While not the most famous of global credit cards, the Discover Card has still ben around a long time and built up a solid foundation of users loyal to the brand. With no annual fees on any card and an expanding list of financial services, including online banking, Discover is a growing choice for online poker players.
If you live in the United States, and particularly a licensed online poker state such as New Jersey, the PokerStars Play + card is a personalized, pre-paid Discover card account that makes deposits and withdrawals very, very seamless.
Discover has also branched out into the online banking world now which means you can also have a separate account from your bank account that you can dedicate entirely to poker to keep your bankroll removed from other expense accounts.
If you're a long-time user of a Discover credit card but don't want to pay any interest fees, the Discover banking/pre-paid card is a great alternative.
Not just a straight credit card, Discover is a full financial services company with a bunch of different options that can work for online poker deposits and withdrawals.
Yes, you can apply for and get a straight-up Discover credit card fairly quickly and see if you're pre-approved right on the Discover website. The problem with that, at least if you leave in the United States, is you won't find any (licensed) poker site that straight-up accepts Discover credit card deposits.
If you live outside the United States, a Discover credit card also likely isn't your best or most versatile card to use for online poker (or otherwise).
If you already have a Discover credit card you can use it to fund an online eWallet like PayPal, Neteller or Skrill and from there you can make your deposit to an online poker site.
Your best option for Discover poker in the US is either the PokerStars Play+ pre-paid card or the 888poker Discover Card: Net pre-paid card. You can also create an entirely new Discover online banking account that is very simple and straight-forward and attach a pre-paid card to it to fund all your transactions.
A nice, simple option for funding your online poker account on PokerStars in New Jersey (if you are a resident or a visitor) is to register from the PokerStars Play+ card.
Once you've created your PokerStars NJ account (this is different from any old PokerStars account you might have had in the past) you can click through to the cashier to get started.
Once you've reached the cashier, scroll down to the PokerStars Play+ card option from the menu and click to get the process started.
Follow all the prompts which will walk you through the registration process for the pre-paid Play+ Discover Card. If you qualify for one, your PokerStars Play+ account will be registered and you'll be e-mailed what's required to finish off your registration and pre-load your card with funds.
Funding your account can be done easily by a credit/debit card or ACH. Your pre-paid Discover card will then be mailed to you (usually within 7-10 days) and you can use it to process all of your future deposits and withdrawals on PokerStars NJ. You will also have full online access to your balance and transaction history.
As mentioned you won't find a poker site that accepts a straight Discover credit card as a deposit method. Discover itself made transactions with online gambling sites against its terms and conditions quite a few years ago.
That being said, though, you can use your Discover credit card to fund a third-party eWallet, such as Skrill or Neteller, which you can then use to fund your poker account.
If you want to play of PokerStars NJ or 888poker NJ you can also have a directly funded pre-paid Discover card. 888poker NJ players, for example, can make deposits with a Discover Card: Net+ prepaid card which is linked to their Neteller eWallet.
Once you've set up either of those accounts, making your actual poker deposit is quite easy. Simply:
As your Discover Card is pre-paid the funds will arrive in your poker account instantaneously and be available for play immediately.
Another nice perk of using the PokerStars Play+ card or 888poker's Discover Card: Net is you can also make withdrawals to your card or account. Withdrawals to your PokerStars Play+ Card are free and open if you've one deposit using with it in the past 12 months.
Withdrawal requests are processed in much the same way for every poker site and go through a 1-3 days approval process. To initiate a withdrawal from your PokerStars NJ account to your Play+ card:
Once you withdrawal is approved the funds will be back on your Discover card and free to use at any other merchant that accepts Discover. If there are any delays with your withdrawal, contact PokerStars customer support.
PokerStars and 888poker waive any fees for making Discover poker deposits and withdrawals but you will pay a small fee to use the pre-paid Discover cards. Discover credit cards charge no fees for any cards.
The minimum deposit for most poker site is $20-25 but in some cases is as low as $10. When you begin to make your deposit it'll be clear what the minimum you can add is.
As for withdrawals, maximums per day/week are set by each individual poker site. The maximum balance you can have on a PokerStars Play+ Card is $25,000 but it's likely pretty unusual to have that kind of balance unless you're a very high-level poker player.
The withdrawal and deposit minimums and maximums are satisfy 99% of all online poker players.
Yes, as we outlined above Discover can be used to play licensed online poker in the United States. You won't be able to use just a standard Discover credit card, however, unless you use it to fund a third-party eWallet. No direct deposits using Discover credit cards are allowed to online poker sites in the US.
You can, as mentioned, register for a pre-paid Discover card that you can use for online poker deposits and withdrawals on both PokerStars and 888poker. Just follow the registration steps through your online poker cashier to get your account and card set up.
Yes, absolutely. Both PokerStars and 888poker have iOS and Android apps which you can access on your phones.
Simply navigate to the cashier and make a deposit either using your registered pre-paid Discover card or to register a new one.
Once it's set up your current balance and all your Discover transactions is easily accessed via your mobile phone.
You might. Online poker bonuses are normally connected to one particular deposit method but we have seen special promotions where an extra match bonus will be offered to use one specific method.
We've never seen a Discover poker bonus per se but that doesn't mean that it won't happen at some point. It's always good to log in to your online poker account to see what the ongoing bonuses and promotions are at that poker site. There's a ton of value and, yes, free money, you can take advantage of just by being up to speed with the newest promotions.
If you want to be sure not to miss any of them, make sure you sign up for the poker site newsletter or check your in-box on a daily basis. There's a lot of good value to be had!
