This is Part 4 of my Poker Bonus Guide. It will cover step-by-step how to deposit money at your first online poker site.

If you’re brand new to playing online poker for money, you might be nervous about giving out your banking, or credit card information.

This is understandable, as I was the same way in the beginning. The purpose of this article is to help you feel confident about playing online poker for real money. I’ll walk you through your first real money deposit, plus give you advice on the safest poker deposit options and methods.

Beginner Online Poker Tips

  • If you plan on playing online poker long term, it’s best to get a seperate bank account to manage your bankroll
  • With the right plan, you can easily build a nice bankroll with poker bonuses (in the thousands)
  • Always deposit the maximum when getting bonuses (ex. 100% match up to $600 — deposit $600 not $300)

Your First Real Money Poker Deposit

For your first deposit you can choose any poker room you like. But since the majority of you will find this article from the United States, I’ve chosen Full Tilt Poker to use in this tutorial. Full Tilt Poker is a very popular US friendly poker room so it makes sense to start there.

Another reason to sign up at Full Tilt first is because their bonus is extremely small compared to other poker sites. So, for those of you who want to make money with poker bonuses by building a bankroll, this is a good practice site. And for those who don’t want to invest much money to start with, Full Tilt only requires a $50 deposit to get the $50 free bonus. Excited yet? Let’s get started! Please note that Full Tilt does offer a 100 percent bonus up to $600 total, so a $600 deposit would get you the maximum $600 bonus.

Step 1: Install Software
If you haven’t already done so, go to FullTiltPoker.com, download, and install their software

Step 2: Account Setup
Once installed, load Full Tilt. To Register your PokerStars account, select “Create Account” from the “Account” menu in the Full Tilt lobby and fill in the necessary fields on the registration form. Be sure to enter a valid email address for your validation code to be sent.

IMPORTANT POKER BONUS STEP: Be sure to enter the Full Tilt Poker referral code: MYRTLE

Step 3: Validate Your Account
To Validate your account, select “Validate Email Address” from the “Account” menu in the Full Tilt Poker lobby, then enter the code that has been sent to the email address entered in Step 2.

Step 4: Make a Real Money Deposit to Play Online Poker

  • Click the “Cashier” button located at the bottom left corner of your game lobby.
  • Click “Buy Chips” and choose a funding option, and click “Deposit”.
    • US & Canadian Players: I recommend eChecks. The money is deducted straight from your checking account. They are free, easy, safe, and best of all, INSTANT!
    • Non-US Players: I suggest you use Neteller. They are an ewallet service similar to Paypal. I, and millions of others, used them exclusively before they stopped taking US players. It takes a couple of days to verify your bank account, but after that you can move money around online quickly.

So that’s it. Congrats on your first real money poker deposit! By now, you should feel comfortable going through my list of poker sign up bonuses without difficulty. In my next article, I’ll show you how to build your bankroll with poker bonuses.

If anything in this guide is unclear, or if you have a question or comment about playing online poker for money, please leave a comment and I’ll be sure to answer it ASAP.