Looking at Irish Poker Sites

If you’re interested in playing online poker, Ireland is one of the best places in the world from which to play. Liberal gambling laws allow you access to a wide range of online poker sites, while favorable tax laws will make it even easier to have a good time. In short, there’s little to worry about when play at Irish poker sites: it’s simple, safe, and fun to play online poker in Ireland!

Is Online Poker Legal in Ireland?

Online poker is entirely legal in Ireland. In fact, there is little controversy about this in the country, as online gambling sites were first legalized in Ireland in 2003. Both local and foreign sites are fully accessible to players, meaning that virtually any online poker site in the world can be played on by Irish citizens. While Ireland is looking at updating their online gambling laws, these changes would only deal with licensing regulations and tax issues for operators of online poker sites, and should have absolutely no impact on the players themselves.

Do I Need to Pay Taxes on Online Poker Winnings?

Whether you’re an amateur who makes a lucky run in a big poker tournament or a professional constantly taking home profits from cash games, there’s nothing but good news when it comes to the tax situation in Ireland. Almost gambling winnings are exempt from taxes, meaning poker players do not have to report their profits as taxable income.

Before looking at deposit methods for Irish poker players, we have listed the best poker sites for those poker players based in Ireland.

Best Irish Poker Sites

Irish Poker Site Deposit Methods

Irish players have numerous ways to deposit money into their poker site accounts. In fact, players in Ireland even have some unique methods that you won’t find in other countries around the world.

First, let’s talk about some of the common methods that are popular in Ireland. Of course, as in almost every nation, it is possible to put money into your online poker accounts using a credit or debit card. In Ireland, that means that players can use both Visa and MasterCard-branded cards — or more commonly, the Visa Electron and Maestro cards that are regionally popular. In addition, the bank-issued Laser card is accepted at many online casinos, particular those that have a particular focus on the European market.

For most Irish players, e-wallet sites are also a popular deposit method. Sites such as Neteller and Skrill (Moneybookers) are a convenient way to deposit and withdrawal money from online poker rooms, as well as move money between different rooms. Players have the ability to safely transfer money quickly and easily, with few (if any) fees and no requirement to share personal banking information with poker sites.

Another option is to directly transfer funds from a bank account to the Irish poker site of your choice. Doing so allows you to have the security of your bank’s transfer system, and also makes depositing funds into a straightforward, single step process with no middlemen to deal with.

A recently popular method for moving money into online poker accounts is the prepaid voucher or card system. These methods, such as Ukash, offer a way to avoid the banking and financial system entirely when making deposits, which can be great if you’re worried about sharing any of your banking or credit information on the internet. Often, withdrawals can be processed via these methods as well.

However, players in Ireland also have another way of using cash to deposit money into their online poker accounts. When playing at sites like William Hill or Paddy Power, it is possible to travel to your local live betting shop (of the same brand) and deposit money directly at that store. This is both an amazingly convenient way to quickly move money into an Irish poker site, and perfectly secure, as only cash is required to facilitate this process.

Ireland-Based Poker Sites vs. Foreign Poker Sites

One of the biggest decisions a player from Ireland must make is whether to play at a locally-owned Irish poker site, or to choose to play at a site owned by a foreign group. Certainly, Irish sites like Paddy Power or Boyle Poker are heavily advertised in Ireland, which can lead to many Irish players choosing to play at those sites.

However, our recommendation for most Irish poker players is to seek out foreign sites to play on instead. This isn’t because these Irish sites are bad, per se; instead, there are simply better opportunities for players if they look elsewhere. In many cases, the bonus and promotional offers at foreign sites simply can’t be matched by Irish poker sites. This means that by looking outside of the traditional “Irish” sites, you’ll be able to gain more value for your play.

In addition, the larger player pools at many foreign sites give Irish players a number of great opportunities. In many cases, these sites offer softer games, as they include many players from countries where poker is newer and players are less experienced. In addition, sites with larger player populations are able to run more games at a larger variety of stakes, as well as offer tournaments with larger fields and prize pools.

Top Site With Online Bookies – William Hill Poker

William Hill Poker (www.williamhill.com) is part of one of the largest poker network on the planet, is an obvious favorite amongst Irish poker players. With more games, stakes, and player traffic than virtually any other poker site William Hill Poker gives Irish poker players the most options when they sit down to play some poker.

William Hill Poker offers one of the safest and most respected places to play poker on the Internet. Backed by one of the biggest brick and mortar bookmaker chains in the industry, William Hill Poker is the home to more recreational (fish) poker players than any other online poker site.

Residents of Ireland are currently eligible for William Hills massive 100% up to $600 deposit bonus if they join the site by following the links provided on this page. William Hill Poker accepts several online poker deposit options from Irish poker players: Visa or MasterCard, eChecks or a Cash Transfer to name a few.

Popular Site Based In Ireland – Boyles Sports

Boyles Poker (www.boylessports.com) is the first of the major Irish Poker sites, and Boyles Sports has a long history in Ireland, dating back to 1989. Because of this homegrown component, Irish poker players will find Boyle Poker to be the best fit for them. Irish players can enter cheap satellites for Boyle Poker’s International Poker Open (IPO), one of the biggest poker tournaments in Ireland as well as a number of promotions geared directly toward Irish players.

Boyle Poker also runs some of the best promotions for Irish poker players, most notably the massive 200% match bonus up to $600 you can receive by following the links on this page! The 200% deposit bonus is the highest amount Irish poker players will find anywhere.

Boyle Poker is also the sponsor of the Irish Poker Rankings, where online poker players from Ireland can compete for prizes on Boyle’s leader-board. Monthly prizes are awarded, and the Rankings will culminate at the end of the year with the player topping the charts receiving a $10,000 sponsorship deal!

Boyle Poker accepts the following deposit methods from Irish residents: Bank Draft,Laser Card, Check, Maestro, Master Card, MoneyBookers, Neteller, Solo, Switch, Visa, Visa Delta, Visa Electron and Wire Transfer.

Fishiest Irish Poker Site – Party Poker

Party Poker (www.partypoker.com) is one of the most reputable names in online poker, and this is why many Irish poker players trust Party Poker for their poker needs. Party Poker was the first HUGE online poker site, and if it wasn’t for UIGEA legislation that passed in the US would still be the world’s largest card-room as well as the world’s fishiest poker room.

Party Poker gets high marks from Irish poker players because of the soft games the site is known for. For whatever reason –perhaps it’s the name PARTY Poker—the online poker room has always had some of the loosest poker games on the Internet.

Party Poker’s deposit bonus isn’t as large as other Irish poker sites, but the bonus clears extremely fast, which is the most important thing. Currently Party Poker is offering a 100% up to $100 deposit bonus for any player signing up through the links provided here.

Irish players can deposit on Party Poker by using any of the following methods: Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Neteller, Instant Banking, Bank Transfers, Wire Transfers, EntroPay, ClickandBuy, UKash, PaySafe, eChecks, Click2Pay and Moneybookers.

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