Stake.us Poker is a newcomer to the sweepstakes poker scene, becoming the latest option for US players from over 44 states who want to play legal online poker with a chance to claim real money prizes.
Like other sweepstakes poker operators, Stake.us doesn’t have traditional deposits or withdrawals. Instead, it gifts players with Stake Cash (SC), a site token that can be used to play ring games and tournaments, as well as be exchanged for real money at the rate of 1 SC for $1.
You don’t have to spend any money to obtain Stake Cash, but when you purchase a Gold Coin offer, the site will gift you with a certain number of SC, which is the fastest way to accumulate some Stake Cash.
Those who had an opportunity to play at social poker sites before already know how the procedure works. However, one big difference between Stake.us Poker and other similar destinations like Clubs Poker is that Stake.us only accepts cryptocurrencies.
To purchase Gold Coins (and receive subsequent Stake Cash gifts), you won’t be able to use traditional methods like credit or debit cards or PayPal. If you’re new to the world of cryptocurrencies, the good news is that things aren’t all that complicated, and this guide will help you set things up and allow you to get started with Stake.us Poker in a matter of minutes.
- Redeem Stake Cash for real money prizes
- Get 1 in Stake Cash FREE every single day
- Super-soft cash game action
Step 1: Setting Up Your Cryptocurrency Wallet
The first thing you’ll need to do is set up a cryptocurrency account or wallet, as it is more often referred to. The process is pretty straightforward but a little more complicated than opening a PayPal account, for example.
The best route is to use a crypto exchange site like Coinbase. While there are alternative ways to open a cryptocurrency wallet, for someone new to the whole process, this is by far the easiest option. After you click on the Sign Up button, you just need to fill in a few fields, and you’ll be all set.
An advantage of a Coinbase wallet is that it supports a variety of cryptocurrencies, so you can take your pick. Stake.us Poker will let you use a wide range of popular cryptos as well, so it’s hard to go wrong.
We won’t be going into details about different types of cryptocurrencies in this guide, though, because that’s not really relevant. Once you have your wallet set up, you are ready to proceed to the next step.
Step 2: Obtaining Cryptocurrency
Once your wallet is ready, you’ll need to purchase some cryptocurrency. We suggest Bitcoin to make things simple, and since you won’t be keeping the crypto in your account for too long, it doesn’t really matter.
You can purchase just enough Bitcoin to cover the price of the offer you wish to purchase at Stake.us Poker, or you can buy some extra to keep it in your wallet for future purchases. This is entirely up to you, and if you want to test the waters first, you can go for a small amount.
The good news is that you can use your standard credit or debit card to buy Bitcoin on Coinbase. It is as simple as entering the amount you wish to buy and then filling in your card details. Alternatively, Coinbase also allows you to use ACH and send funds directly from your bank account.
Provided the purchase goes through as it should, you’ll now have some Bitcoin in your wallet and are ready to proceed to Stake.us Poker.
Step 3: Purchasing Gold Coins at Stake.us
As mentioned previously, you can’t buy Stake Cash on Stake.us Poker. What you can do, however, is purchase Gold Coin offers and claim free Stake Cash gifts that come as a part of every purchase.
For example, a $20 package contains 200,000 Gold Coins and comes with a gift of 20 SC. If you buy a $50 package, you’ll receive 500,000 Gold Coins and a gift of 50 SC, etc.
Now that you have some Bitcoin ready to go, you can log into your Stake.us Poker account, navigate to the Wallet section, and click on the ‘*Buy Gold Coins*” button. This will open a new window listing all available offers.
Pick an offer that you’re interested in, and you’ll be required to enter the payment information, which, in this case, is your Bitcoin wallet address. In this field, you’ll need to use your deposit address which you can find in your Coinbaise wallet.
Copy the address from the Coinbase wallet and enter it into the ‘Your BTC Address’ field. The site will automatically convert the dollar amount to the BTC amount, so you’ll see how much you’ll be sending to complete the purchase.
That’s all there is to it. Confirm the transaction, and within a couple of minutes, if all provided details are correct and you have enough Bitcoin in your wallet, you’ll receive your Gold Coins that you’ve purchased as well as the corresponding Stake Cash gift.
Step 4: Redeeming Your Stake Cash for Prizes
You can use your Stake Cash to enter tournaments and play in ring games for as long as you like. Any SC you win during this process is added to your running balance.
When you’re ready to redeem a part of or the entirety of your Stake Cash balance, the process is very similar:
- Navigate to the Wallet section of Stake.us Poker
- Click on the “Redeem” button
- Enter the amount of SC you wish to redeem
- You’ll see the amount in BTC that you’ll receive
- Enter your wallet destination address (available from your crypto wallet)
- Confirm the transaction
That’s all! The redemption request will be logged and, in most cases, you’ll receive your Bitcoin within a few hours from placing the request. In some circumstances, it may take longer, if additional checks are required, but you can expect to receive your prizes quickly.
Step 5: Withdrawing Money Back to Your Bank Account
Once the Bitcoin lands in your Coinbase account, the final step is to withdraw funds back to your bank, and it is this step that many people are confused or worried about. However, the process is quite simple and intuitive:
- Log into your Coinbase wallet
- Click on the Buy & Sell option
- Select Sell
- Enter the amount of Bitcoin you wish to sell for USD
- Review your order & finalize the transaction
- The USD amount will now appear in your wallet
After going through these steps, you’ll have a dollar balance at your disposal and the last thing to do is to get it to your bank. To do this, you’ll need to connect your wallet to your US bank account, and if you used ACH to make a purchase, that info will already be in the system. Otherwise, you can enter the details manually.
In the Coinbase wallet, you’ll find your available funds under My Assets, and from here, you can withdraw all funds or make a partial withdrawal. Money will be sent to your bank account and available to you in a few days’ time.
Of course, the name and other details for the bank account must match the details in your Coinbase wallet as you’re only allowed to cash out to a bank account belonging to you.
Get Started With Stake.us Poker Today
You now have all the information you need to start playing on Stake.us Poker and make purchases on the site using cryptocurrency.
Once again, you can play here without spending any money and you can accumulate a lot of free Stake Cash, but if you want to speed up the process and build your bankroll, this is the best way to do it.
Once you complete your first couple of transactions, you’ll get completely comfortable with it, as this is just another payment method. There is an extra step or two involved, but these are just small hurdles that you will navigate without any problems.
