American abroad

[hedges]

I'm an American who lives abroad (in Prague), so I can legally gamble online. The problem is, my credit cards are all issued in the states, and there seems to be a blanket ban on accepting any american cc's at casino sites. It's a serious pain in the butt. Any ideas about how to avoid this pesky issue?

[vinylweatherman]

I'm an American who lives abroad (in Prague), so I can legally gamble online. The problem is, my credit cards are all issued in the states, and there seems to be a blanket ban on accepting any american cc's at casino sites. It's a serious pain in the butt. Any ideas about how to avoid this pesky issue?

You will probably have to get an account locally with a bank in Prague. Whether they will give you a credit card though, will depend on whether they can satisfy themselves that you are not a bad risk. This would mostly depend on your residency status. They would want to be sure that you are not just going to go back to the US after running up a debt. They would want to see that you are in Prague and have a job there, and a permanent address with permission to stay for a decent length of time. It would be much easier to get an account with no credit facility, as this would not leave the bank exposed to bad debt. You would have to make sure that their debit card works for online casinos, this would mean looking for a bank that is not part of an American group, and that there are not any rules that prevent online gambling locally, as the EU do not yet have a standard policy, with some EU states trying to implement a ban, some doing nothing, and a few looking at regulation.

You could also look at UKash, this has recently been rolled out to cover much of the EU, although it has different brands in different countries. This works by going to a shop with cash, and purchasing an eVoucher. The voucher number is entered into the casino's deposit page, and your accout is credited with the amount of the voucher. Withdrawals would have to be by check though, possibly bank transfer. It is also possible to buy UKash vouchers on line, but only with a DEBIT card, or a bank transfer. The voucher code is then sent by Email.
Most Microgaming casinos can accept UKash, but your casino account would have to be in Euros.

[gerilege]

I'm an American who lives abroad (in Prague), so I can legally gamble online. The problem is, my credit cards are all issued in the states, and there seems to be a blanket ban on accepting any american cc's at casino sites. It's a serious pain in the butt. Any ideas about how to avoid this pesky issue?

I hope I won't break any forum rules here, but considering this special issue, I have to post some commercial information.

Go and find a Raiffeisen bank in Prague, ask for an account and for a VISA debit card (not VISA electron). For a few hundred dollars deposit they will issue you a card. Their card is good for gambling, at least here in Hungary, but I guess it's the same in the Czech Republic. If you have some problems with them, CIB is another good to go international bank, their card also works for gambling, but I'm not sure they are present in Czech.

It is likely not possible to gamble with Citibank and Erste (Sparkasse?) cards.