Several years ago, the idea of a poker player using Bitcoin to get a chip to play poker online was merely a fantasy. In 2023 however, it is now a reality for a player to place bets to beat the odds with digital token-based currencies at several poker sites on a desktop PC, laptop, or mobile app.
Alongside other digital cryptocurrencies that can be used as payment methods, Bitcoin makes things convenient for players and poker rooms because it enables speedy transactions with relative anonymity, high security, and low fees. This is especially useful for playing online poker in a range of restrictive markets across countries such as America, Australia and Canada because they otherwise would have to wait a long time for payouts to arrive and sometimes have to pay substantial surcharges on any cash withdrawals. And, for a winning player, there are plentiful ways to spend Bitcoin once it's been won.
We've compiled a short and sweet list of the top poker sites accepting bitcoin and other digital tokens that serve U.S. players, other offshore customers, and poker players looking for tournament play or to place a bet on the turn of a card at the cash tables in every country of the world: You'll find reviews of these Bitcoin poker sites throughout the ProfessionalRakeback site that will confirm their reputation.
✓ USA, AUS | x No CAN
Withdrawals – min: $10 | max: $9,500 | speed: 1 day
Deposits – min: $10 | max: $5,000
Ignition poker is the largest real money site in the USA and AUS markets for cash games, and its popularity and reputation as one of the leading crypto poker sites will probably grow even further now that it supports various types of cryptocurrencies that include Bitcoin, BCH, BSV, LTC, and ETH.
✓ USA, CAN, DE, Worldwide | No AUS
Withdrawals – min: $20 | max: $100,000 | speed: 2 days
Deposits – min: $20 | max: $500,000
The Betonline and SB Poker platforms on the Chico Poker Network are heavy supporters of digital currencies, as evidenced by their decision to transact in Litecoin and other cryptos besides Bitcoin.
✓ USA | No AUS, No CAN
Withdrawals – min: $10 | max: $9,500 | speed: 1 day
Deposits – min: $10 | max: $5,000
Bovada is a wonderful place for BTC poker, casino games, and various forms of sports betting, including esports, horse racing, basketball, and football or any other form of sport or sporting events. There's a separate set of welcome bonuses and complementary promotions for each type of real-money gaming on the Bovada platform, with many interesting website features.
Bitcoin isn't the only digital coin on the list of accepted cryptocurrencies, and alternative currencies such as Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Satoshi Vision, Litecoin, and Ethereum are available.
✓ CAN, LATAM | No AUS, No USA
Withdrawals – min: $10 | max: $9,500 | speed: 1 day
Deposits – min: $10 | max: $5,000
Bodog.eu is the Canadian arm of the Bodog betting powerhouse and is ideal for Canadians looking for some action with a bankroll of poker chips. Its bitcoin gambling services include a poker room, casino, and sportsbook. Indeed, in addition to the reputation of its poker room, bettors also rate Bodog highly in the list of crypto bookmakers.
✓ USA, CAN, DE, Worldwide | No AUS
Withdrawals – min: $100 | max: $2,500 | speed: 2 days
Deposits – min: $25 | max: $2,500
The limits applied to using a digital currency at EveryGame are a tad bit restrictive for high-rollers looking for a jackpot win while playing poker. Still, they should be fine for most players looking to play for cash prizes on a few tables now and again. Everygame offers an exhaustive selection of gambling games alongside a fully-fledged sportsbook. Indeed, it's highly revered as a bookmaker and generally recognized as one of the leading online gambling websites.
✓ USA, CAN, UK, DE, Worldwide | No AUS
Withdrawals – min: $50 | max: $25,000 | speed: 1-2 days
Deposits – min: $10 | max: $25,000
All three of these sites use the software of the Winning Poker Network, which is THE place to go for competitive tournament events if you’re in the United States. WPN supports a staggering number of 69 different crypto options in addition to BTC that you can use in any electronic funds transfer.
✓ USA, AUS, CAN, UK, DE, Worldwide
Withdrawals – min: $5 | max: $25,000 | speed: a couple of hours
Deposits – min: None | max: None
Poker games at CoinPoker use the USDT coin, but you can deposit and withdraw via Bitcoin, with the conversions to and from Tether taking place automatically at the cashier.
✓ USA, AUS, CAN, UK, DE, Worldwide
Withdrawals – min: 0.0005 BTC | max: Not Stated | speed: less than 12 hours
Deposits – min: 0.00000001 BTC | max: Not Stated
SwCPoker is the latest evolution of the old Seals with Clubs, which first introduced Bitcoin to the poker ecosystem. Unlike the previous sites, this one banks exclusively in BTC, and tables are denominated in μBTC (one SwC poker chip is equal to 0.000001 bitcoin).
✓ USA, AUS, CAN, UK, DE, Worldwide
Withdrawals – min: 0.001 BTC | max: None | speed: less than 12 hours
Deposits – min: None | max: None
Nitrobetting Sports (formerly Nitrogen) is probably the most well-known Bitcoin sportsbook around. They added poker to their portfolio way back in 2014. Each poker chip used in betting equals 1/1,000 of a bitcoin, and BTC is the only valid currency accepted.
✓ USA, AUS, CAN, UK, DE, Worldwide
Withdrawals – min: $100 | max: $2,500 | speed: 2 days
Deposits – min: $25 | max: $1,000
Juicy Stakes is a partner site of EveryGame, but it lacks a sportsbook and some of the other gaming options that EveryGame has.
Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital form of cyberspace payment that does not depend upon a central clearinghouse or authority to police transactions. Instead, a peer-to-peer network of users maintains nodes that process and verify transactions across the World Wide Web, writing confirmations to the blockchain, which is a public ledger of all transactions. This process offers a highly advanced form of Secure electronic transaction (SET).
Bitcoin was the first secure communication payment solution to deploy this combination of technologies to achieve its purpose and became the first cryptocurrency. There have since been countless imitators and offshoots of BTC based on similar technology, like Litecoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash. However, the original crypto, Bitcoin, remains the most popular with investors and the most valuable by total market capitalization.
Peer-to-peer computing means you can now use most coins and crypto tokens to pay for a range of products and online services in near total privacy. Since their inception and the recent explosion of the blockchain-based virtual currency industry, they've been beneficial for use as a stake in all forms of online gambling, including playing online poker.
Understanding crypto platforms and blockchains can be complex for beginners. Once involved, you may find you're quickly joining the realms of brokers by trading coins to increase your crypto investments. Indeed, trades are a great way of increasing your digital assets.
But if you want to play and have yet to begin your Bitcoin gambling adventures, then don’t worry – we’ll show you detailed information on how to appreciate cryptocurrency-based banking fully and acquire your first bitcoins. Consult our thorough Bitcoin guide to learn how to purchase coins, send them to wallets, make your deposits at online poker rooms and casinos, and complete payments to any other merchants in service industries that accept this form of financial transaction.
Sites and players wouldn't just decide to switch to Bitcoin en masse for no reason, so it logically follows that there are compelling advantages to transacting in this new medium. Among the benefits of BTC in a persuasive list of pros are:
Bitcoin poker rooms offer the easiest online poker games because they attract crypto-currency users with little to no poker experience. These crypto-enthusiasts often have lots of disposable crypto due to the perpetual rise in crypto-currency value since its inception in 2009.
These people who have enjoyed the rapid appreciation in the price of crypto-currency tend to be very inexperienced poker players. Said players lack fundamental strategic knowledge of the games and often don't know how or when to bluff, raise, fold, or go all-in effectively. You might even find that some players are so inexperienced they don't know the difference between a queen and a heart, spade, or diamond!
Don't forget, too, that there are poker variants that fall under the banner of casino card games. So, you'd also be able to play variants like Caribbean Stud and 3-card poker at a Bitcoin casino as opposed to a dedicated cryptocurrency poker site.
Though we're big proponents of Bitcoin poker, not just for card games but for all manner of other financial endeavors as well, we must concede that there are still a few issues with using it as a currency for everyday transactions. Among the limited cons and disadvantages of Bitcoin are the following:
With regard to the list of bullet point drawbacks mentioned above, we feel it appropriate to mention that in the 2020s, many of these issues have been mitigated. For example, better technology and smoother user interfaces have drastically reduced the learning curve to transacting with Bitcoin. Another example is that almost all modern crypto wallets have safety features built into them now that do not allow funds to be sent to non-existent and incorrect addresses, and as such, a typo will not result in lost coins. Lastly, sending to the wrong address is virtually impossible with the use of modern QR codes and smart devices.
If you're in the market for a Bitcoin poker site, then you're probably interested in playing Texas Hold'em games – specifically, No Limit Texas Hold'em. After all, NL Hold'em is the most popular poker format.
We're pleased to report that all the crypto poker sites described on this page support Bitcoin Texas Hold'em poker in No Limit form, playable on desktop sites or an Android or iOS phone via a mobile app. These games include the traditional trifecta of cash tables, sit n' goes, and multi-table tournaments. At some sites, different game varieties are spread, like lottery-style contests, where the prize pool is determined by random factors, and fast-fold poker, which lets you fold your hand and move immediately to play the deck at a new table with fresh cards and a chance to see pocket aces.
Of course, other poker variants beckon if you want to expand your horizons. In addition to Bitcoin NL Texas Hold'em, many of these sites also spread Pot Limit Omaha and Limit Hold'em. If you're a fan of Seven Card Stud or 6+ Hold'em, your options are more limited, but you will still find some games online. Even HORSE, Open Face Chinese, and other obscure games have Bitcoin poker options available.
Some online gaming sites will not only permit you to transact in Bitcoin but will actually give you special bonuses for doing so. Because Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are faster and cheaper to process than traditional deposit methods such as Visa or Mastercard, these bitcoin bonus offers are often quite superior to their standard offerings for non-BTC deposits.
Often times these superior crypto bonus offers manifest in the form of larger-sized bonuses, greater percentage matches for a given deposit amount, and faster rates of bonus clearance. In the list below are five examples of poker sites providing higher value Bitcoin bonuses than those offered for traditional fiat deposits:
After you've made some winnings at your crypto poker site, you'll probably be wondering how to withdraw them and if the process will go smoothly. Fortunately, if you've already successfully bought Bitcoin and deposited it to your online poker room, you already have most of what you need to make a cashout.
Follow these steps to get your money:
Then you need only wait for your bitcoins to arrive. The most extended portion of this procedure will probably be waiting for your account verification to be completed, but this is a one-time deal you only need to do before your first payout. Subsequent withdrawals will skip the identity certification step.
Most of the time, it will take only a day or two from the moment you request a withdrawal before your BTC are in your wallet. From there, you can deposit them at another site, send bitcoins to your exchange and sell them, or hold them in your crypto wallet.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It's critical that you use an intermediary wallet in between your exchange and gaming site. Sending or receiving funds directly between an exchange and an internet poker room could allow the exchange to determine that your coins were used for what they consider to be prohibited gambling activities. Should this occur, you might be banned from the exchange. Please take a look at the relevant sections of our FAQ below for additional info about this.
If you have any questions about funding your poker account and receiving your winnings through Bitcoin, then look through our FAQ below. We've collected common questions and answers about this subject below for your enlightenment.
At mainstream poker rooms, the coins you deposit are converted into U.S. dollars before being credited to your account. This is because the games are denominated in dollars rather than bitcoins. The exceptions are Nitrogen and SwCPoker, which keeps your funds as bitcoins and spread games that are listed in fractions of a bitcoin.
Once you make a deposit and your money is converted into dollars, it will remain the same amount in dollars regardless of any fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin. The exceptions are again SwCPoker, and Nitrogen Sports because they hold your balance in BTC form.
When your withdrawal request is processed, the USD amount of the payout is exchanged, at a fair conversion rate, for bitcoins, and these BTC are sent to the wallet address you specified. Note that the exchange rate used is calculated when the site sends your coins, not when you make the request. This spares you from some of the volatility involved in transacting with crypto-currency because of the short interval between when the poker room submits the transaction and when it is confirmed.
However, at Nitrogen Sports Poker and SWC Poker, there is no conversion to and from fiat currency because these sites do all their business in bitcoins, including the actual gameplay and all cashier functions.
Yes, at most major internet poker destinations, crypto-currency users are still subject to the same Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks that apply to those players employing legacy forms of payment. You'll probably have to send in a photo ID, and proof of residence before an offshore poker site will send you your winnings. There are exceptions, most notably SwCPoker, which takes pride in its “no dox” policy.
We strongly urge you to avoid sending your bitcoins directly from an exchange to a gaming operator. This is especially true for residents of the United States.
These organizations must comply with regulations in the jurisdictions they trade in, and quite a few prohibit online gambling. Although there's a chance you'll get away with it, helped by the relative anonymity of BTC, there are sophisticated tools available for exchanges to delve through the blockchain history and determine that the funds you sent are for gambling purposes.
To be safe, always move your money to an intermediate wallet first before depositing it at a gaming site. We highly recommend the blockchain.com wallet because it is free and allows you to exercise control over your private keys.
It's inadvisable to direct your winnings from your online poker site of choice to your exchange account, particularly if you're a resident of the United States. The exchange likely contains language in its terms and conditions prohibiting its services from being used in connection with gambling products.
While most Bitcoin transactions are sufficiently hard to trace that there's no “smoking gun” to tip off whoever is watching, clever investigation of the addresses that a coin has passed through before ending up at the exchange can sometimes reveal the type of merchants that have accepted it. It's best to stay on the safe side by using a third-party wallet, like the one provided by blockchain.com, as an intermediary between all money movements from a gaming company and an exchange.
Those who send their money to a gaming site directly from an exchange or to an exchange directly from a gaming site are playing with fire if their home jurisdiction frowns upon internet wagering. We've heard countless reports of customers who've had their exchange accounts frozen or closed because of this.
In most cases, the affected users get their money sent to them upon account closure, but this process may take some time and is not guaranteed. For the best results, always move your poker money to or from a wallet in the middle before commingling it with funds in your exchange balance.
There are a wide variety of wallets for Bitcoin in existence. The best one for you will depend upon your personal situation, the computer you're using (desktop or mobile, for example, Windows vs. Mac vs. Linux, et cetera), whether you wish to control your own keys, and a variety of other factors. While we cannot recommend one definitively above all others, we have composed a page describing the best Bitcoin wallets for poker and gambling, which you can read for further insight into this topic.
Many different digital coins are accepted by sites offering internet card games. Some of these forms of crypto money are popular (although not as widespread as Bitcoin), while a handful of online gaming sites only support others. If you'd like to know more about two of the most commonly accepted coins for online poker, check out our Ethereum gambling guide and our page covering the best Bitcoin Cash gaming sites.
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