Why aren't more U.S. poker players using the bitcoin?

Hello everyone. Long-time online poker player here. Lurk at this site quite often, but do not post frequently. I have played online poker for 15 years. party poker, sportsbook.com(Cake & Merge) pokerstars, Full Tilt, Paradise Poker, bodog, Carbon, and on and on.

Well, Pokerstars was by far the best experience---fast, reliable cashouts and great game selection. Then, everyone knows how Black Friday changed all of that.

Much like the rest of us casual players from the US, I eventually tired of the whole online experience. Got burned by some bouncing checks from pokersites, etc. I took a few months off completely, but the urge to play eventually resurfaced.

I found a site named Betcoin...a bitcoin site. What the hell is a bitcoin? I did some reading and said what the hell, I will give it a try. Started by playing some freerolls...site is part of the Winning Poker Network...decent software.
I binked a couple freerolls and ran my roll up to about 100 coins (0.1 BTC).

I then decided to cashout. Transfer from poker account to an outside bitcoin wallet--then to another--then an exchange to cash and into my bank account. First time, it took 4-5 days...my last withdrawal (4th one) was poker account to bank account..2 days!

I am not a paid spokesperson for the site, or for bitcoin for that matter. I am just a really satisfied player from the US that has found a suitable avenue to continue playing. I am shocked that more players have not taken this route yet.

Any comments or information regarding bitcoins and poker would be welcomed!

acr/bcp on the wpn also have the bitcoin option with funds stored in $$ while in your poker account, while betcoin stores in actual coins right so the amount of your br can fluctuate with the coin.

i havn't tried the bitcoin withdrawel yet but know a couple of members do, i think some may simply find it confusing having to have a digital bitcoin wallet to withdraw to and then basically having to exchange your bitcoin to get cash etc... its just extra steps that many would find overwhelming at least at first.

I mention SwC sometimes, and it's a good site. I would like to see other players try them. I just started with them little freerolls and from them, I was able to buy in some with pretty good prize pools with those few chips. And now I have 80 chips which is like $15. But still could be wrong, because I havn't looked it up. A friend said 100 chips are worth $20. I still play the freerolls. They go fast for 50 or 60 players. Anyway you guys check them out. For sure when SwC closed awhile back, every player go their money, besides cash out is quick

I appreciate the responses....I also see that bcp/acr accepts bitcoin as a mean to deposit, but I don't think they allow it for withdrawal. I may be wrong...I also understand that on Betcoin your bankroll can fluctuate with the BTC/USD exchange rate. I guess that I just don't care because I built my bankroll from freerolls, so it's all house money for me. The exchange rate can work both ways fortunately. When I first started 1 BTC=$250 now it has went to $350! That is a 40% ROI without ever seeing a flop.

I guess the way to combat the volatility of the bitcoin price is to do frequent withdrawals and only keep a minimum bankroll for the stakes that I am playing.
With the ease of cashout, I am just shocked that more US players haven't jumped aboard. I grew extremely tired of waiting 2 months for checks in the mail that may or may not cash at the bank.

After setting it up, Bitcoin is BY FAR the best option. I can't believe people wait 3 weeks for bouncing checks still.

What sites take bitcoin? Also, what poker sites do most cardchat users use? Im in the us.

Fjb327 said:

What sites take bitcoin? Also, what poker sites do most cardchat users use? Im in the us.

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Americas card room. Do I get an affiliate bonus for that?