In all cases you will have to deposit money up front before you can gamble online. This will mean sending online casinos money via Western Union, Moneygram, cashiers checks, money orders, wire transfers, credit cards etc. Most of them will take money almost any way you want to send it. Most will not take personal checks as they would have to wait up to two weeks for the checks to clear to the overseas location. Having said this, you can normally use personal checks with prior approval from the casino, but your money will not be available for play until your check has cleared. Nearly all casinos now accept credit card deposits. In fact, these are highly recommended due to the low cost and speed of the transactions. All casinos operate on the account system - you send them money and your account is credited for that amount. As you gamble, money is credited or debited as you win or lose. When you wish to withdraw money from your casino account (you don't have to, you can leave it in for future gambling) you can do so in nearly all of the ways that deposits could be made. Many operations now allow you to have money withdrawn directly placed back onto the Credit Cards that you first deposited money into your account with. This option is recommended as you can access your winnings within days. Casinos charge reasonable fees for other withdrawal options. There are lots of great places to play online poker and here is a list of links to reviews of the best poker rooms: