I had my bitpay account and bitpay card abruptly closed for using it for online poker purposes. Global poker included among other sites. I used to cash out GP -> Paypal -> Bitpay.

I suspect due to the timing that it may have been flagged and closed for using the bitpay visa card to deposit funds to ACR. Still closed for using the bitpay service for online poker.

I appreciate the warning ksidrew! I won't be using it for anything related to online poker going forward.

I suspect it was because of the deposit too. Good to know.

I cashout using Bitcoin from BetOnline to my Bitpay address and no issues. Should I be worried? Only been cashing out like this the last 2 weeks almost everyday. I don't know enough about BTC, are they able to trace BTC like that? Should I send it to another wallet first and then to my Bitpay?

This company couldn't manage normal payment methods. I can only imagine how they'd butcher up crypto.

Yes imandrew, it is always a good idea to use an intermediate wallet for this sort of thing.

I've been in this business for a long time. Went pro in 2003. I've talked to thousands of players in that time.

What I can tell you with certainty is this...

Every type of document you can imagine can, and is, faked. I've had people approach us with services to do this for our players and get them onto sites they shouldn't be on. We declined, but there certainly are companies and players out there who take advantage.

The only real way to combat this stuff that I know of is the approach Stars takes in the extreme... forced videos/webcam audits mixed with data-mining the player's physical tendencies when playing and doing comparative analysis.

Unfortunately, no other room goes to these lengths (likely due to lack of funding, staff, expertise, motivation, etc) to suss out "cheaters".

You should always use an intermediary wallet. Get a hardware wallet, or use blockchain.info or something easy like that where you own your private keys. Just pop the funds in and out, cost you less than a dollar, a couple minutes of your time, and typically only a couple hours or less of extra waiting time.

It's cheap insurance.

--
Kahn

I vote against crypto as well.

Not just to "build a wall" against foreign players

But also as a bad marketing issue. If recreationals see "cypto accepted" they might start making assumptions about the business, how they will get paid, how shady the company is, "people in the dark web" and all of crazy ideas.

Just because you understand what crypto is, doesn't mean recreationals do.

I personally know about and understand crypto EXCLUSIVELY because I play poker and have had to use it. I was apprehensive about it before understanding it. I am a very avid player.

The average dude who wants to throw on $300 to have a good gamble is more like to shy away from anything that has crypto attached to its name. It is not part of the "recreational 2.0" model

Well then, you deserve to pat YOURSELF on YOUR back.
Thanks for the little chuckle ya gave me, I really lol'd.

agreed
no crypto please

Hah, I see how that came off. I mean "I as a reg player"
Alot of us in the 2+2 online poker niche crowd tend to have a wider understanding of crypto because it affects us. We sometimes assume that because we know or understand something that everyone must know and understand a topic

Poker players love to project "Oh you play that garbage hand"
same logic, because you know how to play it doesn't mean Billy Joe does

I think that is quite a farfetched assumption. I doubt most recreational players would even care as long as they still had another option that they're more familiar with to get money on and off. They just want a place to play that seems legit/fair, where it's easy to get started and easy to get money on and off.

If Global started with a crypto option alongside the advertised Paypal option I doubt it would've made that much of a difference with regards to the amount of recreational players that initially deposited. Sweepstakes loophole/Facebook marketing/Paypal transactions were the perfect recipe for their early success in getting players to deposit. I can't see how a crypto option would have changed it that much.