When I first started playing poker, I did so on FT because I didn't want to deposit and I thought there'd be a better chance of cashing in their freerolls. I cashed once and built a tiny roll, but a friend advised me to switch to Stars. When I tried to withdraw my meager roll, it was a really annoying process and I never actually got the money, I ended up just trading it to another player for an equivalent amount on Stars.

I want to make a small withdrawal now from Stars, kinda just to make sure I can, but I figured I'd come here first before I get involved with that irritating situation again (hopefully not).

Can I withdraw without having ever deposited a cent? When I do withdraw, do they just send a check to my mailing address? Am I going to have to send them pictures of me holding my ID and crap?

Also, on a related note, is it possible (having never deposited) to withdraw $600 of my roll then re-deposit it for the first deposit bonus?

Thanks.

Edit: I'm an American player by the way.

i don't believe you can withdraw if you've never deposited. i changed banks last year, and stars had me make a $10 deposit before i could pull out $600. its their way of making sure the player requesting the withdrawal and the bank account/credit card match up.

on the related note, possibly. i know that you cannot withdraw and redeposit and get the reload bonuses. i would shoot stars support an email addressing both of your questions.

Are you an American player too? Because I'm pretty sure we can't actually cash out directly to our bank accounts over here...

Or perhaps I misunderstood you and they're just doing that for an identity check?

i am american. and yes, you can withdraw via echeck. it works better if you have a small bank/credit union, as opposed to bank of america/big corporate banks.

If I remember correctly, when I built my bankroll from freerolls, I was told I'd have to deposit in order to withdraw. It was just a security thing, I took it right back out again as part of my withdrawal.

Yes, I'm an American player, I never had to send them any ID or anything. I think they only do that for identity checks in certain situations. I think I've only had them ever do direct deposit (via echeck), which is what I used for my deposit-to-withdraw.

I've also had checks sent to me from Full Tilt, and Absolute, but that was a few years ago. I've never had any problems with my bank.