Do online poker sites pay your money?

When an online poker site receives a withdrawal request from a poker player, it usually takes them 3 to 10 business days to complete the money transfer and pay his poker money. It is in their best interest to pay out the money, since they don't want to harm their reputation and lose potential loyal poker players. However withdrawing money even from the best online poker sites can take longer than 15 days, and that is when things get a bit messy.

Although I have withdrawn money before from my Pokerstars account, one of the best online poker site, I had experienced payment delay just once and that was before Christmas. I had contacted their support for that issue and I got a promising reply that there was no need to worry and that they verified the money had been on my way. Even if the money transfer was to be delayed more, I still need not to worry at all, since they would track down the funds and they reassured me that the funds were safe and secure. Indeed, a couple of days later I received the money in my bank account having withdrawn them with a debit card and the incident had ended. My poker money had been delayed for 9 business days back then.

However once again I deal with delays after I withdrew some money from my poker account. This time however 10 business days have passed and upon informing their support stuff of the incident, they kindly requested I should send them a screen capture of my bank statement to carry on the procedure in order to track the funds. I should point out that I have asked to withdraw money on 25th of January. After sending them the necessary screen shot, they replied saying that they are tracing the specific payment and they will contact me again as soon as they have a positive response from their processor. Until then I'm asked to be patient.

While I am not worried at all, I often wonder whether it is the online poker site that delays the payment or the bank itself. I have come to the conclusion that it is the bank's fault. The poker site has already made money from me, charging commission on my winnings in each pot I have won in the past. Why would they risk losing a loyal customer for just a tiny fraction of their huge money chest? They simply don't have a single reason not to send the funds, when a poker player withdraws his money. Granted they want everyone never to withdraw their money until all the money have been risked in infinite pots and commission earns them all. But that is a bit difficult, isn't it? On the other hand, who would disagree that deposits are more than withdrawals in an online poker site? Not all people play online poker for money - although internet is full of poker pros!

Poker - Online Poker Sites