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Ryan McLane

Ryan McLane was a poker reporter for Casino City. Although he has a strong background in reporting, the same can't be said for his poker skills. He has never won a major tournament nor is he a professional player. Currently, Ryan lives in Boston and occasionally makes international treks to cover tournament poker and news.

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ePassporte.com remains an option for U.S. players

ePassporte.com remains a viable e-wallet service for U.S. Internet poker players, although new customers can expect some significant delays when trying to establish a functional account.

The service is one of the few financial processors remaining for American online gamblers. NETeller, Citadel, INSTAdebit and InstaCash all left the U.S. market following the arrests of NETeller co-founders Stephen Lawrence and John LeFebvre by U.S. authorities.

Click2Pay, one of the largest online gaming processors, still accepts American transactions, but does not allow players from the U.S. to open new accounts.

Major sites accepting ePassporte include Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Ultimate Bet, and Doyle's Room.

ePassporte test run

A Casino City reporter attempted to sign up for a new ePassporte account on Wednesday, Jan. 15. The registration process was simple, requiring basic user information and a verification email. This part went smoothly and an account was established within minutes.

But loading money into the new account was a completely different story. First, the reporter needed to wait until ePassporte made micro-deposits into a designated bank account.

After checking the bank account every day for 10 days, the long-awaited micro-deposits arrived on Jan. 25.

Once the amounts of the micro-deposits were verified by ePassporte in a simple Web form, the reporter was then asked to load his account with money from the bank account.

The reporter attempted a $50 deposit and received a message that the transaction will require up to seven business days to complete.

While the process is a far cry from the Instacash options once available through NETeller, ePassporte does remain a choice for patient gamers looking to reload their online casino accounts.

Absolute finds a way

Other sites, like Absolute Poker, are also finding ways to get players their money.

The same Casino City reporter signed up for a new Absolute Poker account after hearing that they process debit card transactions for American players.

The reporter went through the normal process of signing up for a player account. Once that was done, the reporter chose the Visa-card option under the Cashier tab and attempted to load $50 into the new account.

The Visa-debit card transaction went through, but a message appeared asking the reporter to call and verify the information.

The phone call took 30 minutes from start to finish, but once completed, Absolute Poker allowed the reporter to use his $50 on the site along with a 100 percent bonus for signing up.

There was one caveat. If the reporter wants to continue processing transactions at Absolute Poker, including withdrawals, he must send in a form with information that includes a rubbing of the actual debit card.