How To Bet Sports & Play Poker Using Cryptocurrency

As cryptocurrencies continue their assault on traditional financial mediums, more and more people are turning to Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum for their online transactions.

The benefits of using digital currencies for online purchases include privacy, fees, and rewards, each of which will be covered in greater detail below. Two sectors that have seen the most growth as it relates to cryptocurrency use are the sports betting and poker markets. These have prospered over the past handful of years thanks to the increasing ease and security with which people can send and receive cryptocurrencies, as well quickly and painlessly convert Bitcoin and other cryptos into cash.

One of the world’s leading online poker platforms is the Winning Poker Network, which allows worldwide players to take part in the popular game from the comfort of their home, while also enabling them to bet on dozens of different sports or similar wagering events.
Being an industry leader in both the poker and sports space, the Winning Poker Network with flagship site Americas Cardroom, has also been a trailblazer in the cryptocurrency gambling world. They’ve done this by first offering Bitcoin for deposits and withdrawals back in 2015, way ahead of their competitors. They’ve now continued to outpace the competition by accepting over 60 cryptocurrencies in total. So, whether you like to use Bitcoin to play some No Limit Hold’em poker, Ethereum to bet on the L.A. Lakers to win the NBA championship, or Dogecoin to bet on the next presidential election, the Winning Poker Network makes it all possible while adhering to its world-class safety protocols that ensure all funds are safe and paid out nearly instantly whenever you elect to cash out your profits.

But before we look at how to play poker with Bitcoin, or bet on sports using Ethereum, let’s first take a look at some of the most common questions asked by new cryptocurrency fans looking to leave behind the complex world of fiat deposits and withdrawals and enter the new world of low fees and near-instant transactions.

Listed below are 14 of your most pressing questions about the nuts and bolts of cryptocurrencies and their use in the online gambling space. We also give answers that will allow you to instantly join the digital revolution and begin partaking in two of your favorite hobbies without middlemen or over-reaching government interference. With that said, make sure to also do your own due diligence as cryptocurrency rules and laws are still constantly evolving and vary in each jurisdiction.

So, if you’re ready, let’s dive in and break down exactly how cryptocurrency transactions work, what steps one needs to convert cash into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and begin playing poker and betting sports quicker and cheaper than ever before.

In a cryptocurrency transaction, user A sends user B digital currency that is stored on a digital wallet via the blockchain. However, unlike a regular bank transfer, the payment goes directly to the end user without a middleman, making it cheaper, quicker, and safer to transfer funds peer-to-peer.

A cryptocurrency exchange is an online platform that allows the buying, selling, and trading of digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Most cryptocurrency exchange fees are significantly lower than traditional banking fees due to the instant nature of cryptocurrency transactions.

There are many ways to safely buy cryptocurrency on the open market, with the easiest being signing up at a cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to trade your local currency for digital currency. These exchanges, which include Binance, Gemini, Kraken, and Coinbase, offer a quick and easy way to convert dollars into Bitcoin and “alt-currencies” such as Ethereum and Dogecoin. The best crypto exchanges accept payments via bank transfer and credit card. To make your first deposit, simply sign up at one of the exchanges listed above (or similar ones within your jurisdiction) and either enter in your credit card details or click on the deposit button and follow the steps to connect your bank account.

Once purchased, it is up to each user to decide whether to leave the funds on the cryptocurrency exchange software (recommended to only be done by Day Traders and never for an amount you’re not ready to lose in its entirety) or send it to a storage device such as Trezor for safekeeping. When deciding which option to choose, it’s best to remember the crypto wisdom ‘not your keys, not your bitcoin’ – meaning that when leaving cryptocurrency on an exchange, mining pool or any other custodial service, there is no guaranteeing its absolute safekeeping.

One of the most frequent questions asked by new players in the digital currency space is how to exchange cryptocurrency for USD. First off, as for the question of whether cryptocurrency can be converted into cash, the answer is absolutely. In fact, many of the same exchanges that allow users to deposit from a bank account will allow the reverse as well. In that situation, simply send the cryptocurrency back to the exchange if it had been moved to a storage device or click the withdrawal button and follow the steps to convert the digital currency back into cash.

Buying Litecoin with cash takes the exact same process as buying Bitcoin with potentially one small difference. If your selected exchange does not offer a LTC/USD pairing (most do), you would first need to use your cash to buy Bitcoin, and then use the trading platform to exchange it for the LTC/BTC pairing.

Once again, the same process as buying Bitcoin needs to be completed to buy Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Much like with Litecoin, if your chosen exchange does not offer a DOGE/USD pairing, simply convert your cash to Bitcoin first and then trade into Doge via the DOGE/BTC pairing.

In addition to online exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance, many physical locations around the world now offer Bitcoin ATMs where users can exchange cash or a bank transfer for Bitcoin. To find out if there’s any such locations in your vicinity, simply google ‘where can I buy Bitcoin near me?’ and scroll through the results to determine the best option. One word of warning: when doing so, remember to look at the associated fees each location charges as they may vary greatly.

Although it depends on each individual’s exact location, the short answer is that, in general, yes you must pay taxes on cryptocurrency. With Bitcoin being classified as an ‘asset’, the IRS (and many other governing bodies around the world) mandates that individuals must report cryptocurrency transactions of any kind. In fact, the IRS expects all taxpayers to keep records of all uses of cryptocurrency and in 2019 warned that failure to do so could result in penalties, interest, or criminal prosecution.

With Bitcoin’s average transaction fee being about $25 at the time of this publication, many other cryptocurrencies offer better alternatives, including the following.

Nano: This cryptocurrency has absolutely no fees thanks to its reliance on Open Representative Voting for consensus and security. In fact, the zero fees are built directly into the protocol. Additionally, Nano has one of the fastest confirmation times in the industry, coming in under half a second. With a consensus mechanism being so secure and transactions having no ability to be reversed, even exchanges will consider it confirmed immediately following the transaction.

Digibyte: Coming in a close second, Digibyte or DGB has just a $0.0005 fee and uses a combination of five mining algorithms compared to BTC’s one, which helps avoid miner centralization.

XRP: Although XRP is a bit of a polarizing coin within the cryptocurrency community due to its centralization, there is no denying that the $0.00078 fee and four-second confirmation time makes it appealing to people looking for quick and cheap transactions.

Although most countries still do not have official laws for or against cryptocurrency gambling, many have begun working on legislation that would permit it under similar terms to sports betting or regular online gambling. Some of the places that already offer legal licenses to casinos for cryptocurrency gambling include the island of Curacao as well as the United Kingdom.

Some of the advantages of using Bitcoin for online gambling (and specifically for online poker sites like Americas Cardroom, aka ACR Poker) include low fees, privacy, and deposit bonuses. So whether you prefer to buy XRP, Litecoin, Dogecoin, or Bitcoin, they have you covered with over 60 options to choose from. Let’s dig deeper into the advantages for using Bitcoin and alternative digital currencies for online poker.

Low Fees: As discussed above, with the ability to process transactions of any dollar amount for fractions of a penny, using Bitcoin to play online poker can save users significant fees, leaving them more capital to deploy at the tables.

Privacy: With Bitcoin being decentralized, no bank or government has jurisdiction over it or the transactions made using it, meaning that no information is collected or displayed about its users. Once purchased, all one needs to do is submit the receiving address and the transaction can be completed. With that said, keep in mind that all transactions made using Bitcoin are stored on the blockchain, which is essentially a huge database of transactions.

Deposit Bonuses: Perhaps most appealingly, many online poker rooms such as Americas Cardroom offer significant extra bonuses for making a deposit with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. In fact, Americas Cardroom has run promotions where players got double the regular signup bonus when depositing with cryptocurrency. Namely 200% up to $1,000, compared to the 100% up to $1,000 for all other deposit methods like credit card etc.

As an industry leader in the cryptocurrency gambling and poker space, Americas Cardroom accepts more than 60 different cryptocurrencies and apart from the “miner’s fee,” there is no transaction fee to players whatsoever. Additionally, when depositing with Bitcoin, there is little waiting time for transactions to clear, meaning players can deposit and almost immediately jump into the action. Americas Cardroom’s Bitcoin deposit limits are as follows:

• Minimum Single Deposit: $10
• Maximum Single Deposit: $25,000

To use Bitcoin for sports betting, simply deposit your selected cryptocurrency to the site of your choice and the funds will appear in your account. You can then begin betting on all major sporting events like Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Soccer, Tennis, NASCAR, Golf, Horse Racing, Boxing and more. You can also wager on events such as Politics, Academy Awards, Grammys and Reality TV shows. Pretty much the only thing you can’t bet on is a bitcoin price prediction, though you can do that on cryptocurrency exchange software platforms such as FTX.

As you can see, while the world of cryptocurrencies is still in its infancy, the process for converting cash into Bitcoin and beginning to play poker and bet on sports using cryptos has never been easier and more secure. So, if you’re ready to join the digital revolution today, simply head over to the poker site of your choice, deposit your favorite cryptocurrency, and jump into the action. Because as the saying goes, “the future is already here”.