While online sports betting is fairly popular in the United States and there are many quality offshore sites like Bovada or BetOnline that offer their services to US residents, there's simply no denying the fact that US-based gambling enthusiasts have to go through a lot of hassle whenever they want to open a real money gaming account. Ever since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was passed, the availability of some of the best and most popular deposit options has been extremely limited all over the country. Even the players accessing state based online gambling in areas such as NJ have had problems with funding their accounts. This was one of the driving forces for creating this Sportsbook Deposit and Banking Guide.

Finding reliable and legal sportsbook deposit methods has not always been easy for USA players. Even now that the industry has stabilized, the options available to American sports bettors is somewhat limited. This guide provides information on the best solutions for US players as well as access to those reputable sportsbooks accepting US friendly banking methods. The most widely used options for players in the United States include credit/debit cards, money transfers, secure payment vouchers, and bank wires.

Most of the US-based online sports betting participants end up depositing via credit and debit cards, but you should keep in mind that this method isn't exactly 100% reliable and does require some documentation in order to use. First of all, in order to take advantage of credit card sportsbook deposits, you have to make sure that your credit card has been cleared for international transactions, as the popular domestic-only cards that can be acquired at your local store or pharmacy simply won't be accepted by most of the sites. Furthermore, the acceptance rates tend to vary from one card to another, but none of them are perfectly consistent. Most bank issued credit and debit cards are automatically cleared for use Internationally, so in most cases you won't have to do anything extra.

Fortunately, even if your transaction gets blocked, you won't have to face any charges or lose any money. However, you'll be forced to try another card, as you can rest assured that the one you tried is pretty much useless for online gambling purposes. Generally speaking, Visa cards tend to have the highest acceptance rates, MasterCard is pretty much hit or miss, while American Express and Discover are less likely to allow for a successful deposit for US bettors.

One alternative option many players turn to are sportsbooks that accept prepaid cards. These sites offer creative ways for getting your credit card deposit to go through. They often partner with various gift card companies where you can purchase a prepaid gift card, and use a special number to make an instant deposit at the online sportsbook.

E-wallet banking isn't supported for US players due to the fact that all the popular e-commerce companies such as Skrill, Paypal, or Neteller have opted to withdraw from the US market after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has been passed back in 2006. Consequently, eWallet options are supported as popular UK sportsbook deposits. US-based punters have no access to any form of instant online banking and are forced to rely on solutions which are considered to be rather outdated within the industry, which include Western Union and MoneyGram money, money orders, credit card payments and bank wire transfers. Recently, bitcoin sportsbook deposits have begun to emerge at US friendly online sports betting sites such as BetOnline.ag and SportsBetting.ag.

The number of withdrawal options available to American bettors is even more limited than the number of payment methods. The default way of cashing out for most sites is to send a traditional bank wire transfer, which shouldn't be all that surprising since credit card deposits account for the lion's share of payments these days. However, punters who made a deposit via Western Union or MoneyGram are often allowed to request a payout using this service. Finally, it is worth pointing out that some sites support withdrawals via a check by courier, but you should keep in mind that this method is very expensive and isn't available all over the country. Wire transfer cash outs tend to take up to two weeks, but in most cases you should receive your money in between seven and ten days.