REALLY novice Q: how to start playing online????
 

After doing a search on this forum and reading the FAQ (Am I in the right forum?), I've decided to go ahead and ask the question that I'm struggling with.

I'm a B&M player normally and would like to start playing small stakes online. I'm American and was wondering about the mechanics of depositing and withdrawing (i.e., do I use epassporte, etc.) and what banks generally allow transactions through epassporte (and the like).

If there's a primer on that somewhere around here, I didn't see it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

(Mods, if this is too general, I apologize. Feel free to lock the thread if that's the case.)

Re: REALLY novice Q: how to start playing online????
 

Decide what site you want to play on and they will give your funding options with a brief explanation on their site. A little research gives you all you need to know about the transaction costs associated with each funding method.

Re: REALLY novice Q: how to start playing online????
 

It would probably be a good idea to have a FAQ on this, since I'm sure there are lurkers in this forum every day who are a bit intimidated by the process.

I'm not good at making long instructive posts, but the first thing I would do is to learn about rakeback...sign up for an affiliate...then decide how you are going to fund the account. That one first step is critical and will come back to haunt you if you dont.

Alternately, if you want to avoid all the rakeback confusion, just sign up for PokerStars (since they do not offer direct rakeback) and try out your debit/credit cards. If that does not work out, it may be time to look into epassporte or other options.

Re: REALLY novice Q: how to start playing online????
 

If you sign up for Stars, make sure you do so through an affiliate that gives a kickback, like PSO or PokerSavvy.

Re: REALLY novice Q: how to start playing online????
 

thanks, everyone. please keep the advice coming.