What is AMC? If you refer to Americas Cardroom, they aren't as soft with many multi tabling rakeback grinders.

yes was referring to ACR but had american movie classics on the mind. Anyway i'm looking for a site that
1. allows Americans
2 supports HM2
3. has quick payouts 2 weeks or less
4 has soft games at least at the 10nl and below level

There aren't as many choices left. Recent reports indicate that the withdrawals via Bitcoin have improved on Carbon, but you will only be able to play there if you have an existing account, new sign ups are not possible. Then there is Ignition (who took over Bovada's poker activities?), WPN (with their flagship skins ACR and BCP) and Intertops / Juicy Stakes. However, the traffic for Intertops is rather low, while their payouts have always been reliable.

I'd rather stay away from Chico, they have been very unreliable.

I do have a carbon accountant. Guess I need to learn how this bitcoin thing works. Quick question if I deposit via bitcoin and the value of bitcoin Falla will it affect how much money's in my account ?

2nd edit
Just read that carbon may be closing soon

Chico has been very unreliable since when? They've had a great track record over the last ~2 years under new management. You're talking about the OLD Chico network.

And what is this I hear about "Ignition" taking over Bovada's activities? Bovada previously wasn't accepting new accounts from NY players. Has this changed?

Looks like "Ignition" won't be accepting ALL US players (as it's advertising it will on other sites). I went to go set up an account on their website just now and as soon as I put in New York, it told me that they are not currently accepting players from my state. Ridiculous.

A Bing and Google search supports what you just read. Guess I better withdraw the rest of my bankroll while these bitcoin withdrawals are taking 2 weeks or less right now. Thanks for the info.

Umm, where did you read that carbon may be closing soon?

Goodsaint please tell me you're being sarcastic.

Just in case it wasn't already obvious, he added an emoticon to make it pretty clear.

grumpy64 posted that silliness over 3 days ago and hasn't bothered to clarify since - stop panicking.

Guess I need to brush up on my emoticons.

Just put your pointer on the emoticon.

Hi All,

I’m pretty new to the online poker scene and was hoping you could help me pick a website to begin playing on.

Here are some things to consider when making a recommendation:

• I’ve played a little bit of online poker 10 or so years ago on Party Poker so I’m a little familiar with how some online poker works, but that was pretty casual play.
• I would like to play somewhere that has a low risk of running into problems (being shut down, money being locked up, cheaters, etc.)
• I will probably only play something like a max of 5 hours a week
• I would be playing to earn a little extra income, but nothing serious (would be happy with $50 or $100 / month)
• I would do a first deposit of somewhere around $200-400 I would guess.
• I am thinking of only depositing this money once and just see how things go. There’s a chance that I might later down the road put in a small amount per month, but not now.
• I’m fine with withdrawing only once a month.
• I would like to play mostly with casual players and not hardcore pros. Translation: I would like to have a good chance to at least win some $...
• I live in Colorado

Some questions

• Q: How worried should I be about cheating or online aids? I’m just thinking about a couple of situations. 1) Collusion between two players who know each other. 2) Do people use software tools to help them make decisions (such as quick odds or screen reading software that analyzes the board/your hand etc.)?
• Q: Is there a benefit to playing US-only players or International? I just wonder if international players has an increased risk of the things I’m worried about above.
• Q: I’ve heard some websites allow a player to be anonymous. Something with certain places not keeping track of stats and profiles. Is this something really helpful?
• Q: Should one consider using a prepaid Visa card for deposit over a debit/credit card?

Please let me know what you think I should try and if you can also why you think so.

Thanks everyone!

Given all your concerns and questions above, there probably won't be any suitable site right now that fulfills all of your requirements. You will have to find a compromise and adjust your risk / reward expectations, but as a rule of thumb I'd only deposit what you can afford to lose.

Just want to say thanks for this thread, has been a massive help!

i havent played online poker since Black Friday. previously i had been on Bodog and FTP and briefly UB. being in Kentucky i see that the original post lists Bovada, Chico, Grand, Equity, and WPN as sites I can play on. First I decided to read about each of them to see what hurdles there were for payouts. After Black Friday i knew payouts were the only real issue I needed to re-educate myself.

Since i don't use bitcoins i realize my options are limited. So far I havent found any of them to be currently worth joining for payout reasons. They all have issues except for Grand and Chico which I didnt see any payout threads dedicated too. Im fine with 3 days to a week for non-bitcoin payouts but the limits seem really controlled and unwieldy for regular participation.

I guess I can go back to live casinos (with some great info on the ones near me, thank 2+2!) unless Grand/Chico are more reliably safe or have less problems. Please direct me to any threads about their payouts if they exist. (I saw the one on Chico's software issues. not much payout talk that i saw.) I'm new here and havent fully scouted this site.

Thanks for any advice, i'll keep reading but i wish that online poker was easier for US residents.

Well, I play regularly on WSOP.com here in NV and when I got back in town Thursday I noticed that all the 9 handed NL games are gone unless you are playing 0.25c or less. Anyone have any other options or suggestions? Im not looking to play 6 handed all the time because WSOP is trying to increase rake and hands per hour. I called customer service this morning and they said it was a management decision and they do not anticipate the tables coming back.

Ideas folks? Or am I stuck playing live now if I want full ring cash games?

What about a site to just put in a little bit (say $50), just to get some live practice? I imagine botters would still be present and such which would be lame, but Which site would you recommend? Would it be safe to use a bank account, or should I just use a cash card for deposit (are they even accepted?)?

Ignition. Use bitcoin.

If you want tougher games try ACR or Betonline.

I'm having a hard time understanding if people can legally play online in the US for money, and what is involved. I personally don't play yet, so I don't know, but I would like to play. I'm confused because I hear conflicting information that it is fully legal in most states, or that it is not legal at all, or as someone told me last night, that you can, but can't withdraw money because they are international sites. It's confusing...please help!

Is it legal to play online for money in the US?
What about in Colorado?
Is it legal to deposit and withdraw money?
If it is legal, are there any restrictions or stipulations?
If it is legal, are you required to use a bank account or can you use something like a cash card?
What else is something to know?

Thanks! And a side question if it is legal, what would be a good website to play on? Say putting in $50 just to get some live practice and maybe cash out rarely if even at all. Hopefully a website that doesn't have a huge number of botters to get practice with mostly real people. And that I wouldn't have a risk of randomly losing money off an account due to a shady website. Thanks!

Yes
Yes
No
N/A
N/A

Ignition poker

Banks take risk by making financial transactions with the poker sites. As of right now there are no penalties for players, though. There are politicians in the USA that would like laws to be passed that would issue penalties to players by making it a felony to play online poker on unregulated sites, but as of right now there is very little risk for the player. Other than possibly losing funds if the website were shut down by the government. However, there is little risk of that happening because that only happens if the website itself refuses to pay the players after being shut down and there is no indication that the current American facing sites would behave this way. As they've proven to be very trustworthy up to this point.

Bitcoin is pretty much becoming the standard for American players now. So, I recommend heading to those threads and following the step by step guides on setting up Bitcoin wallets. It's very easy and makes financial transactions with poker sites in the USA very seamless and smooth.

FYP, as I assume he means from the players' perspective. It's against the UIGEA for the sites and financial institutions to transact for online poker, but not for the players AFAIK.

This thread that I've merged yours into has all the answers you seek regarding this question.

Why is my question regarding pre-paid VISA cards "N/A"? It seems to be a very valid question. Or is this because they would be a US bank institution (and therefor not legal)?. If I'm not planning on withdrawing any time in the foreseeable future, using a cash card would seem to make a lot of sense, unless I'm missing something.

Hey all. I'm having a really hard time figuring out how I would go about playing on Ignition. I'm interested in this site since this seems to be the one to go with (with me being a US person). I really just want to just put in like $50 or so to play poker against real people. I don't think I'd be looking to make any money and withdraw (at least if I did it would be way down the road), mostly just get some practice. Is there a legal way to get money into Ignition? Can I use a VISA cash card or some other method that I don't need to deposit using a bank account (which as I understand it is illegal since it is a US financial institution)? Or is a VISA card a US financial institution? Is bitcoin a US financial institution?

Also, I've read on here that the site requires you to use a SSN. Is this true?

Basically, could someone please tell me how I would be able to legally deposit money into Ignition, without intending on withdrawing. And do so giving the least amount of personal information (SSN, photo, etc) possible?

Thanks!