I know of somebody who either in late 2010 or early 2011 went to a border town, was honest and said the account was for poker. The teller noted it and they received a call from the bank a few days later saying the account would be closed if online poker transactions were used. That's not to say they shouldn't be able to use Moneybookers, but yea this is serious folks. This was RBC I believe.

weird rbc did a huge investigation on my accounts i guess they were scared of money loundering or terrorism , i told them all the money came from poker they said ok prove it. i sent them a bunch of HH and transfer and they said ok just dont use your us currency account for poker transfers

Don, is this true of ACH transfers as well? I have U.S. Dollar Acct at TDn and was looking to avoid being dinged the conversion fee everytime i withdraw.

ACH is a US based system primarily. A number of Canadian payment clearing organizations were looking last year at becoming a more regular part of it but as it stands right now it is not widely implemented in Canada so I would assume payments would detour through the States but will try and look into it.

Also, I've had confirmation that RBC recently questioned account holders over direct wire transfers -- likely due to having a large US affiliate -- and advised them their accounts could be closed. Better to stick to one of the other big four at this point I would say and use an ewallet for the added layer of protection.

So the transactions via Ewallet themselves don't generally cause red flags then? (Moneybookers, etc)

thanks for the insight..

Hey so, just opened an account at the bank of Triple Draw in Canada.
Was pretty easy. Couple pointers:

-Dress nicely and be polite/nice. Seems like a detail but I think it makes a huge difference, given how much of the bank's procedures is left to employee interpretation in the real world.

-I mentioned the whole American CC fees thing. Joke around and say you've been here a few days and realized your US bank is charging you fees for everything from ATM's to transactions, etc...and that you just need an account for personal expenses while you're in the country.

-You need two ID's but I didn't even need a Canadian address; just said I was in a temporary place and would be moving somewhere else soon for the rest of the summer and the girl said no problem, give me your US address and update it whenever, doesn't really matter...

-Didn't mention poker, said I was here to visit and chill for the summer, that my parents have money (they'll ask for your source of income) and that I basically don't work.
(If you think they'll question why you're trying to save money on fees if your parents have money...trust me, rich people didn't get rich by not saving on everything they could)

Good luck all. Just don't look like a bum nor act like one and you'll be fine.

thanks for sharing, but again, this is not really a closed book yet. many of us see opening the bank account as the EASY part. so far you have lied to them about the real nature of the account. the question is, what will happen when you start doing big poker transactions? will they allow it? will they shut your account down?

starting a relationship with a bank on a lie is NOT a good idea if it can be avoided. up until now, we haven't heard of many stories where people said it like it was and had success but either that, or a report back from you after you have done 100k+ in transfers would be useful

^

Well, haven't really lied. I never said I wasn't going to play poker. I can still be a rich kid who gambles online, etc...but I see your point.

I'm going to avoid making any crazy tran$fers for as long as possible anyway.
I still have a bunch saved on the side and I'm kind of hoping that the situation in the US will clear before I have to leave Canada in 6 months, because I'm not going to study full time at some University and I hear that getting a work vi$a is quite a hassle, although I've been wanting to start a business for some time now, so this could be the perfect opportunity.

Actually, if anyone has any idea of what the requirements are for what constitutes a legitimate business, please PM me.
Starting a poker-related business could be an option. Some kind of training site/affiliate site.
Doesn't have to be hugely successful, just enough of a legitimate business to allow us to get a vi$a.

Does anyone here know if there are any practical differences with using a domestic foreign bank account like a normal Canadian bank account and opening an 'offshore' account?

Obviously there are some significant differences, but what I am wondering is whether there are any relevant differences for poker players who just want to have a good bank to cash out to and will continue to pay taxes normally. Does reporting an 'offshore' account raise more flags than reporting a foreign domestic account in Canada?

Are there any things to be aware of or risks involved with either approach?

As far as I can tell, my main worry about a normal foreign domestic bank account is that they won't allow you to use it as a primary account for poker transactions.

My main concern with an 'offshore' account is that it could be less secure and could raise more flags.

Neither concern is based on specific facts so I am all ears to those who know better...

Was thinking the same thing, was reading somewhere that a Swiss bank account might be a good option, and I think* is available to open online. But I dunno about them allowing poker transactions knowing your a US citizen. Guess I'll have to call somewhere and ask, anyone looked into this deeper and found any good Offshore account options?

tried to open up an hsbc account today in the u.s. and they refused when i told them my occupation even though i insisted i wouldn't be using my u.s. account for any poker transactions. its a shame because w their premier accounts i could have easily gotten set up w a canadien account as well and the transfers between would have been great

Why would you do that? Especially when don't plan to use the account for poker transactions.

The only point in telling them would be to avoid bad surprises in the future if they decide to close your account or something, but if you're not even going to use it for poker transactions, you're just outing yourself for no good reason.

Poker players are going to be treated like criminals in the US until legislation is enacted.
Until then, don't even mention that you've ever heard the word poker.

Also, I'd avoid using US banks with branches in Canada. They will be a lot more wary of poker related transactions, even though technically you'd be in Canada and all, and you're much more likely to run into trouble in the future.

Just go with Canada-based banks, imo...

they asked my occupation. after i got denied i asked if i just said unemployed would i have been ok and he still said no because they need an answer for source of income. i was trying to deposit a sizeable amount fwiw. luckily he didn't actually put any of my info in the computer as far as i could tell so i might come up w a better plan and try a diff branch

i'd try again because i have heard people having luck with them. report back!

I'd also try "my parents have money, I'm a spoiled kid who's never worked a day in his life".

And I'd suggest not depositing a lot, or actually anything for that matter, on the actual day you open the account.
Get the account opened, then deposit in increments, maybe through an eWallet, etc...

If you just show up and say "here's 50k I want to open an account I'm a pro gambler", I think your chances of opening an account anywhere are extremely low.

EDIT: unemployed and "parents" as source of income is perfectly fine. If they keep giving you a hard time with this line, just say you're an investor, you invest online. You don't have to go into details. It's not really a lie, poker is investing at its finest. I doubt you'll get in trouble over the legal definition of investing.
It's not like you're d3fraudeeng the bank or anything; worst that can happen is that they tell you to take your money and gtfo.

Go with I invest money online, which is why I use an eWallet, which is where the money's coming from. They cannot force you to tell what you invest in, and neither will they.
But still, try to be cool with the tran$f3rs in the beginning. Process a bunch of smaller ones before you go crazy; or even better...don't ever go crazy.

too late for me to edit this but i am likely wrong.

I don't think people here quite realize how crappy this situation could be. If you don't get official residency (from an embassy or something which can take a long long time) it may be very very hard to actually open a bank account that will allow you to conduct your poker transfers.

It isn't that hard to open an account, but if you are using it for anything more than just standard "i'm a tourist who wants money here" you are at risk of having your account closed and transactions blocked.

HSBC is not going to take American customers unless you basically prove you're a resident somewhere else and can say you won't live in the US again for at least 5 years.

Does anyone else have any better news or success with a place they think will actually process big poker transactions?

That place doesn't exist in canada for Us visitors, end of story.

Yes. That isn't what I am asking. If you open a Canadian bank account for residence purposes, you can then open an international account for poker stuff and I am wondering if anyone has had success with any big foreign bank?

fwiw the last 3 times I flew into TO, I was sent to the immigration side where I had to answer more Q's about why I was coming back to Canada. Every single time I said I was visiting my GF @ ____ School and after a few more q's they'd let me through.

I stayed from Feb-Sept. and I wasn't ever warned by customs or anything about a 6mo visa rule.

I opened up a premier HSBC account the other day, and flat out told them what I did for a living. At first i said "Self-Employed," then they asked for more specific things so I said "poker player." They didn't care. The minimum balance required is $100k, and also I told them I was coming over from BoA, so maybe this helped. When i came in, a premier support person came up to me and we just got started, then another guy came in and talked to me about making a brokerage account. If you do want to get a premier account, just let them know you are serious about the minimum requirements.

They also asked me why i came to them, and told them specifically for the premier account, because i wanted to move to London for a year and setup a foreign account there.

I still have an important part of the process left. The part of HSBC premier banking that actually sets up the foreign account is different from the US part. So, in a few days I am going to call up their office and request a UK bank account. I'm fairly certain my occupation is listed as Poker Player, so it'll be interesting to see if they allow me the foreign account.

Im premier holder at HSBC, i think there is no problem if they ones let u become HSBC, as the requirements are similar , 74k€ in europe in a bank account.

Its also a fast thing, the UK bank will ask your US HSBC branch about your premier thing and they will give u instant Premier than, this may takes few days or a week.

I guess u have good chance to settle that up , good luck still

So you need 200K to get both accounts (HSBC US and another country?) What can you do with the money? Just CDs and the like?

No. You need 100k Combined. You could have 40k in one, 60k in other, or 100k in just one. I believe once you have the premier account you can transfer in between the two normally online, but they are actually separate accounts.

I only know one thing, that u need to fullfill the requirements at your first account, and if the requirements are the same in bot countries than its okay

example: in some countries a high income is okay to get premium account, but that doesnt full fill the requirements in other countries.

And as it looks like 100k in the US and 74k € in europe are the same requirement u only need to fullfill them in the US

BIG HEADS UP:

Im on the plane back from Canada after being denied entry!!!! I was arrested 11 years ago for misdeamor assault (got into a fight) and Canada is a no go. I was standing there kind of shell shocked. The custom guy was pretty cool tbh. He said anything to do with voolence regardless of when it happened is a snap rejection. Even a druken fight during your freahmen year in college. The only other type of auto rejection are DUIs.

What sucks even more????? Paying 1.7k for a ticket home or go to jail until my departure flight. I chose the first class ticket (no other tickets available to los angeles). 2 of my friends got thru customs and i have no clue if they know whats going on. Hopefully they aren't still waiting.