Gambling online can be a scary thing.
You want to know when you go to gamble online, that your information will be safe; that you’ll be able to safely make a payment online; that you’ll be able to collect your winnings; and that the games will be fair.
So, let me ask you this…
What if I told you that achieving all this was simply a matter of joining an online gambling site that accepted PayPal?
Would you be excited? You should be.
There are many benefits to using PayPal for gambling online. I’ll cover a few of them below. One of the biggest ones for me though, is how selective they are of which casinos they let use them as a payment method.
This is a barrier to entry that works out great for people like you and me. It means that casinos that accept PayPal have vetted to some degree …and that PayPal gave them a thumbs-up, which is why we can wholeheartedly recommend any of the casinos in the list below.
Now, if you already have a PayPal account, we know you need no further convincing from us because you already know how great having a PayPal account is. So, all you have to do is simply choose a site to get started.
For everyone else – we’re going to cover PayPal and gambling sites who accept PayPal below.
First, What’s PayPal?
First, a quick primer. What exactly is PayPal?
Well, according to Wikipedia:
PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American company operating a worldwide online payments system that supports online money transfers and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods like checks and money orders. PayPal is one of the world’s largest Internet payment companies. , auction sites and other commercial users, for which it charges a fee.
Simply put, PayPal is an electronic wallet, or e-wallet, that you can use to send, store and spend money just about anywhere in the world.
4 Benefits to Using PayPal to Gamble Online
There are many benefits to using PayPal. We cover several on our PayPal banking page. But, for now, I want to focus on the benefits as it pertains to gambling online.
Here are the top 4 benefits for me:
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Trust & Safety
PayPal is a huge, public company worth billions of dollars. They have better things to do than run nickel-and-dime scams on people. They also have a company and brand to protect. For that reason, they’re very careful with who they let accept PayPal. Whoever accepts PayPal needs to comply with the laws in the jurisdictions as they do business.
What this means for you is that the sites that accept PayPal have already been vetted to some degree. If they’re good enough for PayPal, then chances are they’re good enough for you.
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It’s Fast
When you want to play blackjack or a few rounds of slots, you don’t want to wait several minutes, much less a few hours or even days before you can sit down to play.
One of the perks of using PayPal is that it’s as close to instant as you can get. It’s a matter of filling in your details, logging into PayPal and then confirming your payment. Your funds should be ready in a matter of seconds.
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Minimal Fees
PayPal’s one of the cheaper alternatives. Most gambling sites don’t charge fees on PayPal deposits or cash outs. You’ll only experience fees on PayPal’s end, and that’s only if you receive a ‘payment’ of some kind. If the money’s transferred from friend/family to friend/family, usually there aren’t any fees.
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Limits
PayPal often has higher limits in the 4-5-figure range. This should be good enough for most people who want to gamble online.
Those are the benefits I think will be of interest to most people gambling online. However, there are additional benefits to having a PayPal account if you don’t already have one.
For example, they have a mobile app for easy on-the-go banking. They also have a debit card you can get, which means that you don’t have to wait to transfer your winnings before you can use them. And, you can get cashback on your purchases.
When combined with my top four benefits above, it’s really clear to me that nearly every person should have a PayPal account. The benefits easily outweigh any of the drawbacks.
4 Drawbacks to Using PayPal
I could go the easy route and say I can’t think of any drawbacks. But that’s a cop-out. It took a few minutes, but I thought of a few reasons why you might not be happy using PayPal to gamble online.
How Good’s the Vetting Process?
PayPal likely vets each casino that uses them for payment processing, but to what degree? Yeah, they comply with local laws, but does that mean they’re a legit casino or honest sportsbook? Will they treat you fairly?
In other words, a legal casino can still be average in all other areas. Just because they accept PayPal, that doesn’t mean they’re great or brag-worthy.
Middle Man
Another reason why some people may not like using PayPal is that they’re a middle man. You’ll transfer money to them from your bank, which can take a couple days. Then deposit to the gambling site. Then reverse the process when you’re ready to cash out. You have to go through PayPal each time you want to use it (for deposits or cash outs).
For some people, it might make more sense to use a credit card – assuming they can use them for both deposits and withdrawals. This bypasses the middle man, which should speed up the depositing and withdrawing process (to/from your bank).
Please Note:
This isn’t such a big deal if you plan to use PayPal for your online shopping OR if you’re not in a rush to have your money.
Not Widely Available
Because PayPal is picky about who can use them, you won’t find them at every casino. So, you’ll need to do some research to figure out which casinos accept them.
But luckily for you, that’s one of the reasons why we created this page and added the top-list above— To minimize the amount of research you need to do before you’re able to gamble online.
Freezing Accounts
Though I haven’t heard much about it recently, PayPal has been known to freeze accounts for what they deem is suspicious activity. If, for some reason, they think they’re something wrong with your account, they’ll freeze it and anything you have in it. This can be a huge pain to deal with, and can lock your funds up for weeks/months, which can be even worse to deal with IF you NEED the money in your account.
3 Steps to Getting Started
By now, you probably already know whether you’re going to give PayPal a shot or if you’re going to learn more about a different banking method (All of which we cover elsewhere on the site).
Let’s assume you want to use PayPal though. Where do you start?
This part is real simple. All you need is an email address and credit/debit card. You need a card to link PayPal to so that there’s a source for loading and unloading your PayPal funds.
Once you fill out your details PayPal will make 1-2 random deposits. All you need to do is confirm your card/bank account by telling PayPal how much those deposits were. Then you’ll be good to go.
You can right on their website. Most people will be good choosing the personal account option. You can always upgrade later, or create an additional account if you need one for business.
STEP 2
Choose a Casino Online
Because the casinos above already accept PayPal, you don’t have to worry about that part. Nor do you need to worry about safety, trust or any of those things.
So, what do you need to think about then? These things:
- What do you want to play or bet on? Do you want to play poker? Bet on sports? Play slots or blackjack? All the above?
- Do you want a bonus? What playthrough terms are you willing to agree to? Do you want a VIP program, or is a simple cashback program enough?
- Does software matter?
- If you play poker, do they have the stakes, games, and variants you want?
- Are pros allowed (betting and/or poker)?
I’m sure there’s plenty of other stuff to think about. The point is, you want to find a site that has most of what you want that also accepts PayPal. This can be difficult to accomplish, depending on what you’re looking for.
Be sure to read our reviews. That will be the fastest way to complete this step.
Tip!
Many gambling sites that accept PayPal also happen to be all-in-one sites. They usually offer at least two kinds of gambling, sports and casino being most common, but can also include bingo, poker and financials.
Even more, I recommend having a backup deposit and cash out method in case the casino stops accepting PayPal, or in the event you run into any issues. So, I would look for that, too, when going through your ‘must have’ list above.
Then choose a site and create your account.
This part is real simple, too. Just follow these steps:
- Go to the cashier.
- Choose PayPal.
- Enter how much you want to deposit.
- Click submit.
You’ll be transferred to PayPal, where you’ll log-in and confirm your purchase. Once confirmed, the money should be in your account almost instantly.
PayPal Casino Onlines FAQ
I realized after writing the above that there’s bound to be a lot of questions about PayPal gambling sites I’ve failed to cover above. So, I thought I’d pre-emptively try to tackle those questions here, as well as give us a spot to answer any questions we may receive in the future.
If you have any questions you can send them to us at [email protected]
Can Americans use PayPal to gamble online?
Nope. At least not while gambling at any unregulated casinos. PayPal won’t be an option there.
However, if you gamble at a legal online casino – one available in Delaware, Nevada or New Jersey – then PayPal may be an option.
What are some PayPal alternatives for Americans?
Honestly, you don’t have any alternatives that are like PayPal. None that I know about, at least.
Your best bet is to use a credit or debit card to deposit, then get a paper check, bank or money transfer for cash outs. So, your deposits will be fast, but your cash outs will take a few days …and will likely cost you a few bucks.
Though, if bitcoin is an option, I’d use that first. This is probably the closest to PayPal in terms of speed, convenience, and fees. But it’s also not widely available like PayPal and, unlike PayPal, its value fluctuates.
There are pros and cons to every banking method, though. You’ll have to decide which are worth living with.
Can I still claim a bonus if I use PayPal?
Yes, you should have no problem claiming a bonus—even if you use PayPal. If there are any exceptions, we’ll make a note of it in our reviews.
What other types of gambling can I use PayPal for?
As far as online gambling, you can use PayPal to bet on daily fantasy sports (DFS).
For offline gambling, I’ve used PayPal to pull cash from an ATM in my local casino. I’ve also used it for cash and purchases while in Las Vegas. A PayPal debit card is a great way to make a little cashback to offset some of your gambling losses.
What are some PayPal alternatives for non-US gamblers?
The closest alternatives will be Skrill or Neteller, both of which are also e-wallets. Other than that, you can use bitcoin.
Conclusion
That’s all there is to it!
I think PayPal is a no brainer if you’re able to use it. It’s fast, convenient and almost guarantees that you’ll join a trustworthy gambling site.
Your biggest challenge with this task is finding a casino that fits what you’re looking for – that it has the software, games, betting options, rules, etc. you want.
But that’s not too hard to do thanks to our reviews. Especially since – thanks to PayPal – trust and safety are no longer issues.
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