paypal is not recommended for poker players. If you must use this service, keep the amounts small.

Paypal is probably the most well known online payment method. They have been in the business of online funds transfers since the late 1990’s, and you can use their services to buy just about anything anywhere on the internet.

While for a long time they absolutely refused to allow gambling related transactions, in the last few years they have relaxed that policy, and now they will process gambling transactions for some online poker sites. They continue to refuse to support these transactions for players from the United States of America though, so if that is you don’t even try to use this service to fund you poker account.

This company is absolutely massive in the payments world. They are owned by eBay, which I am sure you have heard of, and are integrated heavily with that shopping site.

Paypal’s anti-gambling stance in relation to American players is very strong. Make no mistake about it, even receiving a transfer from an American player can get your site closed, if they even suspect that it is gambling related.

Because of this seeming contradiction, where they allow gaming payments for some players but not others, and they allow interpersonal funds transfers, this service is not recommended for the serious poker player.

If you do choose to take the associated risks , or think those risks don’t apply to your situation, then it can be a quick and efficient method to fund your online gambling accounts, where allowed.

Poker sites with the lowest PayPal deposit limits

Poker room	Pounds	Euros	Dollars	Review	Link
Paddy Power Poker	£5.00	€5.00		Review
Betfair	£5	€7	-	Review
32Red Poker	£10	€10	$10	Review
BetVictor	£10	€10	$10	Review
888Poker	£10	€10	$10

Account Setup

In a similiar fashion to both Neteller and Skrill, with Paypal you will need to verify your identity, which involves using your bank account to receive a small deposit for a random amount, and then confirm that amount in your Paypal account. This procedure proves that you are the owner of the connected bank account.

This process involves sending in your identity documents and a document to prove your address, usually a utility bill will be fine.

Once you are set up you can move money easily, and cost effectively for small amounts, to just about any one that has an email address. If you send money to an email address that is not associated with an existing account, the owner of that email address ( the person that you sent the funds to) can either set up a new account themselves, or, if they already have an account but it is linked to a different email address, tehn they can add the address that you snet the money to into their existing account.

That may sound complicated, but the point is that as an online funds transferring service, this one is probably the easiest and quickest for most people to use.

Other benefits

Like some other services, you can get a prepaid debit card that draws on teh funds in your Paypal account. This one is a Visa brand card, instead of the more usual MasterCard, and the daily ATM withdrawal limit is only $300 (last time I checked) which does not compare well with MasterCard debit cards, whihc have a daily limit of $1,000, if the ATM supports it.

The main benefit to having an account here is the sheer popularity of this aas a payment method online. Most every one that sells somethingon the internet accepts Paypal, and unfortunately many online retailers don’t accept any other method for payments.

Customer Support Issues

Online custome support is never really that good, at leasat when it comes to payment processors, but Paypal stand out in that they support is the worst there is. Hands down they beat out all competition to be the absolute worst when it comes to helping their custoomers with problems.

As a matter of fact, the Paypal CEO was on record at one time saying that it was more cost effective for Paypal to close the accounts of problem customers than to pay for the staff needed to provide help to those customers.

With that attitude it is no wonder that their support is so bad.

When they do close accounts, it is standard procedure to freeze your funds for up to 6 months. They say that is to protect any person that might have sent money to you, but they will do this even if you have never received funds from anyone.

If you do get into trouble with your account and need help, you can go through the email support system and you might get lucky, but I have no advice as to how you can make that work better for you. In my dealings with their support staff, I was unable to resolve any difficulties ever. I mean Ever. At one point I felt that the agents were not even reading my emails, and those that might read them didn’t seem to comprehend the issue, so I got repeated emails that were no where near addressing my problems.

I cannot stress enough that if you do use this company for online poker payments, you must use good money management in order to avoid having a large bankroll frozen while any issue is resolved or finalized. You don’t want to have your whole bankroll tied up for six months while Paypal collects interest on it.

If you need help resolving any issue, bear in mind that paypal moved their offices from the UK to Switzerland in order to avoid being under the jurisdiction of any of the EU financial regulatory bodies.