How to Play Poker in Indonesia
Poker is one of the most popular casino games in the world. While it does involve a small amount of luck on a short term basis poker is primarily a game of skill. Players must make decisions on betting, raising, folding and bluffing in order to win. While North America has a clear lead when it comes to top professional poker players Indonesia and Southeast Asia are quickly producing their own top-level talent as evidenced by the accomplishments of John Juanda, Michael Sampoerna and Sandhy Rafael Sitepu.
While gambling is illegal in Indonesia (and police often bust underground casino rooms) the country does not block access to major international online poker sites. That could change at any time but for now Indonesians have a small window of opportunity when it comes to playing poker for real money online.
The most common way for players to fund their poker accounts is to use a prepaid Visa card called EntroPay. This service allows Indonesian players to load money onto a virtual card that can be used at poker sites. The cards can be topped up by any normal Visa or Mastercard credit card or by bank transfer.
While many players choose to play at a local poker room there are also several international poker sites that allow Indonesian residents to deposit and withdraw in rupiah. The iPoker and MPN networks both offer options for Indonesian players to deposit and play poker with real money.