an email from PokerStars Cashier informing you of the funds now in your account
Congratulations!!! You Are Now Ready To Play!!! Be sure to check back in with the PokerStars cashier to check your Bonus Status from time to time. If you are considering future deposits onto PokerStars without having to purchase the Visa Gift Card, I suggest that you add your bank information onto your ePassporte account. This process as stated will take 7-10 days (sometimes longer) to verify your bank information. However, you will already be up and playing and will not have to suffer the long wait…
Next article, I will detail the Western Union Process of Depositing on PokerStars. If you are considering this method, please understand that it is costly.. Western Union can charge you more then $15 just to transfer $50.00. As you have seen with ePassporte, the costs are minimal, from start to finish including the purchase of the Visa Gift Card, I paid, $8. If you have any questions or comments, you can always reach me at Stackzillacom@Hotmail.com, or catch me online playing at PokerStars (username: Saif6deuce). Article by Bryan W. Daugherty (StackZilla)
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