According to the Swiss Gambling and Casino Act of 1998, all forms of online gambling are legally forbidden within the country of Switzerland. While this law has been successful in scaring players away from playing online poker for real money, the true effectiveness of this bill has yet to be seen. While the Swiss government has officially declared online gambling illegal, there have been no cases of anyone ever being charged with the crime and there is currently no enforcement in place to carry out the law. Below is the most popular online poker sites in Switzerland and a general overview of Switzerland poker deposit options.

Deposit Options At Switzerland Poker Sites

While the 1998 bill hasn't stopped thousands of Swiss online poker players from enjoying the game, it has seriously inhibited Swiss online poker players from being able to easily fund their real money accounts. Because of the law banning online gambling within the country, Swiss online poker players often face difficulties getting real money into their online poker site accounts. However, several options do still exist. Swiss online poker players should be careful to select an online deposit option that will work for their particular situation.

While online poker players from most countries usually have the ability to make online poker deposits directly from their bank accounts, online poker players from Switzerland are not able to enjoy this privilege. Because of the government ban on online gambling within the country, almost all Swiss banks will strictly forbid any transactions directly to an online poker website. Any attempts to do so on an online poker site will usually result in an instant rejection of funds transfer.

Like Swiss banks, most Swiss credit card companies will also deny any transactions directly to an online gambling site. However, a Swiss holder of a debit card, such as the Visa Electron card, might be able to process an online transaction to a poker provider. To determine your ability to deposit funds to an online poker site, simply call the institution that issued your card and ask for their policies on transactions to online gambling site. Be aware that many institutions will charge high transaction fees for any transactions made to a betting site.

The best poker deposit option for Swiss online poker players to fund their online real money accounts is to use a third-party payment processing system. These payment processors, commonly known as e-wallets, give users the ability to make real money deposits from their bank account or credit card without having to make a transaction directly to the online poker provider. Instead, deposits are first made to the online third-party account, which can then be used to make payments or deposits to a wide variety of online merchants. Because the transaction is not going directly to an online gambling site, banks and credit card companies will not deny the transaction. This adds a certain level of security to funding your online poker account, allowing you to make deposits without ever having to provider personal account information to an online gambling site, which may not have a reputation for security.