What is Crypto Poker & 5 Tips to Avoid Crypto Scams

Content Index

• What is Crypto Poker?
• What is Cryptocurrency?
• Crypto Poker Pros & Cons
• Is Crypto Poker Legal?
• Can you play Poker with Crypto?
• Is Bitcoin Poker illegal?
• How does Bitcoin Poker work?
• Where can I play online poker with Bitcoins?
• Is Gambling with Bitcoin safe?
• 5 Tips to Avoid Crypto Scams
• Best Bitcoin & Crypto Poker Sites
• Anonymous Bitcoin Poker Sites

What is Crypto Poker

In 2022, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash, have become a popular and widely adopted payment method for online gambling in general, including sports betting, online casino games, and poker.

Crypto poker is a term for playing poker using Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies. In some cases, the site converts your crypto to USD or some other currency, while others offer poker games where players bet directly with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

There are some advantages and disadvantages of using Crypto instead of fiat currencies for gambling purposes. We have prepared a quick summary so you can consider if this is the best choice for you.

What is cryptocurrency?

If you are a crypto enthusiast, you can skip this one.

In simple words, a cryptocurrency is a digital asset that has monetary value and is protected by cryptography (the technology of protecting information). It can be stored and exchanged without relying on third parties such as banks, governments, and credit card operators.

For online poker players, it's a new deposit and withdrawal option with many benefits, but also a few drawbacks to consider.

Playing online poker with cryptocurrencies: pros and cons

Numerous poker sites nowadays accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Here are some of the pros and cons to consider before you start playing on a Crypto/Bitcoin poker site.

Bitcoin Poker vs Credit cards Pros:

Faster and cheaper deposits and withdrawals: deposits are processed nearly instantly, usually with no or fewer fees, from anywhere in the world. Compared to the usual credit card fees and delays, that's a huge improvement! Withdrawals follow the same logic, although subject to the approval of the poker room, and it is usually completed within 1-3 days with little or no fees as well.

Privacy and financial autonomy: the whole point of crypto is to be decentralized and private. Some crypto & bitcoin poker rooms offer complete anonymity, others still require KYC (know your customer, personal identification), but if set up properly a Bitcoin wallet is anonymous and impossible to freeze or confiscate, while regular credit card payments must go through your bank account and subject to credit card companies & Central banks' approval.

Access to Bitcoin poker sites, often avoiding restrictive laws and regulations: while many poker rooms are restricted to only certain countries and subject to local regulations, many other crypto poker real money rooms accept players from anywhere in the world and allow you to avoid all this bureaucracy. Plus, on a Bitcoin poker site, you will often find crypto enthusiasts that are often full of money, and recreational poker players, who just want to use their crypto to play poker online! Many of them appear in our best poker sites for beginners article.

Cons:

Having to learn a new technology: although not terribly difficult, it will take you some time to set up your wallet, create an exchange account and find the best Crypto & Bitcoin poker sites. Thankfully, we have already prepared a helpful guide for you, see our recommendations below under "Best Bitcoin Poker Sites".

Volatility: Sometimes it works in your favor, sometimes against you. It's not rare for the price of a cryptocurrency to go up or down by 10% in a day! If you wait a few days or weeks to convert your crypto into fiat currency (USD, Euro...) the price can swing in that time.

Haters and FUD: an acronym for "fear, uncertainty, and doubt", the term reflects the presence of active propaganda against bitcoin, especially promoted by big centralized financial institutions and traditional media, who can sense that Bitcoin is starting a financial revolution and has the potential to make banks obsolete.

Is Crypto Poker legal?

There are plenty of crypto poker sites where you can play legally using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Although there is no specific legislation regarding Bitcoin & crypto poker vs online gambling, mind that other local laws and regulations for online gambling still apply in most cases.

Although it's better to consult the specific law of your country, thousands of people play online poker and casino games using cryptocurrencies every day, often anonymously, without any legal repercussions.

Bitcoin and crypto are often unregulated, meaning there are no specific laws forbidding them, and in all but the craziest legal systems citizens have the right to do anything that isn't forbidden by law.

You also have to check if/which online poker sites are legal in your country. Contact us if you need help with that.

Can you play poker with Crypto?

Yes, you can play in many online rooms using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (such as Ethereum, Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash...). You just have to find crypto poker sites that offer these as an option for deposit and withdrawal methods - check our list of Best Bitcoin Poker Sites.

On a crypto poker site, you can play poker tournaments (such as Crypto Poker Open) and cash games, sometimes sport betting and online casino games as well, without any problems.

Poker rooms that offer this option have even grown in popularity and it seems to be here to stay.

Is Bitcoin poker illegal?

No, it is not illegal. There are many Bitcoin poker sites that are legal, licensed and offer the option of playing poker games with Bitcoin. However, they might have to comply with other laws and regulations regarding online poker in general, such as KYC (know your customer) policies.

However, there are a few exceptions. The following countries have outright banned Bitcoin, so if you live in one of them you have to be careful.

These are Bolivia, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, Oman, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Bangladesh.

How does Bitcoin Poker work?

Some crypto & Bitcoin poker sites accept cryptocurrencies as a deposit method, convert it to fiat currency USD (for example), and when you request a withdrawal in crypto it is converted back. Other sites have Bitcoin poker games, where players bet using Bitcoin & Crypto directly.

After that, you can send your cryptos to a private wallet or to an exchange if you want to convert them into fiat currencies. Using an exchange you can also buy Bitcoin to use in online poker rooms or convert crypto into other cryptos, such as Ethereum, DogeCoin, and Bitcoin Cash.

Where can I play online poker with Bitcoins?

You can play Bitcoin poker games on any online poker site that has it as a deposit and withdrawal option. A few good examples are Black Chip Poker, Bodog, GSGPoker, Tiger Gaming, SwC Poker, and Blockchain Poker.

1. Set up your Crypto/Bitcoin wallet and buy some,
2. Create an account in the desired poker room,
3. Send Bitcoin/Crypto to the poker room,
4. You are ready to play Bitcoin poker box games!

Contact us on Skype, Telegram, WhatsApp, or via e-mail to get our personalized assistance, as well as an exclusive Rakeback deal.

Is Gambling with Bitcoin safe?

Yes, Bitcoin is a reliable payment method for online poker and gambling and thousands of people use it every day. Transactions using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are faster and cheaper than regular bank account transfers: that's why many reputable online poker sites accept Bitcoin and Crypto payments.

To avoid any Bitcoin & crypto scams and frauds, follow our five simple tips.

5 Simple Tips to Avoid Crypto & Bitcoin Scams

Protecting your hard-earned Bitcoin poker winnings is as crucial as winning them. Thankfully, it's an easy task if you have some simple tips in mind.

The number one tip is to protect your private keys: never give them to anyone, security staff will never ask for them. Never write your seed anywhere on your computer or phone, including e-mail, messenger, and print screen. Write it down and keep it for your eyes only.

Private keys are a group of randomly generated characters that are meant to sign your crypto transactions. Since Bitcoin & Crypto are meant to be anonymous, the private key is the only way to prove that you are, in fact, the owner of said wallet.

A seed is a group of 12 to 24 common English words from which the private keys can be calculated. You should write it down offline (on a piece of paper, for example) and store it somewhere safe.

When most crypto users think about security and risks, they think about hackers and things like that. Although significant and present in the crypto world, the most vulnerable point in security is often the human element.

Since this is a relatively new technology, many users and poker players fall for cheap tricks such as someone claiming to be from the support staff of the online poker room or crypto exchange account and asking for your private keys, seed, or remote access to your computer. Never do that.

Once someone has your seed or private key, or obtain them through remote access to your computer, mobile phone, or device where your Crypto/Bitcoin wallet is installed, they have access to all your funds and will probably transfer them to their own wallet immediately.

At that point, your funds will be gone forever, since Bitcoin transactions are irreversible.

This leads us to tip number two.

#2 Always Double-check the destination before sending a transaction

Crypto & Bitcoin transactions are irreversible - once it leaves your Bitcoin wallet and it is sent to a third party, it can't be stopped.

There are numerous scams, mostly using QR Codes, that change the destination address of a transaction, and once you realize it could be already too late.

Always double-check the bitcoin wallet address of the destination is indeed the one you meant (from the Online poker site to your private Crypto wallet, for example), comparing at least 3 characters at the end of the address to see if they match the intended destination before you press "send".

#3 Beware of Investment Scams

Investing in crypto is as simple as "buy bitcoin/crypto and sell it back later for a profit". You do not (and should not) have to give anyone control of your assets to do so.

While there are legitimate businesses for Crypto investment, many of them are preparing to pull an Exit Scam (Tip Number 4). Also, this is a whole other game: some treat the crypto market as another form of online casino.

Unless you're willing to put in the time to learn how to "play" in this market (time that could be spent studying or playing poker games), we would generally recommend you to stay away from it.

The following are nearly always sign that the investment website or company is a scam:

Pushing you to constantly bring in new people to the investment: a trademark of the Ponzi scheme.
Promises of returns way above the market or without risk: The crypto industry is highly volatile and such promises are simply not realistic.
Promises of fixed return for your investment: Again, totally unrealistic. There have been cases of companies that make such promises and even pay for a while - before pulling an Exit Scam.
And what is the Crypto Exit Scam?

#4 Beware of the Cryptocurrency Exit Scam

A cryptocurrency exit scam is when a crypto poker site, exchange, or currency, usually a brand-new ambitious project, profits from investors by simply running away with all of their money.

Because of the anonymity offered by Crypto, it's very hard to find the scammers and even harder to legally process them: they are probably already in another country by that time and most jurisdictions in the world won't even know what to do. Victims of a Cryptocurrency exit scam will probably never see their money back.

This type of scam was more common in the early days of Crypto, but people still fall for it. Many crypto exchanges claimed to be victims of hackers, but it is difficult to be sure of what really happened. Even Binance, currently the most famous crypto exchange in the world, has been hacked before (but in this case they covered all losses).

To avoid this, first: never leave significant sums of crypto on an exchange account, or for a long period of time. Either convert it to fiat and withdraw it to your bank account or send it to a private crypto wallet if you intend to hold it. Even better if it's a cold (offline) wallet, hot wallets can also do the trick.

Second, beware of promising new projects and do business only with exchanges and gambling sites that have built and established a reputation.

That brings us to our final tip:

#5 Play on a reputable Crypto/Bitcoin Poker Site

This one is a no-brainer. Before doing business with any institution such as poker sites or crypto exchanges, you have to check their reputation first.

Thankfully, we have a number of suggestions that might help you. These are the best bitcoin poker sites according to the players that work with us and our own research. If anything shady is noted in any of the online poker rooms in our offer, it is removed as soon as possible.

Best Bitcoin and Crypto poker sites

Some of the best Bitcoin Poker Sites are GGPoker, Americas Cardroom, Bodog Poker, Tiger Gaming, including all of their skins (Black Chip Poker, Natural8, etc). For anonymous Bitcoin Poker Sites, we recommend SwC Poker and Blockchain Poker - they accept players from anywhere in the world.

Except for the last two, which are detailed in the following "Anonymous Bitcoin Poker Sites" section, the other rooms are part of big poker networks and they all require some form of customer identification. Some of them are also on our list of best online poker sites in general.

Being part of a network is advantageous because they share a player pool between different skin, so it's more likely to find people to play your favorite poker game with, from popular variants such as Texas hold'em to other rarer poker games such as Seven Card Stud, because of the higher traffic. They often offer alternative betting options, such as online casinos and sports betting.

On the negative side, they can connect your identity to your wallet address and have the possibility to report your activity to the bank and governments, however, they have no reason to do so unless you are involved in cheating, fraud, or violating anti-money laundering policies.

While most of them only accept Bitcoin, some also accept Ethereum, Monero, Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, USDT, and a few others. Each of them has pros and cons such as being tied to the USD, lower fees, improved anonymity, etc.

We have another article about the best crypto poker sites in 2022 and detailed reviews for every poker room mentioned, so check them out if you're interested. There, we also cover some basics such as how to set up a Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency wallet address, different cryptocurrencies, and how to exchange it for fiat currency.

Anonymous Bitcoin Poker Sites

While most Bitcoin poker rooms require identification from the player, there are Bitcoin poker sites for playing poker online anonymously using Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, such as SwC Poker and Blockchain Poker, that have anonymous account registration.

In these two poker sites, you can play poker cash games and multi-table tournaments with bets directly in Satoshis (Bitcoin fractions), create an account, play and withdraw your Crypto without any personal identification whatsoever or have to deal with fiat currency. This is the best option if you wish to remain completely anonymous.

Another benefit of these poker sites is that they don't enforce any geographical restrictions, such as only accepting players from a certain country, since crypto is largely unregulated. Anonymity also makes it harder, if not outright impossible, for legal authorities to prosecute them.

Last but not least, the main advantage is the big number of recreational players, many without any poker experience, finding regular grinders and professional poker players here is usually a rare occurrence. What you mostly find is crypto enthusiasts who wish to use their crypto directly and try out some sort of online gambling.

The negative side is that these less popular poker sites have lower traffic. If you play outside peak hours, high stakes, and/or uncommon poker game variants, it might be hard for you to find a table.

Contact us for assistance with the registration process in any of the poker rooms we mentioned and a lucrative Rakeback deal.