BetOnline Poker Review
First Impression
You have to sign-up at www.betonline.ag site – if you download their poker client initially and expect to have the ability to sign-up through it, then you will just get return to the website.
Once signing-up, you reach the BetOnline Poker lobby, which seems better than what I expected based on their site. I like the colours (white and red ) and the functionality. Whereas many poker sites have a pop up for the lobby, BetOnline Poker only has buttons in handy areas to filter the games. A huge room like PokerStars requires a more thorough filter function – that’s understandable – but BetOnline.ag does it exactly the right way to get a smaller online poker room. So far so great.
Software Graphics
As someone who likes to see companies pay attention to detail, I was frustrated after viewing BetOnline’s table graphics. How can a website where people play for real cash seem like what you seen in the screenshots on top of the page? Can you see the way the chips pile along with these cards onto the board? And how the bet virtually overlaps how big this pot? And how asymmetric everything looks?
You may not see it from the screenshots, but the chips are fuzzy also.
Therefore it was time to combine a match. Turns out, there’s a lot to improve from the animations and I disliked the sounds too. Depending on the looks and sounds, it might be difficult to realize how BetOnline may be among the most popular US poker websites, but they’re definitely top-3 substance.
I enjoyed that they have buttons for 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and complete pot bets in addition to a slider.
Deposits
You need to give them credit for having the most deposit choices and a few of the quickest withdrawal options among US sites. During these times, finding a US-eligible gaming site that excels in money transactions is harder than it might seem.
US visitors have three approaches to deposit money to BetOnline:
Credit, debit and gift cards.
The card deposit fee at BetOnline Poker is greater than at any US poker site – a hefty 6% – which is unfortunate considering card deposits are the easiest and fastest deposit methods for US poker players. In fact, the only other US poker area to charge anything at all for a credit card deposit is Bovada (4.9%).
MoneyGram??.
BetOnline Poker covers all MoneyGram?? deposit fees for deposits of $300 or more; differently there is a fee depending on the amount you deposit. Deposit limit is $300-$9,000 and it usually takes max. 60 minutes to get a deposit to go through after you have sent BetOnline the control number.
According to their cashier webpage, BetOnline has”one of the largest collections of deposit and payout choices in the market” (but only those mentioned previously are available for US customers). They also boast that every one these approaches are secure and dependable. Customers who need help making a deposit can always contact the site’s help desk or talk to a representative via live chat.
Here’s a list of the residue options available:
Visa via Person to Person
Visa
Mastercard
Person to Person
Money Orders
Skrill
Neteller
Book to Book
Bank Wire Transfer
Cheque
Diners Club
Discover
JCB
Visa Person to Person
Visa via Person to Person
Visa added person to person payments among their services in 2011. The support is like PayPal; it allows Visa card holders to forward payments to additional card holders. This option isn’t accessible to Mastercard holders, and it is restricted to sending funds by a Visa account to a different Visa account. You couldn’t send funds into someone’s bank account via this service.
If you have used PayPal or any other online wallet, you will be familiar with how to use this service. You do a move using their Visa card number instead of their PayPal address. If they have connected their email or phone number for their accounts for this purpose it is possible to use that info instead.
For gamblers in the US, this makes it much easier to finance their account. While most gaming sites accept payments via credit card, most credit card businesses decline any trade that’s coded for that use. A individual to person transfer does not require the same sort of consent, which makes your odds of getting your move through almost foolproof. In BetOnline, your minimal deposit using this method is $50, and your maximum deposit is $1000.
Visa
BetOnline also takes deposit with Visa as a normal credit card. The minimum deposit is $50 with this method, and the deposit is $1000. This includes the use of prepaid Visa cards. Acceptance rates vary, depending on what state you are playing from. In case you have trouble with your card declining, try using the Visa person to individual choice.
MasterCard
MasterCard works just like Visa; it’s just another credit card payment option. The same $50 minimum and $1000 maximum use. According to at least one site, MasterCard has a lower approval rate at online gambling websites than Visa. I have seen another source that states MasterCard has an acceptance rate of 70 percent as compared to 25% with Visa.
Person to Person
Person to Person transfers enable people to transfer money globally. Multiple providers with this support exist, and you are able to pick from a list from the cashier section of the site. BetOnline covers any applicable fees when you make a deposit of $300+. Like the other deposit options previously mentioned, a $50 minimum and a $1000 max use.
Money Orders
A great deal of places sell orders, including major retailers like Walmart. Other places selling money orders comprise gas stations and check cashing companies. To deposit through money order, you first have to purchase the money order, then you send it into the casino, preferably via FedEx or UPS. BetOnline credits your account whenever they get the money order.
They simply make this option available to players from the United States, and you have to contact the site prior to creating your deposit using this method. The minimum deposit by means of a money order is $300, and the maximum is $9000.
Skrill
Skrill is a UK firm that was called Moneybookers. Their business model focuses on enabling customers to earn affordable cash transfers internationally. If you deposit by sending cash through your Skrill account, you get credit immediately. This choice isn’t available to Canadian residents. The minimum deposit using Skrill is $10, but there is no maximum. This makes Skrill the deposit method of selection for the two low-rollers and high-rollers.
Neteller
Neteller is a similar ceremony to Skrill. Using Neteller to finance your account requires the input of your Account ID, Secure ID, and the amount that you need to move. Much like Skrill, the deposit is $10, and there’s not any maximum deposit sum.
Book to Book
If you have an account at an online sportsbook, you might be able to transfer funds from there to BetOnline. In fact, if you do so, BetOnline will cover the withdrawal fees. Not all sportsbooks participate in this program, though, so contact service to find out which ones take part in this system. Additionally, you cannot get a deposit bonus on any funds transferred this way. There is a minimum of $500 and no maximum if using this deposit method.
Cashouts
The next cashouts approaches are US-eligible:
Checks.
Check withdrawals take anywhere from 7-30 days depending on how much you’re willing to pay; to get a 7-day delivery, the cost is $50, and to get a 30-day shipping, the cost is $25.
MoneyGram??.
BetOnline Poker’s MoneyGram?? withdrawal charges are 10%-26%, it takes 36-48 hours to process the withdrawal and you’re able to withdraw $100-$800 at a time.
Compared to the amount of deposit options available, BetOnline has relatively few withdrawal methods, but that’s typical of many operators in the business. Obtaining a credit to your Visa or MasterCard isn’t that attractive a choice anyhow; most players would rather get their hands on real cash when possible. The next withdrawal methods are available:
Person to Person
Bank Wire Transfer
Cheque
Skrill
Neteller
Book to Book
Person to Person
Just as you can transfer cash from someone to another in order to fund an online gambling account, you also can get your winnings through Person to Person transfers, too. These usually take between 12 and 36 hours to process, and players are confined to making two trades each week through this method. The fee for a drawback of this sort varies from $26 to $101. The minimum withdrawal utilizing this method is $50 and the maximum is $790. The charges for this type of withdrawal create this an unwieldy solution at best, as you’re taking a look at a minimum of at least 10 percent of your winnings being lost to fees.
Bank Wire Transfer
Bank wire transfers can be found as a drawback method if you are withdrawing at least 500. There is a max of $15,000 per transaction. The fee for a bank wire transfer ranges from $45 to $75. When dealing with larger amounts of money, this is a modest enough transaction fee. However, these require a week to ten days to process, therefore this option is not as fast as the individual to Person transfer.
Cheque
You can Get a check to your withdrawal via some of the following approaches:
Mail
Courier
Express
Regardless of the method, the minimum withdrawal amount is $500, and the max is $2500. The fee for getting a check through normal mail is $25, and it takes up to 30 days to receive your funds. A check via courier is quicker (15 times ) but prices $35. The state option ensures that you’ll get your payment in 7 days, but this alternative entails a $50 processing fee. Whichever option you pick, BetOnline requires that you deposit your check into a bank account.
Skrill and Neteller
Withdrawals via Skrill or Neteller are managed in the same fashion. They require 36 hours to process, and you’re able to make a maximum of 3 withdrawals per week. You must always wait at least a day between withdrawals, tooe.g. . , if you withdraw $500 on Monday, you cannot make another withdrawal before Wednesday. The minimum withdrawal amount is $25, and the maximum total is $8000. They charge a $20 fee for a withdrawal via this method, making this the most inexpensive withdrawal option. Skrill isn’t accessible as a substitute for Canadians.
Book to Book
This is the fastest withdrawal method available. Book to Book withdrawals require a maximum of 24 hours to process, but their cashier pages says that they”attempt to complete the transfer within just a few hours”. They do charge fees for this service, but they don’t outline those fees on their cashier page. Instead, they ask clients to get in touch with their live aid agents. This could be because prices vary from sportsbook to sportsbook, and not all sportsbooks participate in the program. The most withdrawal through this approach is $15,000 a week. The minimum is $500.
Deposit Bonus
BetOnline.ag provides a 200% deposit bonus up to $2,500 ($1,250 is consequently the maximum that applies to the incentive ). BetOnline releases the deposit bonus in five stages; the country you’re in depends on the number of points you’ve earned. You earn points based on how much rake and tournament charges you play. One dollar in rake or penalties equals ten points, and also you will need 250 points to discharge ten dollars in bonus money.
Opponents
BetOnline Poker includes a little over 300 real-money players simultaneously online normally. It goes back to the top-5 of all US online poker rooms however is more than 2,000 players significantly less than at Bovada Poker, over a 100 players less than at Authentic Poker and tens of players significantly less than at Carbon Poker.
Since BetOnline owns a sportsbook and a casino in addition to their poker room (in fact, they’re famous because of their sportsbook) which I assume brings players – the ideal kind of players to play against – to the poker area.
But, Bovada and Carbon equally have casinos and sportsbooks as well to ensure on its own is not a fantastic enough reason to choose BetOnline.
Customer Support
Considering that BetOnline’s poker software is not high quality, I expected them to excel at client service. How else can you explain the prevalence of the poker room?
Turns out I was wrong, big-time. In reality, during their live chat support (and that I just have to mention it in this BetOnline review), I had the worst customer service experience in my life so far.
Following the live chat session started, I needed to wait a few minutes before the customer support person bothered to reply, not only entirely ignoring my question but asking for my password and username too. Can you feel comfortable entering your password and username into a live chat box? I sure didn’t.
I clarified that I don’t want to input that information to a chat room and, what’s more, the question demands no such advice because it was about BetOnline.ag generally. I had to wait ten minutes for”help” (I use that word loosely ), while receiving”Thank you for waiting. I will be with you in only a moment…” every now and then.
So after waiting ten minutes, the customer service man insists that I need to provide my password and username to get any help. However, I had not signed-up yet so I did not have those. And the question had nothing to do with my personal details and what to do with BetOnline.ag Poker generally.
Now here is the best part: while I’m writing a reply – and I started writing shortly after I received the message which I shopped for about 10 minutes – I have thrown from the chat room, along with an automatic message:
“The customer service representative has not received a response from you for a short time.”
Yes, maybe because it required you all that opportunity to reply to my own message. That was the worst conversation service session ever.
This Bet Online Poker review had a negative finish but the reality is that US players should consider sites like Bovada.lv and Carbonpoker.ag before going using BetOnline; although making predictions is impossible, these sites look safer choices and have more participant traffic.
Is BetOnline Legal?
The legality of BetOnline’s company is more complicated than that of other websites like Carbon Poker. That’s because they provide more than one product, and the legislation for all those services change. For instance, in the United States, offering sportsbook services is illegal under the Wire Act. On the other hand, casino games and poker games are not covered by this legislation, but other state laws may apply.
BetOnline works under a license from Panama City, Panama. In terms of the laws of that nation, their whole operation is completely legal. The web creates a confusion about WHERE a bet takes place. The concept of a sportsbook such as BetOnline is the bet takes places in Panama City, in which it’s legal, but opponents claim that it isn’t as cut and dried as that.
The rest of this section examines the legality of BetOnline’s business by activity.
The Legality of Sports Betting at BetOnline.ag
In the USA, the laws regarding sports gambling are clear-cut. The Wire Act prohibits the transmission of data associated with sports bets over the phone. For purposes of the law, the world wide web is just one more way of transmitting information over the phone. According to the FBI, it is prohibited for BetOnline.ag to choose sports bets from United States players.
That having been said, a bettor has a minimal number of legal threat by placing such a bet. Laws like the Federal Wire Act are targeted at the companies taking the stakes, not the individuals putting the wagers. Enforcement activity can be almost exclusively centered on the business operation on the other end of the transaction.
My advice is simple. Contact a lawyer if you require legal advice. Do not depend on the advice on this page or any other Internet webpage to make a legal decision, and comply with the laws in your jurisdiction.
That having been said, your odds of being detained or prosecuted for placing a bet on a soccer game in BetOnline.ag are minimum, especially if you’re gaming low or medium high stakes. The more cash that you put online, the greater your risk.
What about Casino Games or Poker?
The Department of Justice has said that the Wire Act does not apply to casino poker or games. But state laws do apply. For instance, in the state of Washington, it’s a felony to play poker online. I searched the BetOnline.ag site for advice about not accepting players from specific states and discovered nothing. My educated guess is they accept players from anywhere in the United States.
That doesn’t mean it is legal. The proprietors of the company might have decided the risk-reward ratio was right, and they’re likely to take players from the USA until they get captured. That does not mean it is illegal for you to play with there. It doesn’t mean it’s legal. It just means that it is dependent upon where you live. BetOnline.ag leaves it up to the participant to decide whether it’s legal for them to play there.
What about Games of Skill?
Some games of skill, such as fantasy sports, are specifically exempt from some laws about online gambling (such as UIGEA, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act). Others, like dominoes, Yahtzee, or spades are not clearly defined. I have no reason to think that playing dominoes for money in the BetOnline.ag is going to get you in trouble with the FBI, but it doesn’t make it lawful.
Conclusion Concerning the Legality of all BetOnline.ag
For United States players, the legality of the operation at BetOnline.ag is cloudy and gray at best. Offering sports betting on U.S. based players is a pretty clear violation of the Federal Wire Act. That having been said, what you are likely actually wondering is how likely is it that you confront a legal risk.
The truth is that law enforcement rarely targets the customers of prohibited businesses. That’s why prostitutes are arrested a lot more frequently than their clients. Your legal risks are minimal, but you also do face different risks linked to the legality of BetOnline.ag. If they were shut down by the United States government, such as Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars were in 2011, you could wind up having some money that you can not get as legally as you would like to.
I will repeat my previous advice. Obey the laws in which you reside. If you decide to do otherwise, limit your risk by only gaming amounts that you won’t miss.
Is BetOnline Safe?
Note: I have included BetOnline within my list of top poker websites for US players because they have improved tremendously since the events described below. They process withdrawals the 2nd fastest out of all US poker websites and haven’t had complaints in a few years.
Weird Ratings
Many online poker information sites give www.betonline.ag high ratings (something to the effect of 5/5 or 10/10). You should question whether to trust these information websites. It’s reasonable to assume that they care more about advertisement income compared to their reader’s security. Should you give BetOnline Poker five starts out of five, what would you give a website like PokerStars? By definition, you couldn’t give them more celebrities so those ratings would suggest that Bet Online is about PokerStars’ level.
What Network Are You ?
When www.betonline.ag Poker initially came out in May, 2011, they lied about the system they were on. (Most internet poker rooms are on networks, so their participant pools are shared with other internet poker rooms on the exact same network.) Their sportsbook has been operating for a long time but that’s when they started the poker area.
They publicly claimed to have their”own” system while in reality they were on Action Poker system which had a lousy reputation.
Why is this can be a major thing?
What a bizarre way to start doing business! Lie to your customers who are supposed to deposit their hard-earned real cash to your website. And they whined about something very trivial (if they lie about less significant stuff, what about more important stuff?) That is also easy for gamers to find out.
Why Do You Confiscate Our Cash?
I’ve seen an abnormal number of complaints by gamers who have had a lot of money confiscated by BetOnline Poker. Even though some people today cheat at online poker – and a part of the people who lost their cash may have done – that the worst part was that BetOnline hasn’t established the wrongdoing.
Numerous cases have popped up at online gambling forums. In a number of these, the cash was returned to gamers (generally after months of fighting) and in some cases they have kept the money.
The best thing that the players who have been falsely accused of cheating was to write concerning the issue at popular online forums. In reality, a well-known sports gambling forum called SBR helped a player who had had $65,000 confiscated to deal with BetOnline. BetOnline eventually returned the money to the player since they had no proof of cheating.
Here are some other complaints about them:
Do Not Play On BetOnline
$37,000 Confiscated
$15,000 Confiscated
$14,000 Confiscated
I doubt anyone thinks that Bet on the internet is safe after reading those complaints and there’s obviously a fantastic reason for that opinion. BetOnline is far from a site I would suggest to a friend.
Cheating Is Too Easy Bet Online Poker enabled players to multi-account with the exact same internet connection or different reports on different rooms on the same network.
That’s right – one participant could have numerous accounts at the same table which is unheard of at the biggest online poker rooms in the world.
What’s www.betonline.ag rigged? I doubt it, but in precisely the exact same time, it has was too easy to cheat in BetOnline (no idea if that issue was fixed yet).
I Prefer to Keep Passwords into Myself
Among the craziest chat conversations that I’ve read : BetOnline Poker’s customer service representatives know everybody’s passwords. This happened in July 2012, so