Crash course in backgammon - Depositing

Sooner or later the time comes when you will do your first deposit to your online backgammon site. It is much easier than you might have thought, it is only a matter of a few steps. But how do you actually do the deposit? How much is a good first deposit amount? And is it safe?

As usual, we’ll stick to Gammon Empire to illustrate depositing. In Gammon Empire you’ll be handling all your money transfers in the Cashier. You can access it in Real Money mode in the left lower corner of the software.

There is a good selection of various depositing methods, which should satisfy most depositing needs. You have the possibility of using your credit card, which is for many the most convenient and fastest way of depositing. You can also use PayPal or two other Internet banking service providers: Neteller or Moneybookers.

These are all good options and the deposits are made instantaneously. Obviously to be able to use PayPal, Neteller or Moneybookers, you will first need to register with them for an account. Finally, you have Western Union and regular Wire transfer to take care of some more sizeable money deposits.

Credit card deposits

Probably the easiest way to deposit money to your backgammon account is by credit card. No fuss, no additional service providers required, you can just deposit right then and there. You are required to enter the usual card holder and credit card information and you are done.

Most of us own a credit card or have know somebody reliable who is willing to help out and do a credit card deposit. You can deposit anything between $5 and $250 which gives a comfortable range and is well enough for beginners.

Note: Due to global credit card limitations if you deposit via any other credit card than Visa, you will not be able to withdraw money to that credit card account.

PayPal, Neteller and Moneybookers

If you are unable or uncomfortable using your credit card, the next best options are probably PayPal, Neteller and Moneybookers. They are all service providers that all work on the same basic principle: You open an account, you deposit money to the accout and transfer the money from your new account to your backgammon site player account. You can also withdraw money to any of them and therefore they act as online money depositories. All are very popular and also recommended for long-term use.

The account setup process for all three service providers is fairly straightforward. Depending on your location and the amount of security verifications you could be up and running in a matter of 30 minutes or up to two or three working days at most. Should you go through rigorous security checks that might feel as a real pain, keep in mind that they are not only for the service provider’s safety but also in your own interest in terms of legal and financial security.

Having extensively used all three methods it really is a matter of personal preference which one you should choose - there really aren’t big differences in the end-service they provide. We here at Winning Backgammon recommend Neteller.

Western Union and Wire transfer

The last two deposit methods are intended for higher value deposits only, or in other words for serious and advanced players. Where the previous deposit methods allow minimal deposits of a few dollars (or euros), you need to deposit a mimimum of $200 with both Western Union and wire transfer. There are higher service fees involved with these transfer methods and therefore the minimum deposit limit has been set considerably higher to steer customers to use any of the first four deposit methods. However, if you are a serious player these are also only the two deposit methods worth considering - both allow up to $5,000 deposits a month. In comparison, the other deposit methods allow only a fraction of that: $500.

What should I use to deposit money?

To keep it simple, we recommend credit card for starters. As stated above it is simple, fast and doesn’t require any other parties to be involved.

As a beginner you can forget about Wire transfer and Western Union because of the high initial minimum deposit limits.

Later you should consider using Neteller, Moneybookers or PayPal. It is a good idea to choose one of the three to use for your backgammon money transfers only, that way you will have a clear overview of all the financial transactions to and from backgammon sites if you’ll end up playing on other sites as well. Most backgammon sites support all three service providers which makes it a safe bet to go with any of them.

How much should I deposit on my first deposit?

While the minimum credit card deposit is at $5 we recommend you to deposit slightly more, say $25. That’s the cost of a few beers at your local bar, less than the costs of a night at the movies and certainly won’t make a difference in your financial situation. However, on a backgammon site that amount will give you access to a whole lot if different tables and smaller tournaments. As a beginner, let’s be realistic: chances are that you will loose it all, but this small money will teach you a lot about real money backgammon and will prepare you for more serious tournaments. But we’ll talk more about playing for real money in our the next article.

Is it safe to deposit?

If you are unfamilar with Internet money transfers and with credit card transaction in particular, you might have some concerns about using your credit card to deposit money to a backgammon sites. In that case you should read about more on the subject and to know what precautions you can take to prevent yourself from becoming a victim. A good starting point is the How Stuff Works article on Identity theft, which also discusses credit card fraud and internet transactions.

However, common sense will help you a long way down the road. Therefore the very first thing you should do to minimize any trouble is to stick with large and popular online backgammon sites such as Gammon Empire and Play65. Their level of customer support and investment in safe and fun game experience is very high indeed. In addition, sites that large can’t take the risk of compromising the security of their customers or even taking advantage of them in a fraudulent way. Can you imagine just how fast the word would go around on the Internet if that happened and how much damage it would do to a site with over 10,000 players at any given moment? There is just too much money at stake for them to allow that happen.

In short: no need to worry.

Continue reading: Playing for Real money