Poker Payouts

Often lost in the increasingly difficult task of finding easy deposit methods, especially those supporting US players, is the reliability and speed of poker payouts. While most businesses, including those outside of the poker industry, make it as easy as possible to accept payments, customers usually experience numerous hurdles and lengthy turnaround times in order to receive funds owed to them. In my opinion, a site's reputation and deposit system is only as strong as their poker payout system.

While professional software, quick game speed, simple deposit methods, and a strong tournament schedule are all vital to a poker room's success, nothing boosts player confidence, trust, and loyalty more than fast and reliable poker payouts. Prior to the UIGEA debacle in 2006, sub-24-hour poker payouts were the rule rather than the exception with old standby Neteller handling a vast majority of transactions both to and from the poker rooms. Players could literally request a withdrawal and either transfer funds to their choice of poker room or have it sent to their bank account within a day or two.

Unfortunately, these days poker payouts now depend on a number of moving parts in order to function in a timely manner. Payouts can now range from as little as 3 days to a month or more. As a player I certainly understand that poker rooms servicing US players are constantly fighting to keep processing times as low as possible. Behind the scenes, management of most poker rooms spend hours every day either negotiating for more payment options or working to keep existing poker payout banks on board.

Despite the technical difficulties that make it easy for some poker rooms to delay poker payouts to players, the fact is that a select few sites always seem to just get them done. Regardless of who the check is from some sites afford players the luxury of not thinking about the logistics and simply knowing that their winnings will always be in their hands within a few days.

The focus of this page will be on those sites that excel in the most important aspects of poker payouts: range of withdrawal methods, speed of delivery, and consistent reliability.

TOP CHOICE
While PokerStars is the model poker room on fronts such as game quality and tournaments for years, their poker payout system is also unmatched in the industry. The payout methods are simple at PokerStars with my main recommendations being either paper check or wire transfer.

With check delivery times varying wildly between poker rooms since 2006, PokerStars has been a refreshing constant. As should be expected, there are no fees for paper checks, the bank used doesn't create hassle for US deposits, and the total delivery time is usually less than 3 days. PokerStars always seems to come through in terms of check poker payouts despite the lack of fees.

More recently, I've been preferring the wire transfer poker payout method from PokerStars. After entering your bank information, your payout is electronically sent to your bank with total turnaround time always less than 3-5 days. Bank fees tend to be around $30-40 for PokerStars wires so I would recommend this method for payouts greater than $1,000.

It really is remarkable that PokerStars never takes more than a week to get your winnings to you and they easily earn our top poker payout ranking. View our full PokerStars review for more information. US players should also note that direct checking account deposits are accepted at PokerStars and that all our new players receive a 100% bonus, good up to $600.

Visit Poker Stars.

Available to US players.
eCheck deposits accepted.

Average Payout Time: 3-5 Days

#2 CHOICE
Sportsbook Poker usually flies under the radar but truly excels in a number of important aspects. Besides the obvious advantages of the near-100% credit card acceptance, the poker payout system is excellent. Recommended payout methods at Sportsbook Poker include paper checks, gift cards, UseMyWallet, and wire transfers.

The Sportsbook Poker payout check service is one of the quickest in terms of processing with most checks being delivered within a week. Sportsbook Poker uses courier delivery, which cuts down mailing delays, and doesn't charge a fee for the first withdrawal per month. Interestingly, Sportsbook Poker payouts may also be issued on gift cards that can be used for purchases or at ATMs.

My preferred poker payout method at Sportsbook Poker is actually UseMyWallet, a third-party service that works directly with your bank account. Sportsbook Poker sends payouts for this method within 1-2 days and UseMyWallet only takes another 2-3 days to wire funds to your personal bank account. There are no poker payout fees taken from Sportsbook Poker for UseMyWallet. Ask the poker room to invite you to UseMyWallet, a private service, if you don't already have an account.

Sportsbook Poker also offers direct wire transfer poker payouts with a $40 fee for under $2,000 and a 2% fee for greater amounts. New Sportsbook Poker coming from our site receive a 110% bonus, including 10% as instant cash. For more details read our full Sportsbook Poker review.

Visit Sportsbook Poker.

Available to US players.
Canadians now accepted.
Near-100% acceptance rate

Average Payout Time: 5-7 Days

#3 CHOICE
Full Tilt Poker, now the second largest poker room in terms of volume, has always earned my trust by their poker payout performance. Besides the direct checking account deposits, Full Tilt Poker offers paper check payouts, eCheck payouts, and wire transfers.

Full Tilt Poker seems to be immune from the payment processor troubles that plague smaller rooms. Their paper check poker payouts don't arrive via courier but I've almost always received mine within 5-7 days through the Postal Service. Full Tilt Poker also uses banks that tend to be processed easily in the US.

In terms of electronic poker payouts, Full Tilt Poker offers both standard eChecks and wire transfers. eChecks can be used for amounts less than $950 and are processed as direct deposits. Full Tilt Poker also offers wire transfers for amounts greater than $950. Funds generally arrive within 7-10 days and do not incur additional payout fees.

Besides the fast poker payouts, benefits of Full Tilt Poker include an excellent tournament schedule and one of the best software packages online. Our Full Tilt Poker review has more details.

Visit Full Tilt Poker.

Available to US Players.
eCheck deposits accepted.

Average Payout Time: 5-7 Days

#4 CHOICE
As recently as a year ago, Bodog was a prime example of what to avoid in terms of poker payouts. Despite a poker room that has always featured some of the loosest tables and best customer service, Bodog players experienced laughable payout times upwards of 45 days.

Fortunately, Bodog has regained their reputation as one of the best poker rooms in terms of poker payouts. I really appreciate that Bodog uses a courier service for all paper checks, which drastically cuts down turnaround time and allows for delivery tracking.

With courier delivery for all poker payouts, Bodog funds arrive in less than 3-4 days. While I've used paper check payouts exclusively at Bodog for several years they do offer electronic payouts if you use a supported method such as eWalletXpress. Bodog allows one free courier check poker payout per month with subsequent payouts incurring a fee.

Besides the attraction of fast poker payouts, Bodog currently offers our players a 100% bonus, an extra 10% as instant cash, and monthly 100% reload offers. Players can view more in our Bodog Poker review.

Visit Bodog Poker.

Available to US Players.

Average Payout Time: 3-5 Days

#5 CHOICE
Not to be overlooked, Doyle's Room also offers a very satisfactory poker payout system. Besides supporting the largest US e-wallets in PIC-Club, eWalletXpress, and UseMyWallet, Doyle's Room offers an above-average courier check service and a new eCheck payout service.

My first choice at Doyle's Room for poker payouts is the UseMyWallet service, which I've been using for over a year now. Once requested, UseMyWallet payouts are sent by Doyle's Room in about 2-3 days without any fees.

Funds at UseMyWallet can then be wired directly to your bank account. This payout process is quick and negates the need to cash a check. Doyle's Room support should be contacted to initially invite you to the UseMyWallet service.

Doyle's Room also offers courier checks for poker payouts. While these are delivered within 4-5 days of requesting them, the $50 fee is simply too high. An interesting addition by Doyle's Room is the eCheck payout method, which is sent as a direct deposit to your bank account. The fee seems unnecessary at a flat 3% rate but isn't excessive.

Doyle's Room has quietly been providing dependable poker payouts for several years and the new eCheck service helps them reach the upper tier of poker rooms in this category. Read more details in our full Doyle's Room review.

Visit Doyle's Room.