Legal question regarding PokerStars checks

[Shrike]

As a former-FirePay user, I need another way to cash out my money from PokerStars. One option is just to have PokerStars cut me a check, but I'm concerned about whether US banks will accept it. Can my bank refuse to accept a deposit of a PokerStars check? Thanks in advance for the help.

[Bluffoon]

I am going to request a small cashout and deposit it, see what happens. My bank didn't very much care for those checks to before all this legislative nonsense, but they cashed them.

[KEW]

Deposits into your bank account are not effected in any way by the new Law..

[WooIsMe]

On the contrary--the law restricts "any check, draft, or similar instrument" to be used for unlawful Internet gambling. It is up to the banks to identify and block such transactions.

[ QUOTE ]
Deposits into your bank account are not effected in any way by the new Law..

[/ QUOTE ]

[Lucky]

[ QUOTE ]
I am going to request a small cashout and deposit it, see what happens. My bank didn't very much care for those checks to before all this legislative nonsense, but they cashed them.

[/ QUOTE ]

How did your bank/the teller/manager react specifically when you went in with pokerstars check? Did you deposit it, or cash it?

[Shrike]

I guess my question is, has anyone else gotten grief from their bank when trying to cash a physical check from PokerStars or another gambling site?

[Cubswin]

How about depositing it at an ATM?

[bcubed72]

[ QUOTE ]
On the contrary--the law restricts "any check, draft, or similar instrument" to be used for unlawful Internet gambling. It is up to the banks to identify and block such transactions.

[ QUOTE ]
Deposits into your bank account are not effected in any way by the new Law..

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

The second statement is true, the first, not. Can you see why?

Obviously when you WITHDRAW funds, you're not going to "use [it] for unlawful Internet gambling." Besides which, the point is moot because the two sites I have repeatedly withdrawn from (PP, PR) issue checks drawn on foreign banks without ANY MENTION of internet gambling.

If your bank gets on its high horse about this, you know they're not doing it because of the law.

[Bluffoon]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I am going to request a small cashout and deposit it, see what happens. My bank didn't very much care for those checks to before all this legislative nonsense, but they cashed them.

[/ QUOTE ]

How did your bank/the teller/manager react specifically when you went in with pokerstars check? Did you deposit it, or cash it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Deposit. They look at it like it's diseased and they put an extra long hold on the funds.

I noted that pokerstars checks were obviously "known" or "problematic" to the point that branch tellers in a leading nationwide bank recognized the checks and put special procedures in place to protect the bank. And again this is long before any legislation.

[bcubed72]

[ QUOTE ]
I guess my question is, has anyone else gotten grief from their bank when trying to cash a physical check from PokerStars or another gambling site?

[/ QUOTE ]

Makes me wonder: can a bank refuse to accept a lawful check due to some extraneous circumstance (maybe it's from a political cause they disagree with, or similar). Are they lawfully bound to process it?

And to answer your query, I've never had the slightest problem.

[Shrike]

My choices basically come down to
A) Requesting a check,
B) Getting a Neteller account,
or
C) Transferring the cash to a friend with an existing Neteller account and having him pay me back.

A is obviously the easiest, hence my question as to whether the banks will accept such a deposit.

Let's say worst case, I request the check and the bank doesn't accept it. What are my options then?

[Xhad]

[ QUOTE ]
How about depositing it at an ATM?

[/ QUOTE ]

Human beings still process things that are dropped in ATMs. If the bank doesn't approve of it for some reason they reverse the deposit and usually charge you a fee plus overdraft your account if you already spent the money.

[Xhad]

[ QUOTE ]
Let's say worst case, I request the check and the bank doesn't accept it. What are my options then?

[/ QUOTE ]

You could probably talk the site into issuing a check stop payment and crediting the money back to your account.

[FieryJustice]

I took a $9000 check to the bannk the other day and had no problems.

[Leader]

[ QUOTE ]
I took a $9000 check to the bannk the other day and had no problems.

[/ QUOTE ]

Was it one of the big ones or a small local one?

[Our House]

#1 - Supposedly, you can withdraw as always. The UIGEA doesn't make any mention of withdrawals...just deposits.

#2 - Why would the government want us to NOT deposit money into our banks? Bank records are the best way to show taxable income!!

If banks weren't accepting poker site withdrawals, the IRS would puke at the number of dollars being cashed out offshore.

[PokeReader]

I would try something else. I think this is kind of hit or miss right now. Since the regulations haven't come out yet the banks are operating individually on this, but essentially the law says they are immune to civil liability if they block your check. Some banks might let it go as there is no offical policy on it yet, but there is a real risk here. The gov't clearly wants the check blocked, and it is clearly identifible as IG money. You could be open to having your account history examined if they get really draconian. As no one really knows what Justice is going to do on enforce on players, I think we need to look after ourselves and put protection of bankroll as first priority until it all shakes out.

[redbeer]

Party checks do not say "Party Poker" on them. They are from "Chexx iNC." (I am taking two to the bank today and have deposited them before)I don't know how a bank would know (and i suspect most don't care). I imagine Poker stars does something similar.

[Quanah Parker]

Just deposited a PS check at my credit union.

Is your bank Bank of America by any chance? I've always found them to be a real pain to deal with and would expect this type of feet dragging from them.

My advice, go with a local bank or credit union that needs and respects your deposits.

I've also found wearing a shirt and/or pants help reduce the "diseased look" I recieve from bank tellers.

...or get Jimmy at the liquor store to cash it for ya!

[shamus]

[ QUOTE ]
Just deposited a PS check at my credit union.

[/ QUOTE ]

Does the check from PS say "PokerStars" or some generic-sounding entity? Curious . . . thanks.

[Indiana]

[ QUOTE ]
I guess my question is, has anyone else gotten grief from their bank when trying to cash a physical check from PokerStars or another gambling site?

[/ QUOTE ]

Never. I've cashed them for years.

[Sciolist]

[ QUOTE ]
Does the check from PS say "PokerStars" or some generic-sounding entity? Curious . . . thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]
PStars payments. This law doesn't affect cashouts, and we process literally hundreds of cheques a day without problems, so I wouldn't worry about this.

[Sciolist]

[ QUOTE ]
checks were obviously "known" or "problematic" to the point that branch tellers in a leading nationwide bank recognized the checks and put special procedures in place to protect the bank. And again this is long before any legislation.

[/ QUOTE ]
If you go in and say "Hi, can I deposit my money I won in illegal online gambling please?", yes, they're going to look at it/you like it/you are diseased. I'm afraid that's society for you.

I've heard of very few cases indeed where players have run into problems, let alone several players who use specific branches. I've dealt with literally thousands of problems related to cashouts in the two years I worked in Support, and a couple of them were related to cheques that banks didn't accept.

[Guthrie]

Put it in the night deposit box.

The only thing the people handling checks care about is the MICR numbers at the bottom. Unless the bank has flagged a particular bank + account number, there's no reason, or time, for someone to carefully examine every check looking for monsters.

[pandemonium]

[ QUOTE ]
Deposit. They look at it like it's diseased and they put an extra long hold on the funds.

[/ QUOTE ]

If the check is drawn on a foreign bank, then it clears differently than a check from a member bank of the federal reserve. Some banks flat out won't let you deposit a foreign check, and will only take it for collection, in which case fund availability is whenever they say it is. Usually, a small bank must send the item for collection to another (larger) bank. This correspondent bank might even have to send it along to yet another bank that does business with the drawee bank. If they do allow you to deposit it, then under Reg CC, you're looking at an allowable hold on funds availability of eleven business days or more for an in-person deposit, longer if you stuff it into an ATM.

[bumpking]

Post deleted

[Sciolist]

[ QUOTE ]
If the check is drawn on a foreign bank

[/ QUOTE ]
As far as I know, all USD cheques are drawn from Canadian banks.

[pandemonium]

[ QUOTE ]
I've cashed several PS checks. They are issued from "US Bank". I only had a problem on this last time ($7,500).

[/ QUOTE ]

Let's say it was drawn on a US institution (not, for example the "US Bank" of Vanuatu /images/graemlins/wink.gif), then the size of the check (> $5,000) would allow your bank to place an exceptional hold on the funds. Here's a link to a short guide to Reg CC (http://www.federalreserve.gov/Pubs/regcc/regcc.htm) (trust me you don't want to wade through the original 600 pages of the regulation).

[joeker]

This is ridiculous.....getting a check is the best way to cashout. You really think the teller is going to look at the check and say "Oh no...this is from a poker site"? LOL..come on people get a grip.

The banks cannot track the checks nor will they, it's impossible, there is no system in place to do so and there sheer volume of checks processed everyday makes it practically prohibitive. Also there is no way of telling what the check is for....all that is on a check is the routing code of the bank that issued it, the account number and the check number. It doesnt MATTER what the name on the check is, it can say antyhing, all that matters is the routing code and bank account number.

I get checks from my online sportsbook all the time. The name on the check is a generic name...something like Limited Systems Inc.

Only thing you have to worry about is a check over $10k which is reported to the IRS...and getting constant deposits into your account brings up other tax issues.

[joeker]

[ QUOTE ]
I've cashed several PS checks. They are issued from "US Bank". I only had a problem on this last time ($7,500). The teller got the manager and she asked me what the check was for.

I politely told her to f-off and that I did not see the relevency. She then said that some of the watermark/security symbols did not match (granted, the checks look shady as hell) and that she would not be able to CASH it.

So I couldn't get CASH, but she did deposit it with a standard 10-day hold. Just got released today, so no problems. FYI, this was Union Bank of CA.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah....but that had nothing to do with where the funds came from, that's stanrdard operating procedure on any check.

[Ace upmy Slv]

I have done several large transfers from PP over the last 6 months including two 9K wire transfers from PP to my Bank of America account since the legislation has passed. I also cashed a check from PP with BoA recently. I have had no problems at all with either transaction. Bank of America is one of the more pain in the ass Banks and I still have had no probelms. The wire transfers did take about 3 days to clear.

Relax people, the deposits will be fine. Plus, the banks have 270 days to institute these regulations on 'Gambling' money transactions. Do you really think they are going to spend the money and attack that issue now?

[antneye]

[ QUOTE ]


Relax people, the deposits will be fine. Plus, the banks have 270 days to institute these regulations on 'Gambling' money transactions. Do you really think they are going to spend the money and attack that issue now?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually the Feds have 270 days to declare the rules. The banks will then get X amount of time to implement the required changes (if possible). It's not like the Fed says here are the rules, and the banks push a button to make it happen.

[bumpking]

Actually,

For my $7,500 check, it is not normal procedure to always place it on hold. I CASH checks all the time in amounts between $5k-$10k and as long as I have that amount of cash in my account, they'll cash the check. This last time when they made me deposit it, I'm sure it was simply because the check looked funny and nothing else.

FYI: If you cash a check instead of deposit it, it does not show up anywhere on your account or statements. I always cash them, then a day or two later I deposit cash into my account (just to be safe).

[scottjf8]

I took a $44k check from Neteller to the bank once, and didn't even get questioned about it (after 3rd in a Sunday Millions)

It says "NCAR" on it, but still.. 44k, and no questions asked...

[Xhad]

[ QUOTE ]
For my $7,500 check, it is not normal procedure to always place it on hold. I CASH checks all the time in amounts between $5k-$10k and as long as I have that amount of cash in my account, they'll cash the check

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, that's because when you consider the difference between:

-Placing the check on hold and then withdrawing the money from your account

and

-Not placing the check on hold but putting a $ hold equal to the maximum amount they could hold from the check

There's not much of a difference. Chances are the bank holds at least some of the existing funds in your account when you do this.