Gambling Payments

Gambling Payments – Deposits and Withdrawals

Gambling payments can be broken down into two main categories: deposits and withdrawals. The terms may seem a little formal at first, but they’re actually very simple concepts. To deposit means to add funds to your account, while a withdrawal essentially means to cash out money to your bank or digital wallet.

Players are free to deposit and withdraw funds as and when they like. If you’re keen to play real money casino games, you’ll need to add money to your account first so you’ve got something to bet with. 

However, it’s worth bearing in mind that many games can be played for free, and there are lots of reasons you might want to do so. Strategy-based games such as poker are often played without money involved as they’re arguably just as fun without it. More broadly, you might want to play free games to get to grips with a particular title, to cool off from gambling, or to try out a new site for the first time. 

Choosing the right time to withdraw is completely up to you. Some players like to steadily build up cash and use any winnings in their next session, while others prefer to cash out and start fresh each time. The most important thing is to only bet an amount you don’t mind losing. 

There may also be limits placed on minimum and maximum deposits and withdrawals depending on the banking method you choose — you’ll be able to find information about how much you can deposit or withdraw at a time with each payment service on a casino’s website.

Deposits and Withdrawals for Casino Payments

Many gambling sites offer both online casino and sports betting services, while others are either one or the other or keep them completely separate. Although it’s usually straightforward, the first thing to do is check you’re depositing to the right place. Additionally, if you’re adding funds to your account to play casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, and poker, there’ll be a minimum deposit that varies depending on the payment method and the site itself.

As well as just being able to play the games, many casino players add funds to their accounts in order to activate a deposit bonus. This is where the casino offers bonus credit or free spins for slots as an incentive to deposit and play. Again, there’ll be a minimum deposit here to unlock the bonus, which may be higher than the standard minimum deposit on the site.

If you’re withdrawing cash after playing with a deposit bonus, the main thing to be wary of is the wagering requirements. This pesky stipulation can limit your ability to withdraw cash you’ve gained from a bonus until you’ve wagered a certain amount of your own money — check out the relevant T&Cs to be on the safe side.

Deposits and Withdrawals for Sports Betting

On the sports betting side of things, deposits and withdrawals are just as straightforward. You can add or cash out funds whenever you like, but there’ll be minimum and maximum limits on each transaction. Once you’ve got some cash in your account, you can place bets on hundreds of sports markets, from football to UFC and everything in between.

Within the limits, how much you choose to deposit at one time is completely up to you. Some punters add funds each time they want to make a bet, while others might want to build up a stash that lasts a bit longer. Deposit bonuses do exist for sports betting as they do for casino games, but more commonly you’ll need to actually place a bet before picking up rewards like free bet tokens.

As for withdrawals, wagering requirements aren’t as common or as harsh in the realms of sports betting bonuses, but it’s still important to read the T&Cs beforehand.

Banking Payment Options

Now you’ve got a general idea of how gambling payments work and when you’ll need to make them, let’s have a closer look at some of the different services you can use. 

Terms and Conditions That Can Affect Payment

There are several terms and conditions that can affect gambling payments, so it’s good to be aware of them before laying down any of your own cash. Some stipulations are enforced by the casino, while others are inherent to particular payment methods.

Closed Loop System

Many gambling websites have rules in place regarding the number of different payment methods you can use at a time. This condition may have different names across different sites, but tends to work in a similar way.

At the popular betting site and casino Coral, for example, the Closed Loop system is in place to protect Coral and its users from card theft and fraud. Essentially, if you make deposits using two different payment methods, you’ll need to withdraw the same amount back to the first payment method before you can withdraw to the other.

Bonus Exclusions

As we’ve touched on previously, many deposit bonuses can only be activated by adding funds from a debit card. As a result, you’ll often see a note in the terms and conditions of an offer saying that e-wallets such as Skrill, Neteller, and PayPal are excluded. 

These exclusions are to prevent customers from claiming one-time welcome offers multiple times, and due to additional admin and potential fees incurred on the casino’s part with certain payment methods. 

Withdrawals Unavailable

Some payment methods simply don’t offer withdrawals, or withdrawals aren’t supported by the casino for a particular service. Prepaid cards and pay by phone bill services such as Boku are examples of deposit methods that can’t usually be used to withdraw funds.

For some punters, this renders these payment methods somewhat useless — if you have to add an alternate payment method to your account to make withdrawals anyway, surely this removes any of the convenience of using them to deposit? However, many players still find it useful to add funds quickly and securely to their account using one of these services, particularly if they don’t plan on withdrawing too frequently.

When Gambling Becomes a Problem

In any discussion of casino payments, it’s crucial to discuss the importance of responsible gambling. The bottom line is you should only ever bet what you can afford to lose, while gambling itself should only ever be an activity to have fun and shouldn’t be seen as a way to make money.

If you or someone you know is showing signs of a gambling problem, there are multiple charities and organisations that can help.

• GamCare – GamCare provides information, advice, and support to anyone affected by problem gambling. It offers face-to-face counselling and also operates the National Gambling Helpline, which is free to call 24 hours a day.
• Gamban – Gamban offers a self-exclusion service where you can block access to gambling apps and websites on all your devices for a set period of time.
• Begambleaware.org – Begambleaware offers tips and advice regarding responsible gambling, and also runs a 24/7 helpline and live chat service where you can get one-to-one confidential support.
• GAMSTOP – GAMSTOP is another self-exclusion service — it’s available to all UK residents and will block access to gambling for 6 months, 1 year, or 5 years.