Bitcoin for Online Poker: The Future is Almost Now

Gambling911.com had an opportunity recently to speak to Bryan Micon, who, as we come to find out, now lives and breathes bitcoins and the opportunity to use this new and anonymous online currency to play online poker.

Yes, it’s scary to some.  But it’s not nearly as complicated as one might believe….at least not when it comes to the user (that being the poker player). 

The main thing players want to know is how to send and receive “real money”…not the virtual stuff that many might equate with Bitcoins.

Micon, a popular figure in the poker community, has worked with the first “Bitcoin Only” online poker room, Seals With Clubs.  The Seals With Clubs website spells out how to send and receive funds through third party Bitcoin operators.  Think PayPal.

Dwolla.com is the equivalent of PayPal for Bitcoins.

A Dwolla account can be funded with electronic debits from a bank account or by receiving a money transfer from another Dwolla member. Funds in a Dwolla account can be withdrawn to a bank account or by sending a money transfer to another Dwolla member.

The fee for transferring money to another Dwolla member is a fixed $0.25 per transaction. The sender can choose to pay the fee or to have the fee deducted from the amount sent.

As for Seals With Clubs, how do we know the “anonymous” owner is on the up and up?

“He has maintained an account on the TwoPlusTwo.com posting forum for more than six years,” Micon reassured. 

The reality is that many of today’s online gambling companies are owned by those who may be classified as….well….anonymous anyway. 

Seals With Clubs might appeal to those somewhere in between the “free-to-play” model similar to that of Zynga and those looking to throw a small amount of money down.

“$50 is their biggest game right now,” Micon observed during the interview. 

Eventually the Bitcoin concept could catch on to the point where customers will play higher stakes games.

The future may not be right now with Bitcoins…..but it could be closer ahead than most people think. 

Gambling911.com will stay on top of the Bitcoin online poker story.  You can be sure of that.

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher