A bank draft is a check that is produced by a bank itself, as opposed to by a bank customer. This check is drawn from a bank against its own funds and deposited in another bank or financial account. Bank drafts are available to bank members, sometimes for a fee and sometimes not. Whether or not you incur a fee when you draw up a bank draft depends on your bank’s policy, the size and scope of your accounts with that bank, and other features that are different from one financial institution to another.
What Are Bank Draft Poker Deposits?
Bank draft poker deposits and other payments became really important to Canadian poker players once banks and major credit card companies in Canada started limiting or shutting off all direct deposits to online gaming sites. In many cases, a poker player in Canada can draw up a bank draft and send it to their poker site’s cashier, getting around the bank’s inability to pay the site directly.
To make a poker deposit in Canada using a bank draft, all you have to do is have your bank draw up a bank draft (sometimes called a bank check) for the amount that you want to deposit and send it to your poker room’s cashier. Obviously, your bank will only draw up a draft that your account can cover, and many banks have further bank draft policies that limit your bank draft amount. Most banks have an upper- and lower-limit for bank draft amounts. For more details on how much you can send to your poker site cashier with a bank draft, check your bank’s draft policies.
Requirements for Canadians to Use Bank Draft Deposits
The first and most obvious requirement for a Canadian poker player to use a bank draft is a bank account. Generally, bank drafts are available to all Canadians with a checking account, though some Canadian banks require you to have a certain amount in your account, carry a certain balance, or even have a savings account before they’ll let you draft a check directly from the bank.
Bank drafts are often more likely to pass your poker site’s cashier since they are printed checks, not personal checks filled out in pen. Many online poker sites that won’t accept personal checks will accept bank drafts for deposits.
To open a bank account in Canada, you need the following: two pieces of identification, your Social Insurance Number, and (in most cases) a credit check that the bank will run on their own. Different banks may have different policies, but in general you will only need these items to open your account.
As far as those two pieces of identification, you’ll need a Canadian driver’s license or ID card, a birth certificate, a Social Insurance Number card, a Canadian passport, a credit card or other bank card, and a small list of other items. For more on acceptable forms of ID for opening a bank account in Canada, call your local bank and ask for their specific needs.
Canadian Bank Draft Online Poker Sites
These three sites accept bank drafts from Canadian players as legal sources of funding for your poker account. Each site has a quick breakdown of its pros and cons. If you’re a Canadian poker player looking for a way to get your cash to your account, any of these three sites can help you out if you have the ability to present a bank draft.
Titan Poker Accepts Bank Draft
The flagship room of the iPoker network, running on Playtech software, Titan Poker accepts bank drafts from Canadians, and is currently offering a 200% first deposit bonus up to $2,000. Titan is known for their great tournament lineup ($16 million guaranteed in tourney prize money per month), some of the best-reviewed customer support in the industry, and software that’s both easy to use and accessible, currently available in 15 different languages. The biggest knock on Titan Poker it is the slightly boring graphics, which look downright stiff compared side by side with Full Tilt or PokerStars. Still, Titan Poker is a highly recommended Canadian-facing poker site due to a lucrative bonus program, fat tourney schedule, and the ease of use of Playtech’s iPoker software.
Poker 770 is Compatible with Bank Draft
One of the largest rooms in the iPoker lineup, Poker 770 is the stomping grounds of some of Europe’s best poker players. The majority of the traffic at Poker 770 comes from Europe, specifically France. Like any poker room with a large Euro client base, Poker 770 is pretty dull outside peak European traffic times, so Canadian players may have trouble finding good action when they like to play poker. Still, unique features like their eight table mini-view system (aimed at grinders) and the free $7.70 you get in your account just for signing up make this site stand out. Bank draft deposits from Canadian players are accepted.
Everest Poker Processes Bank Draft
Another great poker site for Canadians who want to use bank drafts for deposits, Everest Poker is a network unto itself. The best feature of Everest Poker is its large amount of Hold’em traffic even up to medium stakes. Because of the sheer amount of traffic, Everest has more loose play at medium and high stakes than other sites. Unfortunately, if you’re into game variety you’ll be out of luck at Everest, as they offer only Hold’em and Omaha. Still, a $500 lump-sum bonus and the loose play at medium stakes should be enough to draw most Canadian poker players in to give Everest a shot.
Canadian Regulations about Bank Draft Deposits
There are currently no Canadian laws or regulations governing the use of bank drafts to fund your online poker account. The trick is finding an online poker site that you enjoy that accepts bank draft deposits from Canadians.
But there’s even more good news for Canadians who want to give a bank draft poker room a try: often, just talking to your favorite poker room on the phone is enough to clear the way for a bank draft deposit, even if they don’t specifically say they accept such deposits. If the poker site you play at has done business with your bank before, you are even more likely to get approval.
The lesson here is that using a bank draft to fund your Canadian poker account is one of the most reliable ways of doing business. Since your bank issues the check directly, you have a little more control over it should something untoward happen to your deposit. Also, since you do business with your bank on a weekly basis, getting a bank draft is probably not too much of a hassle.
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