Did I get swindled by party poker CSR?

[slackerfish]

I signed up for party poker last night due to a nice deal I found on poker academy (20% + software).

During the sign up/deposit process, I received numerous "transaction declined" errors when I tried using my credit cards. After a few minutes of fumbling around, some dude from party poker called me up and told me they don't accept USA credit cards. Is this possible?

Well anyway, he then walked me through an alternative payment option which involved buying some weird phone card (anyone know what I'm talking about here)? The phone card had a ~6% "distribution fee" on top of it... I bought one anyway but I'm not too happy about it.

Was I supposed to use the bank transfer option or something like that?

Sorry, I'm new to this..

[r8ed]

US Credit Cards no good for poker sites.

Sign up for Neteller, they are completely legit and most people on here use it.

[ensign_lee]

US Credit Cards decline "e-gaming transaction" (i.e. partypoker). Your best bet is just to use IGM-Pay transfer from your checking account.

Long term, your best bet is neteller, though they may not accept your credit card either.

[slackerfish]

ah ok, thanks... so neteller is a service like paypal?

[Xianti]

ah ok, thanks... so neteller is a service like paypal?

Yes.

You shouldn't be playing on credit anyway (money you don't have... if that's the case).

[slackerfish]

yeah of course not

I would've gladly done the bank transfer if the guy on the phone gave me that option. I have a feeling he directed me to that BS phone card route to get the distribution fee. I pointed out the extra fee to him and he said, "well the bonus will balance it out".... sheesh.

[EasyT]

US Credit Cards decline "e-gaming transaction" (i.e. partypoker). Your best bet is just to use IGM-Pay transfer from your checking account.

Long term, your best bet is neteller, though they may not accept your credit card either.

You get a BONUS on your first IGM-Pay deposit, so do Neteller first...then deposit with IGM and get another bonus.

EasyT

[r8ed]

EasyT - if you deposit with neteller into PP and then deposit into PP using IGM-Pay, you get a bonus? I thought that was only on an initial deposit?

[EasyT]

Yup, R8ed, that's right.

It doesn't matter how long you've even had your Party account opened or how many previous deposits you've made.

Open an IGMPay account and on your first IGM-pay deposit use bonuscode "IGMPAY" for a 20%, $100, 7x bonus. The same bonus/code used to work for all the party skins, but now things are all broken up. I suspect it will still work at Mulit and InterTops though.

R8ed, there are lots of bonuses out there besides Welcome-Bonuses.

EasyT

[eeeee]

R8ed, there are lots of bonuses out there besides Welcome-Bonuses.

R8ed -- $500 in IGM bonuses waiting for you, and $250 in Epass! And so much more outside of PSkins! Dude!

[gengar]

One of my CCs works with PP. Yes, it's American, and it is from a fairly major bank. The same credit card doesn't work at any other site I've tried (FT, Stars, Para). It gets rejected often during the daytime, and gets accepted consistently at late hours (maybe they use different billing companies or types at different times?). The only annoyance is that once or twice my CC company has tagged me with a 1% transaction fee for being an international purchase. That' s only $5, but still.

It is great for cash flow - it goes straight into my bank account after the bonus clears (and I usually leave it in for 7 days to get the extra 1k points) and I don't even have to pay it off for another 5-7 weeks.

[EasyT]

One of my CCs works with PP. Yes, it's American, and it is from a fairly major bank. The same credit card doesn't work at any other site I've tried (FT, Stars, Para). It gets rejected often during the daytime, and gets accepted consistently at late hours (maybe they use different billing companies or types at different times?). The only annoyance is that once or twice my CC company has tagged me with a 1% transaction fee for being an international purchase. That' s only $5, but still.

Most American Credit Cards don't do "gaming" purchases anymore. But if this idea is interesting to someone, gengar, you should tell us the name of the company so that others can apply.


EasyT

[gengar]

Providian Visa. Hopefully they won't realize they are basically giving us cash advances and kill it. I mean, seriously... I can charge several thousand to my CC right now, cash out and it is in my bank account the next day. (Too bad my highest limit Mastercard doesn't work at PP!)

None of my other CCs work... citibank, chase, associates, whether MC or Visa.

Of course, the necessary caveat that you should NEVER, EVER use credit to fund your gaming or gambling unless you treat it as if it is coming straight out of your bank account. Would you use markers in a B+M casino if you didn't have the money to cover? Of course not. As I mentioned previously, I use it as a replacement for funding my monthly bonus from my bank account and for the cash flow aspect. I never carry a balance on my CCs and certainly would never intend to gamble on credit.

[baddy]

None of my credit/debit cards work on PartyPoker either, the only way I am able to use them is the phone card method you tried. The fee does suck, but its the only way to get my money into any poker site off my debit card. I don't think the CSR was screwing you, the phone card is probably the only option that works for most people that want to use their credit card.

If you are going to bank transfer, sign up for Neteller and transfer the funds there. Pretty much all gambling sites accept Neteller funds, and when you cash out from PartyPoker to Neteller it only takes about 45 minutes for the money to be in your account.

[eeeee]

I'd heard Providian sometimes works, too. And the random debit card.