I will be going to Canada for 3 months soon to play on Stars. A few questions:

1. Can I open a Canadian account in US dollars and deposit onto Stars to avoid currency exchange fees?
2. Any tips for avoiding as many exchange fees as possible?
3. Can I keep money on Stars if I plan to return to the US for a couple months, then leave the country again? (I obv wouldn't play from the US)
4. What is the most money I can get onto Stars in the first week I am there? (wondering if I should arrange a transfer or not)

Bonus question: Any recommendations on the best cell phone to get for 3 months? Ideally something high quality that will also help me get back onto Stars.

Thanks for any help!

I can help with a couple of those.

2. Make sure your MB account is in US$ if you plan on withdrawing that way. Use a US credit card up there for expenses that doesn't charge a conversion fee. I used a Capital One Venture card and there are no fees, most other cards charge. If you do have to exchange money, use an online currency exchange service like Canadian Forex where the exchange rate is around 1%. Also TD Canada offers a borderless account where you can exchange for about 1.5% or less.

3. Yes, just don't login or there's a possibility they'll change your country of residence back.

Bonus Question: Not sure about a cell phone but you can get a Rogers wireless internet card. It's obviously worth having a backup to whatever internet service you use anyway - my home service went out for over a week while I was up there.

Anybody?

I have now deposited two checks into my US checking account written from my Canadian bank account at TD. The largest one was for $5,500 and took 10 days to be debited from my Canadian account from the day that I deposited into my US account. I haven't heard anything about "collections" from my US bank. Anyone know what exactly "collections" means?

-Carlos

anyone know about wire transfers? will i have the same problem wiring a larger amount from a US bank as i would writing a check?

I'm pretty happy with my prepaid wireless phone through Virgin, got the cheapest flip phone for $60 and loaded a $15 credit on the card.

Kylefrey, Assuming that you are asking about problems wiring money form a US bank account to a Canadian bank account, wire transfers should be received in about 1-2 business days by your Canadian bank account.

-Carlos

If you want to wire more than 50,000 USD to Stars they will ask for proof that your funds were legally obtained. I assume that that process might take more than a week, so I would say that the maximum deposit in your first week would be $50K.

-Carlos

Thanks! I am not sure I have time to get a Capital One Venture card sine I am leaving Sunday. I guess I'll just have to get owned with fees.

I am pretty confused about how to set up a backup connection on a laptop. I had never owned one until this week lol.

Cool. Do you know if this qualifies as a utility bill with Stars? I am staying in one of those furnished, everything paid apartment/hotel hybrid things so I am worried that they may not accept my rental contract, in which case a utility bill would help.

Thanks Carlos! I am only looking to deposit 20-30k at first. I was under the impression that getting this much on with Stars' usual deposit options would be difficult, but it sounds like it should be fine.

Ty to everyone in this thread! I look forward to getting back onto Stars so I can help out here a bit instead of just asking lots of questions

Wow, it's one of the best investments you can make. If you get disconnected on your primary connection, you can reconnect in a matter of seconds.

The backup connection I use is a wireless card or AirCard that plugs into an empty USB port on your laptop. I used Rogers, I am sure there are others. You just plug it in, click on "Connect to Internet" and you're connected. Generally the speeds are slower than a wired connection but still fast enough to play poker and a lot faster than say dial-up. The cards themselves usually run in the $100-$200 range and then there's a monthly fee of 40 to 50 bucks. If it saves you from one disconnect a month, it's probably more than paid for itself.

One other thing regarding the Rogers card: I moved back to the US and called to cancel the service and they said the cancellation date is effective 30 days from when you want to cancel. So basically I have to pay another month without having any use for it so make sure you call a month in advance to cancel if you do get one and are returning to the US.

Cool, tyvm. That helps me tremendously. I just bought my first laptop ever last week for my Canada move, so I am pretty incompetent with it lol.

I live in Canada and had been doing business in the US for many years. I have bank accounts in both countries. Here are a few tips for making banking between the two counties easier.

1- Wire transfers are superior to checks when transferring money between the two countries. Checks take about 3-4 weeks on average to clear. The bank will not clear the funds until they actually receive the funds into their account.

2- Most small US banks do not accept foreign checks even if they are in US dollars. Double check with your bank. I have had two different banks in the US tell me they take Canadian checks if they are in US dollars. In-fact they did not. Its a nightmare when this happens. The check gets rejected after 4 weeks of waiting and you have to start over with with a new check at a different bank. Do not just ask a teller. Ask a manager.

Every Canadian bank I have ever dealt with accepts US checks from US banks. They just put the 3-4 week hold on them.

3- The only way I have gotten around this hold. I have a deal with Royal Bank of Canada. I have my house mortgage through them. Because they have collateral, they will wave the holding period on any check from a US bank if it meets these conditions. I have cleared at least 1 prior check from the writer of the US check and this same account previously. If they change bank accounts I have to wait until the 1st check clears again. Also, I am on the hook for the money if a check does not clear.

So if you want the ability to cash a $50,000 check without a holding period. You likely need to purchase a $50,000 investment through the bank. They will then wave the hold on $50,000.

does anyone have the moneybookers phone number that can be reached from the USA/canada. I think it was a 1800 number and was posted pages ago in this thread. thanks.

Anybody have any luck getting rid of moneybookers limits? Right now I'm at like 10k ish per 90 days, but thats not really cutting it. I'm going to do a bank verification next which will buy me another 10k, but I'd like to have them removed completely. Is this possible?

Thanks,
Andrew

A few weeks after I opened my account I sent vip@monetbookers.com a scan of my bank statement and a scan of my passport for ID and address verification. That increased my limits to about $9K. 3 weeks later after doing about 5K worth of transfers I received an email that I had been accepted as a Moneybookers VIP. I had signed up to Moneybookers through a link from my rakeback affiliate which had a promotional offer where you could get Moneybookers VIP after only 2,000 Euros worth of transactions, instead of what I believe is their usually 5,000 Euro limit. Upon receiving this notification I emailed them again and asked for them to raise my limits again and they did, to $28,000, without requiring any additional verification.

I believe that Piranha and a few other people have listed in this thread a few month ago how they got their limits raised. It seems to be slightly different for each person. I would send and email to vip@moneybookers.com or call their number and just ask what specific requirements they would have for you.

Regards,
Carlos

If you can't find it you can try calling their UK number via Skype or Gmail calling. for pretty cheap.

-Carlos

Did you move back permanently or are you going to be going back and forth? I hope it is the later because your input in this thread has been great!

-Carlos

Thanks Carlos, you've had a lot of informative posts as well and have been a great help. I'm back in the US until the New Year. I'm headed to the PCA and hoping to be able to stay there and play while withdrawing to the CAD bank accounts but it's not clear whether they'll allow this. If not, I'll likely be in Canada at some point early in the year, probably making multiple trips back and forth for short amounts of time. I'd really prefer the former though, traveling to different tournaments and staying at the locales for a month or so playing online.

you can stay in the bahamas and play. i have been living on paradise island right next to the atlantis for the last 4 months and was also easy to get a bank account

all i needed was passport lease and bank reference letter from US bank

I'm pretty sure the Poker Stars Steve said, in the Supernova Elite pursuit thread, that if you are originally a US player who has relocated to Canada, that if you wish to travel to another country and play while there that you have to get a bank account in that new country and go through the whole security verification process again:-( This was a few months back that I was reading it, I'm not sure if there have been any updates.

-Carlos

almost positive they clarified this and said you only have to go through the verification process again if you plan on cashing out while you are in another country other than the one your bank account is in (cant remember if they let you cash out to your original bank account, or if you need to open up another one in the country you are now in). I think though, as far as just playing, you can do so w/o verification (would be the same as someone going on vacation)

There's a lot of confusion surrounding this and for good reason. Based on a few security support responses that were posted in threads, you can play in other countries but withdrawing "may be subject to further security verification".

I have asked a VIP rep about this and also have seen some of Steve's responses and they have said it's still being debated and worked on internally. This was a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if anything's changed, I was planning on asking again in a month or so.

I'm not sure if this has been answered - but has anyone found a bank in canada that they can wire money on the phone?

My acct was with RBC and they told me that its impossible for me to wire without physically being at the branch. Got the same response from TD.

At BMO you can sign a form that waives the requirement of physically being in the branch to wire. I had no problems asking my banker to print and let me sign this form so that I could wire over the phone. But my buddy was told by his BMO banker that she "wasn't comfortable with him enough" to let him sign it.

I called them up a while back and asked for VIP status. They said they couldn't do it yet, but they did raise my limits to the equivalent of 30,000 Euros for 3 months, and said if I transacted a certain amount in that time, I'd subsequently be given VIP status. I'd done all of the listed verifications but one (the bank account verification was my CAD account, so I entered the wrong amount in USD).

It seemed like if you just explain you're a professional poker player who's looking to move a lot of money between websites and bank accounts via moneybookers, you should get a limit increase of some proportion.