The year saw many new online poker rooms starting to accept payments in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. We want to give you now our recommendations for the best Crypto poker sites.
Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency made for peer-to-peer transactions. These transactions can be carried out anonymously and from anywhere in the world. For international transactions, fees are much smaller than what banks and credit card companies charge and much faster as well. Best of all, you have control over your funds, they cannot be frozen or confiscated as bank accounts can, as long as you protect your password.
With time, other cryptocurrencies were developed improving on points such as more anonymity and lower fees. A Bitcoin poker site offers numerous advantages to the players.
Also, if you are interested in the overall top online poker sites, check our newest article on the subject.
Some benefits of playing in online poker sites that accept bitcoin and cryptocurrencies include:
Once you send a bitcoin payment, it's irreversible and the receiver is notified right away. Bitcoin Poker Sites can credit it to your balance right away and you can use it to play instantly. Withdrawals are not much different, once you request your bitcoin you can usually have it within 24 hours after your withdrawal is approved by the site.
Bitcoin Poker sites usually charge no fees for bitcoin deposits and withdrawals. However, the Bitcoin network itself has a small transaction fee. This can vary between $ 0.50 to 2 $, depending on the current Bitcoin price (the fee is paid in Bitcoin, so if the price is high a 0.0001 BTC fee can mean 1 $, 5 $ or more) and the amount of traffic in the bitcoin network, but this an average price to complete a transaction in a few hours, usually from one day to the next. You can, for example, send 1000 $ worth of Bitcoin and pay 1 $ fee (only 0,1%) to have it with you in less than a day. If you really need the transaction to be completed faster, you can increase the fee. The website https://mempool.space/ gives you an idea of how much you have to pay and how long you have to wait, but it's almost always much cheaper than a credit card payment or bank transfer.
You don't have to give any personal information to create a bitcoin wallet and there is no association between your person and your wallet address. You can and should generate a new address every time you receive a transaction - in fact, most bitcoin poker sites require you to. This way you and the poker room can avoid most legal issues and regulations.
We suggest 2 methods: method 1 is if you are not interested in holding Bitcoin for a long time and want to quickly exchange it for fiat currency. It is also the one to go if you are interested in other cryptocurrencies as well.
Method 2 is for those who are interested in holding Bitcoin for a long time and/or using it for peer-to-peer transactions. It only works for Bitcoin, not other cryptocurrencies.
Open a Binance account for free and they will hold your coins for you. They are the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. With Binance you can also quickly turn your Cryptocurrencies into fiat currency (Dollars, Euros, etc), which is explained in more detail in the following section.
Have a Bitcoin Wallet and exclusive control over it / your private keys.
There are many different types of Bitcoin wallets, but we suggest downloading the mobile app Blue Wallet for being free, safe, and easy to get started. There's Android and iOS version. We recommend looking for the official website because there are scams involving fake/clone apps in the Store.
Simply download and open the app, click to add a wallet, and then Bitcoin. After that, you will see your seed, which is like a password: a sequence of 12 English words that can be used to back up your wallet if you lose your phone, delete the app, or anything similar. Note them in a physical piece of paper (never take screenshots as a hacker could possibly see into your gallery and steal them) and keep it safe. Remember to set a PIN code for your phone and another one for the app in case it's lost or stolen, then use the backup words (seed) to restore your wallet to a different device and move your funds to a different address right away.
If you accumulate a significant amount of Bitcoin (0,1 BTC or more) you can invest in a hardware wallet, which is a specific hardware device that stays offline most of the time and therefore is safer than those connected to the internet. A hardware cost around $ 200.
There is much more to be studied about improving your security with Bitcoin, but it would be beyond the scope of this guide, which is meant for bitcoin newbies that are interested in playing poker games, not holding Bitcoin forever. If you are interested in holding Bitcoin you can find more information in trusted sources such as https://bitcoin.org/
If you used Method 1 above, you can just use Binance for it, it's quick and simple. Binance connects buyers and sellers and sends your fiat currency balance to your bank account. However, there are commissions and fees that stay with Binance.
If you used Method 2, you can still open a free Binance account and move to it the funds you wish to trade for fiat currency, then exchange it.
But you can also trade directly with another person that wants to buy Bitcoin from you and give you fiat currency in exchange. This is called a P2P (peer-to-peer) transaction. It is anonymous and often more profitable (no commissions for the exchange website), but it requires some level of trust in the other party, therefore it works best among friends and people you know well.
You can also look for P2P traders online, be sure to always check their reputation as you would with any online business. A P2P trader would usually rather keep his reputation intact than scam a client for a few bucks, but be careful if you want to exchange a big value all at once - it might be better to divide it into a few smaller values, in that case. Also, beware of KYC - know your customer - policies: if a P2P trader starts asking for personal information from you, you might rather just open a Binance account.
Some other cryptocurrencies that are accepted on many Bitcoin poker sites include:
The second most popular cryptocurrency, it has a lot of enthusiasts and uses such as smart contracts, which makes the price go up. It has good acceptance and liquidity in crypto exchanges. Sending Ethereum is also usually much faster than sending Bitcoin.
Another popular cryptocurrency, Cardano uses a proof-of-stake protocol instead of proof-of-work as Bitcoin, which is considered by many a more efficient way of spending energy and computational power. Therefore, its value has been increasing as more investors are attracted by this premise and this gives Cardano high liquidity and potential as an investment.
This cryptocurrency has a heavy emphasis on privacy: Bitcoin transactions are public, everyone can know how much was sent from a Wallet A to B, the anonymity is the wallets themselves (there is no connection between a wallet and a person's identity, geographical location, etc). In Monero however the transactions themselves are private as well, so this is a plus for those seeking to increase their anonymity. The downside is that it makes the network less auditable and therefore more vulnerable than Bitcoin in the long run, but it's been working well so far and this shouldn't be an issue if you just want to quickly withdrawal your cryptocurrency balance from poker sites and then exchange it for fiat currency. It is therefore the most recommended crypto for anonymity.
Tether is what is known as a stable coin. According to its parent company, Tether is backed by US dollars, meaning you can always exchange 1 USDT for 1 USD. This can be a good choice for people that want to avoid the high volatility of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
It's a fork from Bitcoin, made in 2017 when part of the Bitcoin community increased the size of the Bitcoin blocks to make the transactions faster. This new version is called Bitcoin Cash and they claim for themselves the name "Bitcoin", but the market value of this currency is much lower, so pay attention to avoid any confusion or scams: BTC stands for Bitcoin and BCH for Bitcoin Cash.
This cryptocurrency also started as a Bitcoin fork and a meme, but its value skyrocketed after Elon Musk started promoting it as a joke. It's risky, but it can increase its value in the future if it becomes more popular. Or not.
Here we offer you a list of the best Cryptocurrency & Bitcoin Poker Sites: online poker rooms that accept Bitcoin (and most of them, other cryptocurrencies as well). Remember that you can always contact us for a personal Rakeback deal and advice from our team of professional players.
Natural8 is one of the oldest and one of the most frequented GG Network's skins. GG Network is an Asian network that attracts a lot of amateurs from China and Korea, a great network giving exposure to very good and regular games for grinders. What's more, Natural8 offers one of the most lucrative VIP programs called Fish Buffet. It's worth mentioning that players who start their adventure with Natural8 can claim the first deposit bonus of up to 1000$. The room not only does it accept cryptocurrency, but you can get a big deposit bonus with bitcoin. It is also one of the best poker rooms overall with one of the biggest Rakeback, promotions, and tournament series. Despite its popularity, you can still often find here fish at lower stakes due to its massive player pool.
Americas Cardroom (ACR) is one of the skins of Winning Poker Network (WPN), together with PokerKing and Black Chip Poker. This is one of the few places where we can play poker against American players. The room is ideal for high-stakes cash and MTTs players and it also offers casino and betting. This is another one that offers a deposit bonus to cryptocurrency deposits - 200% (up to $ 1000)! They also have excellent tournaments such as The Venom, which won the record for the highest prize paid in cryptocurrency in an online poker tournament. This room has earned our recommendation for its popularity and is also one of the highest Rakeback.
Tiger Gaming is a part of the Chico Poker Network, where the majority of players come from America. Chico Poker Network, having also Sportsbetting Poker and BetOnline on board, is a new favorite among professionals: their network is significantly large, safe, reliable, and offers many deposit and withdrawal options. Every user signing up on Tigergaming will receive access to many promotions such as the first deposit bonus of 100% up to 1000$, loads of jackpots, freerolls, and leaderboards.
SwC Poker is the successor to Seals With Clubs, the first Bitcoin poker site, which was closed in 2015 due to government pressure. SwC Poker has recently returned with completely new software and name, so we can expect more and more activity and the emergence of weak players from the Bitcoin poker world.
A new poker room that appeared in 2021, in Blockchain Poker you play with Satoshi directly (100,000,000 satoshis = 1 Bitcoin), and every new player gets 100 sats to start. You can also use Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Satoshi Vision here. Traffic is still low at the moment but increasing every day.
If you are interested in one of those poker rooms, or you want to know more details, feel free to contact us. Together we will choose the most profitable poker option for you.
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