Are Prepaid Cards the Short Term Answer in New Jersey

The Borgata Hotel and Casino offer their online poker solution in New Jersey with Party Poker, and have recently added to their depositing options with their very own Borgata prepaid card. Problems continue in the Garden State as far as credit card processing is concerned and the Borgata follows the Golden Nugget Casino in offering this method as a means of funding an online gaming account. For all intents and purposes the cards are pretty similar and both have their disadvantages, however both will successfully fund their respective casino accounts...if you are prepared to put up with the fees, and the somewhat tedious signup processes that are involved. Both cards may be funded somewhat ironically with Visa or MasterCard and although they do the job they are designed to do, the question is, are they a viable short to midterm solution in regards to New Jersey's credit card depositing issue?

The answer is a maybe, but the more hoops a player has to jump through to fund an online casino or poker account the more chances they simply will not bother. It's a somewhat different scenario when using offshore poker rooms such as Americas Cardroom or Bovada as you know from the off that your Visa card may be accepted and then again you may have to use a prepaid card, but with regulated US gambling, players simply expect things to work...it's regulated and therefore no problems with depositing should exist, and the fact that they do just frustrates players to the point of not bothering.

The fees, especially with the Borgata prepaid card are very high and you'll be charged a $3.00 per month fee for having the card, $2.00 to make an ATM cash withdrawal and $3.00 to speak to a customer support agent! These can add up to a fair amount per month if the card is used regularly, something that may put players off, especially smaller recreational players, however the fact remains that these cards will fund your account. The prepaid card solution is by no means a long term fix and if anything it further highlights the fact that Credit card depositing is a must have option for players who wish to use it.