Pros & Cons of Playing Poker with Cryptocurrencies

There are plenty of advantages to you playing poker with cryptocurrencies. Let’s take a look at just a few of them:

Anonymity

A big attraction for a lot of poker players using crypto is the added level of privacy that it brings. The blockchain is great for protecting and encrypting user data, giving you the anonymity that fiat currencies simply can’t offer. This can be great for a number of reasons.

Some players don’t feel comfortable sharing their personal data with operators, while some might like to keep their poker habits quiet for other reasons. Either way, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies means that you can breathe easy when it comes to privacy.

Getting Ahead of the Curve

Depending on who you speak to, cryptocurrencies are an inevitable part of our daily life in the future. As such, getting ahead of the curve and embracing them now could be hugely advantageous.

We hear stories all of the time of people who jumped on a cryptocurrency early and are now loaded. Everyone wants to be that person, and who knows, a big crypto win on the felt could be big now, but it could be absolutely life-changing in the future.

Speedy Payments

There is nothing more frustrating than landing a big in an online poker room only to have to wait days to get your hands on those winnings. Cryptocurrencies remove all of those waiting times, with payments in and out of casinos and poker rooms being instant.

There is also no way that poker rooms or casinos can try to scam you out of your money, with every transaction being recorded and stored on the blockchain.

Availability & Lack of Fees

If you are the type of poker player that likes to travel, then you will know how annoying exchange rates and gambling regulations can be. The beauty of cryptocurrencies is that they are available everywhere and many of them are not subject to regulation.

The latter of these can also be a danger, but we will get to that later. Cryptocurrencies hold the same value wherever you are in the world, and you can access them wherever you are.

Cons of Playing Poker with Crypto

For every yin, there must be a yang, and many of the upsides of playing poker online can also be seen in the opposite light. These are some of the biggest cons of playing poker with cryptocurrencies.

Volatility

The first thing most people will mention when you say you are planning to play poker with cryptocurrencies is their volatility. Crypto markets are notoriously volatile, especially once you begin to wander away from the established coins. What this means for you is that you could go deposit cryptos to a site and they hold a certain value, only for them to collapse before you’ve withdrawn them.

Of course, you don’t need to exchange cryptos right away and you can wait for them to bounce back, but there are plenty of cryptos that have never done so, leaving people high and dry.

The volatility can also work in your favour though. A coin can rocket in value overnight and if you are quick, you can withdraw it and cash it out. On the whole, though, the volatility of crypto is a massive gamble and one that should be sure you are willing to take before you use it to play poker.

Licensing and Regulation

One of the biggest issues facing crypto poker is licensing and regulation. A lot of regulatory bodies won’t license crypto casinos. As such, finding a safe crypto casino can be a bit of a problem.

A lack of licensing means that you may not be fully protected as a player, and there is no regulatory body in place to mediate if you face any issues with the operator. We would recommend reading through reviews and checking with other poker players before using a crypto site, just to be on the safe side.

Limited Traffic

Cryptocurrencies have boomed in popularity in recent years, but they are still a long way off from being accepted by the masses. The majority of people on the internet have yet to embrace cryptocurrency, and as such, the traffic numbers for online poker games at crypto poker rooms can be quite low.

This is something that has been steadily improving, but it can still be tricky to find busy poker rooms, especially if you are using a more obscure coin.

Final Word

Playing poker with cryptocurrencies is definitely something that is becoming more popular. The poker community, by and large, has been quicker to accept change than other parts of the internet, and online casinos and poker rooms will no doubt continue to innovate with cryptocurrencies.

A lack of regulations and the volatile nature of cryptos still give that corner of the poker world a Wild-West feel, but the majority of crypto poker rooms are great and are providing players with a secure, private, and hugely enjoyable online poker experience.