Western Union

Western Union has been one of the most well-known ways to send money from place to place for decades. It’s a great option for persons looking to make deposits into poker site account without the use of a credit or debit card. It’s also a good choice for poker players looking to make large deposits, which is very convenient for the mid-stakes grinder trying to max out bonus offers.The company’s actually been in business for more than a century. Sometimes, when we think of the history of poker, we imagine the gold rush days, with cowboys in the old west playing poker in some smoky bar. Well, Western Union was there, sending cash to loved ones via wire, telegraphs to family that was afar, and other cool things like that.With all of the changes in online gambling legislation all over the world that has companies that process poker related financial transactions opening and disappearing at the drop of a hat, a company like Western Union really lends peace of mind to online poker deposits.

Depositing to Poker Sites with Western Union.

In this example, we’ll use Bodog Poker. We’ll try to keep our directions fairly generic however, so that they’ll work for any online poker site deposit. The process is pretty similar at every site, but none the less, it’s a bit different on every network.The first step in making a poker site deposit is of course to have or obtain a poker account. If you haven’t already done so, download the Bodog Poker software. Then follow the installation instructions to get it all set up on your computer.After you’ve installed Bodog Poker, you’ll need to register a new player account, assuming that you don’t already have one. Next, check your email for the Lock Poker verification code.

Initiating a Western Union Poker Deposit

Once you’ve gotten your account all set up at the poker site, you’ll need to contact Lock Poker’s customer service department for their Western Union deposit details. This will consist of their business name, and business city, as well as their company code, or account number.Each poker site has a different minimum and maximum deposit amount for each payment method, so there are some pieces of information you’ll want to find before you head off to the Western Union vendor in your area. In addition to minimum and maximum acceptable deposit amounts at Lock, you’ll want to check out the most current Lock Poker bonus offers.For instance, as I write this Bodog’s offer a 200% 1st deposit bonus to every new player on the site up to a maximum bonus of $1000.00. If you had a pretty liquid bankroll at your disposal you could deposit $1000.00, claim and clear the $1000.00 bonus, and have a Lock bankroll (account balance) of $2000.00.You could also roll a lot smaller, make the minimum deposit, still claim the 100%, and work your way to this boss bankroll.With that information in hand, you’re ready to head to Western Union. This can be done either virtually, by phone, or in person. Ah the wonders of technology!A list of Western Union stores is available at www.westernunion.com. If you decide to visit a store in person, you can simply hand cash to the clerk after filling out the handy money transfer form. Online, you’ll need a credit card to charge the deposit to. Sometimes, poker site deposits don’t work on the website, even from approved countries, at poker sites that accept Western Union. If that’s the case, the transaction is usually processed pretty hassle free over the telephone.After you’ve initiated your poker deposit, take extra care to keep track of your receipt until your deposit is credited to your poker site account.

Western Union – Not the 1st Choice

There are a few reasons that Western Union shouldn’t be your 1st choice when sending money to your online poker account, and a few reasons that you might want it to be a top choice when making withdrawals. If you’re tracking your ROI, and doing your best to keep transaction fees down, there are much better options. Western Union offers some of the worst prices available as far as poker deposits and withdrawals go. ClickandBuy is right there on that list of choices with excessive fees. However, we have dedicated an entire section of the site to poker site deposit method reviews, so be sure to check that out when you’re price shopping.Another fly in the ointment is that Western Union doesn’t process transactions for very many poker sites anymore, which makes using them as a viable deposit option pretty tricky.During the writing of this review, the staff here at Top Poker Sites decided to test Western Union at a poker site that still accepts residents of the US. We chose Bookmaker.com which is a prominent online bookie, as well as an online poker site.We first contacted bookmaker for deposit information, which was really easy to do being that they provide a 24 hour telephone number for customer assistance. Then we attempted the deposit on the Internet, to no avail. We called Western Union next and the transaction was processed. Then we called Bookmaker back with the transaction number and within minutes, we were playing poker. Other sites, Ladbrokes for instance state on their sites that Western Union deposits can take from 1-5 days to be credited.On the upside, Western Union is a phenomenal method of withdrawal at poker sites that process the transactions the day you request them.If you need to liquidate quickly, you can submit a request in the morning, and pick up your cash at night, which really is great.