[Ganchrow]

Has anyone had any luck with these VISA Gift Cards? Unless I'm overlooking some hidden fees, this website appears to offer cards at a substantially lower rate than that quoted in the article.

Online Gambling: US Customers Best Valentine's Day Gift Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Have a Visa or Mastercard?  Chances are it won't work when it comes to online gambling from the US.  It's hit or miss and mostly miss depending on the issuing banks. But that won't stop US gamblers from finding alternative methods of betting online using a credit card. All the rage on poker forums such as Two Plus Two center around GiftCards.com, which allow online gambling aficionados to purchase so-called "virtual credit cards" online. They seem to work. So what are gift cards exactly? They are debit cards that are accepted in millions of locations around the world - including from what we can tell, online casinos and poker rooms.  Gamblers are simply purchasing the cards for themselves, then using them like debit cards or ATMs. If you don't like buying them online and waiting a few days for your giftcards to arrive, these can actually be purchased at your local drug store such as Walgreens. Maybe it is Valentine's Day approaching, but since word got out about this new method of depositing money into an online poker or casino site, Walgreens and other stores claim to have experienced a "run on the cards". There are drawbacks, but for the hardcore online poker player, these may seem insignificant.  Most gift cards have a $500 cap.  There is a 3% vig for a $500 giftcard (or a cost of $15), though some are said to be more costly than others so shop around and compare.  And to answer the question: Can you send a giftcard to yourself?  Gamblers have tested and it appears this is possible. But here is where we throw in the Valentine's Day connection.  Ladies, if your man plays poker online, this is the perfect gift....and vice versa. Happy Valentine's Day everyone! --- Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Originally published February 13, 2007 11:23 pm ET

[JoshW]

If a merchant can't process credit card transactions, they can't take these as form of payment right? I would have figured VISA would have to prevent gaming operators from taking these too. Am I missing something?

[Ganchrow]

Originally Posted by lakerfan

If a merchant can't process credit card transactions, they can't take these as form of payment right? I would have figured VISA would have to prevent gaming operators from taking these too. Am I missing something?

I don't know if this has actually started occurring yet. Are gaming sites no longer processing credit card payments from US players?

[Bluehorseshoe]

Originally Posted by Ganchrow

I don't know if this has actually started occurring yet. Are gaming sites no longer processing credit card payments from US players?

They're taking them, but some sportsbook's processors have an easier time getting them to clear then others.

For sites that can't get 80 percent of the bank credit cards out there to go through, the gift cards will usually work.

[tblues2005]

It worked for me at BetJamaica with getting a netspend card just yesterday. They told me that the ones that are bought at Walgreens will work also. I guess those are under different rules I guess. Some of them are from banks outside of the U.S.A. also, I believe that are selling these gift cards.

[sergfro]

www.www-card.com

works like a charm.

[robmpink]

Stay away from the Vanilla Visa gift cards. They don't work on gaming sites. I know Rite Aid sells them. I think they could read the gaming merchant code. The funny thing is they worked really well at most books last year at this time. I tried the www.www-card and it works well.

[robmpink]

Did anyone ever use the Vanilla Visa gift card last year?

[louis]

Amongst the A rated books that take US players, 5 dimes is the only one that does not take VISA.

I love it! If your VISA doesn't work because your bank has blocked gaming transactions, simply use your VISA to load another virtual visa gift card and use the gift card!

Going to be impossible for the US to block gaming transactions using the www-card, because it is issued by an Israeli bank that is not required to block these transactions.

The problem we are going to be facing is not getting money to the books. My guess is 2 or 3 years from now sportsbooks will be sending us virtual visa cards in return, 16 digit numbers, as a form of withdrawal, with the amount of our withdrawal loaded.

[louis]

I purchased a visa gift card at giftcards.com using my american express card.

I then used the virtual visa gift card, sent to me 1 hour later in my email, to fund my sportsbook account.

[Bill Dozer]

Originally Posted by louis

Amongst the A rated books that take US players, 5 dimes is the only one that does not take VISA.

I love it! If your VISA doesn't work because your bank has blocked gaming transactions, simply use your VISA to load another virtual visa gift card and use the gift card!

Going to be impossible for the US to block gaming transactions using the www-card, because it is issued by an Israeli bank that is not required to block these transactions.

The problem we are going to be facing is not getting money to the books. My guess is 2 or 3 years from now sportsbooks will be sending us virtual visa cards in return, 16 digit numbers, as a form of withdrawal, with the amount of our withdrawal loaded.

Israel is not gaming friendly so it may be only a matter of time for that one. Credit cards have always been around but the hoop jumping wasn't worth it for the books during the Neteller era. Now it is. Sportsbook.com, one of the biggest, has processed credit cards pretty easily since the start.

[RickySteve]

Originally Posted by louis

Amongst the A rated books that take US players, 5 dimes is the only one that does not take VISA.

I've made credit card deposits at 5Dimes before. Did they stop offering this?

[RickySteve]

Originally Posted by Ganchrow

Has anyone had any luck with these VISA Gift Cards? Unless I'm overlooking some hidden fees, this website appears to offer cards at a substantially lower rate than that quoted in the article.

Looks like a flat $2 fee for email delivery.

[louis]

They charge $2 for a $500 card. I purchased this using my Amex, and then made a full $500 VISA deposit at BetCris.

How do they make money paying American Express fees, unless they charge Bet Cris more than that to accept their VISA.

Doesn't make sense.

[chrono714]

louis did you buy the card from www.giftcards.com ? If so which card was it? Betcris says they only accept cards from www.www-card.com or go out and buy one from a local store.

Thanks!

[freebie]

it's easy making deposit using Visa gift card and then throw them away once it's deposited to a book.

How do you make a withdrawal? Through FedEx Check I would assume?

[Cyclone]

Here is an interesting article from this week's The Economist. I wasn't sure how to paste the whole story in here.

http://www.economist.com/finance/dis...ory_id=8697424

[robmpink]

Sportsbook.com uses a processor that makes it appear as a department store in Taiwan or something like that.

[louis]

I don't know how the clerk can say they only accept giftcards from a certain site.

Basically, if you accept VISA, you accept VISA.

I would still like to know how giftcards.com can possibly make money accepting American Express, paying Amex fees, charging me a grand total of $2, unless they charge CRIS more to accept VISA than Amex charges giftcards.com to accept Amex, which doesn't make sense, since everyone knows Amex charges merchants more than VISA.

[robmpink]

Originally Posted by louis

I don't know how the clerk can say they only accept giftcards from a certain site.

Basically, if you accept VISA, you accept VISA.

I would still like to know how giftcards.com can possibly make money accepting American Express, paying Amex fees, charging me a grand total of $2, unless they charge CRIS more to accept VISA than Amex charges giftcards.com to accept Amex, which doesn't make sense, since everyone knows Amex charges merchants more than VISA.

By saying we accept Visa gift cards is too vague. Not all Visa gift cards will accept online gambling transactions. That is why they refer you to certain sites where they are sure it will be accepted. Like I said earlier, the Vanilla Visa gift card doesn't accept gambling transactions. If you went to Rite Aid and bought a Visa giftcard, it won't work for gambling transactions.

[louis]

The best thing we can do is post which ones seem to work and which do not, and try them on our own. I can report that giftcards.com works.

At any time they could stop working, so I am just going to purchase a few at a time, and use them for non gaming transactions if they stop working.

Since I am ordering virtual cards, my non gaming transactions are going to have to be online. There may be an advantage ordering physical cards, so that if they stop working online, I can use them at the gas station, restaurants, and stores here in my town.

Whether it works seems to depend on the bank which offers the card.

At some point we may have to get these cards from foreign banks.

[tblues2005]

I know netspend cards work also as Visa cards, it worked perfect for me to use it with BetJamaica. I will keep you updated on that though because they may change overnight but so far so good.

[TheMoneyShot]

Originally Posted by louis

I don't know how the clerk can say they only accept giftcards from a certain site.

Basically, if you accept VISA, you accept VISA.

I would still like to know how giftcards.com can possibly make money accepting American Express, paying Amex fees, charging me a grand total of $2, unless they charge CRIS more to accept VISA than Amex charges giftcards.com to accept Amex, which doesn't make sense, since everyone knows Amex charges merchants more than VISA.

Louis I own a few businesses in Michigan and have talked too American Express directy quite a few times. American Express use to charge the highest percentage out of the top 4 credit cards at a flat 3.25%. The industry is very competitive now and American Express as a promotion has dropped a few stores to an amazing 1% transaction rate for one year. Even though it would still cost them $5.00 to run the transaction... it is still very low... apprently they must be footing the bill?

[louis]

Moneyshot, thanks for the information - interesting.

But I still don't get it. So Amex is charging them $5, and they charge me $2, so they are in the hole for $3. If they charge betcris, 1%, or $5 to take the VISA, then they make a profit of $2?

How can they stay in business, with all their other overhead expenses, by making a profit of $2 per giftcard?

Money shot if you own business can I ask you something, do you make a before operating expense profit of $2 on items you sell for $500?

[Poker Pirate]

anyone tried using a virturalgift from op's site at matchbook/wsex? trying to avoid a bankwire.

Thanks.

[RickySteve]

Originally Posted by Poker Pirate

anyone tried using a virturalgift from op's site at matchbook/wsex? trying to avoid a bankwire.

Thanks.

There are conflicting reports of giftcards.com cards working at WSEX. Apparently, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

[fearless]

Originally Posted by robmpink

Stay away from the Vanilla Visa gift cards. They don't work on gaming sites. I know Rite Aid sells them. I think they could read the gaming merchant code. The funny thing is they worked really well at most books last year at this time. I tried the www.www-card and it works well.

I bought one of these and I've tried it at two places and it doesn't work. What sports betting websites does the card work at?

[Wild Reet]

Potential virtual card problem

From the CRIS website:

If at any time you have used a credit card to fund your CRIS account, and are requesting a payout, you will be required to complete and fax a Credit Card Authorization Form and documentation for each card used. If you have not already submitted this form and need a copy, click here.

http://www.betcris.com/include/body/content/page1.htm

CRIS wants you to make a imprint of the card's image by place the card under the form and rubbing a pencil over it. You might have to have a physical card to do this. They also need the 3-digit CVD number on the back of the card.

Louis, do you think you can verify your virtual card with CRIS' form?

[louis]

Wild Reet, can not verify virtual card like this running a pencil over the image.

Hopefully there is some other way to verify virtual cards with CRIS, such as faxing them the purchase statement from the website where it was purchased.

My guess is CRIS will cooperate with this. Their policy concerns credit cards.

These are not actually credit cards, they are virtual prepaid debit cards.

[WWTSblows]

That is a good point. I've never used credit cards really to deposit, don't a majority of books require you to give them scans for a cashout? Many of the books seem to say something about a minimum wait of 30 days to cashout out if you use credit card, better than nothing however.

[EaglesPhan36]

Originally Posted by tblues2005

I know netspend cards work also as Visa cards, it worked perfect for me to use it with BetJamaica. I will keep you updated on that though because they may change overnight but so far so good.

Did you have to wait for the physical card to arrive via mail to use this? Or as soon as you sign up and put money onto it, were you able to use it?

[tblues2005]

I bought it from the retailer and they gave me a temporary card there Eagles and it works for 60 days, so it gives you plenty of time to get the one in that they send to you.

[Scorpion]

Originally Posted by louis

The best thing we can do is post which ones seem to work and which do not, and try them on our own. I can report that giftcards.com works.

DOES IT ask for your SSN or driver license when you purchase the card?
You cannot reload the card, correct?

[tblues2005]

Scorpion,

no SSN no required to get a netspend card just an address it is a debit card and so far it has worked for me and I have done it several times. Yes you can reload the card with netspend, but with giftcards.com I am on positive on that one though.

[ShamsWoof10]

Keep in mind guys that if an address or name is tied to these then it won't work if your acct. detalis have differant info. My sister got one from Sky Bank directly and it didn't work because my sisters zip code and name were on it but you can change that info. When I changed the info. and they matched then it worked...