Ok, stars response:

"Hello xxx,

Thank you for your email.

Please note that as your IP address will not match the country that your PokerStars account will be registered to, you may not be able to cash out, regardless of the method that you use. The only way around this is to change your registered country each time you are in a new place but this will require Security review and documents being sent so therefore is not ideal.

Please note that these measures are a Security feature to protect you and us and therefore we recommend that you do not request cashouts whilst you are travelling.

If you choose to cashout, you will only have the options available to you that are available to you in Canada as this is your registered country and for these you may visit the cashier.

Finally, you will not be able to play if you visit the USA.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

Justine
PokerStars Payment Services"


So I either have to live off of savings for 6 months or actually relocate to a specific country. Or I guess just have someone cash out for me from an IP within Canada.

I asked a similar question to a VIP manager and was told it's being debated internally.

That message makes it unclear whether you can cash out or not: "You may not be able to cash out" and "If you choose to cashout"

That would make things really difficult if we have to change our residence everywhere we go to cashout. It's hard if not impossible to get a bank account in a lot of countries and utility bills can take a while.

I wonder if you can still play if you have a Canadian address and an IP that is not US based? They very specifically mention cashing out, but not playing.

It sounds like you can from that email. And I've already read some stories of people that have relocated to Canada and then traveled to other countries for short periods and been able to play.

I don't really understand why you wouldn't be able to cash out. If the primary concern is that you're not playing from the US and you're not, and they're allowing you to play from countries other than your country of residence, then why not have the ability to cash out? Is there some concern that the Canadian banks/govt. are going to view Stars negatively for allowing this? I dunno, I don't get it.

The states aren't the only country with a changing poker landscape as far as legality is concerned. I do think they are being a little overly cautious atm, but hopefully they can come up with a solution.

Do you know if they will stamp your passport for less then 6 months if you fly in with a return ticket for a few weeks away?

Sorry, I only posted the last message. This was the first one, then I had follow-up questions:

"Hello xxx,

Thank you for your email.

Please note, that you are welcome to play on PokerStars when you are travelling however, we do not recommend cashing out when you are in a different country that is not registered in your account as this may require a security review of your account.

Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

Stephany D
PokerStars Support Team"

About to go up to Canada to set up a bank account.

Last I knew it sounded like players are trying to fund sites with Moneybookers and other eWallets, basically just to avoid the bank seeing direct transactions with poker sites (any other reasons?).

Is this still the case, or have players been having success with bank wires, EFT's, or any other methods?

For anyone who ended up in Calgary, Enmax (electric/water) was very helpful and printed out basically a blank bill with my name and address on it that I used for bank ID. Telus (phone/internet) was very unhelpful.

Scotia snap rejected me because they need one ID to be Canadian ID (again this is in Calgary). Alternatively they would accept a current account holder vouching for me in person. Had no problems getting an account at BOM.

for anyone dealing with scotia bank, did you tell them about poker?

I've heard mixed things about scotia bank being very conservative and anti gambling.

I know the answer is in this massive thread somewhere, but if I have a lease to show Pokerstars is a utility bill a must? I planning on subletting and paying renter directly for utilities.

Also, is HSBC my best banking option?

HSBC closed all my accounts after transferring about 110K from MoneyBookers to them and then wiring it back to the US. I told them the truth about what I was doing.

That said, they allow you to wire money internationally online which many banks don't (none do in Canada), have low currency exchange fees, and allow you to setup accounts with them in other countries without physically being there. I think it's still worth opening because of all the benefits but I wouldn't mention poker at any point, say you're an equities trader or something. I also wouldn't open an Advance or Premier account, those seem to attract more attention. Good luck.

It's hard to know for sure but based on what I've been reading in this thread Pokerstars will not let me play if I go to Canada and open a bank account-> fund the poker account from that bank account->move to brazil and play->cash out to Canadian bank account?

If I only use Moneybookers for cashouts/deposits can I avoid this problem? Thanks.

no.

No.

For cashing out, you will have to either have a friend in Canada log in and do that for you or "cashout" in person via a xfer with someone in Brazil. Or I guess just get your account changed over to your Brazil address.

This is still being debated by Poker Stars and there has not been an official word. All they're saying at this point is that if you try to withdraw in a different country, you will be subject to additional security measures and it's not clear whether it will be allowed.

See a few posts above for PokerStars response. Also I emailed a VIP Manager about this.

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but I would recommend going to a Money Mart and getting a prepaid Visa card. This is what we did after realizing our Interac debit cards wouldn't allow us to deposit to Moneybookers.

The prepaid Visa cards actually allow you to deposit directly to sites and allow you to do up to 10k at a time. There are a lot of Money Marts conveniently located around downtown. You can also use the card to deposit to MB.

You can also withdraw to this card and then withdraw at a Money Mart or at an ATM, even in the US.

I signed up for a Visa prepaid card which is in CAD. There is also a prepaid Mastercard available which is in USD. The cards cost $15/mo only if you have a balance on them. There is also a $7.50/mo plan which costs .50c per transaction.

I got charged another $15ish for just putting the money onto stars. And if you call and check your balance over the phone, boom, another charge. Anything you do regarding that card is a charge.

Yeah. Please post ITT or PM me once you know the official answer to this.

Yeah I'm starting to realize its not as great as I thought. 3% fee on all international xfers.

Anyone know what's the quickest way to get a utility bill in your name?

I'm only going to be in Vancouver for a week or so and want to unlock my PokerStars account while I'm there.

If your IP address hops countries (even if all IP's are non-US), you are likely going to have a lot of splain' to do to stars security. Perhaps they won't care that a friend did the cashing out, but I wouldn't want to test them.

very true. I noticed this from MB as well:

"All Moneybookers transactions are subject to high security and audit checks. Your current IP address (xxx.xxx.xx.xxx) has been stored and may be used in any investigation resulting from misuse of this account."

So with MB as well, I wouldn't want to show up (IP wise) in different parts of the world within minutes.

I just got back from Montreal. I went up just to set up a lease and a bank account for now. I had been planning to go up on Monday but couldn't leave until Thursday and foolishly thought I could get a lease, bank account and certified documents all done in a day and a half. I figured that if I had to, I could still get stuff done on Saturday since TD is open and tends to have great hours.

Border Crossing:
Border crossing was no big deal. I didn't plan to lie, but I also didn't volunteer my plans to get a lease and bank account. I just told them that I planned to stay at Casino of Montreal and that I'm a professional poker player. I didn't have a car full of stuff, so they let me through. I'll only be staying in Canada for 1-2 week stretches, so I'll probably never need to have a car full of stuff.

Coming back was no big deal either. I told them I got a bank account and a lease for the purposes of playing online poker. He asked a bunch of follow up questions regarding why I needed to do that, but overall it was 5-10 min.

Bank account:
I got denied at 2 different TD's. I was told that it's at the manager's discretion. The second TD would have let me open an account, but it was after 5 pm on a Friday and the manger is typically only there 9-5 mon-fri. So, if you go to TD, go during standard bank hours.

I assume everyone has been getting non-resident accounts at all banks because they can't provide Canadian issued ID? Interestingly one TD said I could get a resident status account without Canadian ID if I could get an existing TD member, who is in good standing, to vouch for me. Good standing = +6 month old account or using at least 2 TD services. I didn't think much about it at the time, but it implies that TD is willing to grant resident status accounts. Perhaps, once non-resident accounts get to be 6 months old, they might be willing to let you upgrade?

I ended up getting a non-resident personal account at BMO with no issue. BMO rep was great, he plays some online poker and he feels there should be no issue with gambling transactions happening on the account. I'm not putting a lot of faith in that statement, but it was good to hear.

If I had to do it over again, I would make an appointment at the bank and make sure they are aware that I can't provide Canadian ID and need a non-resident account. If you are driving, you should look up the branches that are close to the border. They will be more likely to have dealt with US citizens.

Housing:
I found an apartment on craigslist that was listed by a rental agent. I didn't know what to expect of a rental agent, but he turned out to be very helpful. We talked a lot about poker (he's currently sweating a small roll on FTP). He's currently trying to think of ways that he can facilitate players that choose to live in Montreal. Should be interesting to see what he comes up with. He made things a lot easier, I would definitely recommend him. PM me if you want his email.

I'm not sure if this is standard in all of Canada or if it's just a Quebec thing, but apparently you need to inform your landlord 2 months before your lease expires to terminate it, otherwise the lease automatically renews and you could be on the hook for another 6 months.

i did not mention poker at all.