In less than a week, the 2020 World Series of Poker gets underway as U.S.-based players in Nevada and New Jersey enjoy a schedule of 31 online gold bracelet events to vie for on WSOP.com beginning on July 1.

The lure of winning a WSOP bracelet, even online, is likely to bring out large fields of players who may not play regularly on the site. Some of which will travel in from out of state, looking to get set up for the very first time. While others may be firing up an old account, one they haven’t played on since last year.

But with a little planning ahead, players can ensure that their main focus during the WSOP is on the tournaments and not on the details it takes to play.

Know Your (Deposit) Limits

In both Nevada and New Jersey funding a WSOP.com account is, for the most part, pretty straight forward. Methods such as e-Check ACH, credit cards, and PayPal are routine methods for payment for most poker players. Caesars also offers PayNearMe, a 24/7 method where you can bring cash into any participating 7-11 store, and Play+, a stand-alone Ceasars payment card that acts as a wallet for Ceasars gaming, as additional options to fund your WSOP.com account.

“We always encourage larger deposits to deposit through cash at the cage,” said Danielle Barille, Director for WSOP Online Poker. A larger deposit might include tens of thousands of dollars as it will take a minimum bankroll of just over $23,000 for a player who plans on grinding every bracelet event on WSOP.com, not including any reentries.

Bringing cash to the cage is only available in Nevada and is limited to either Caesars Palace or Harrah’s Casino. But there’s no limit to the amount that can be put online when doing this and it is credited immediately. “This is the most effective way to deposit large sums of money.”

So, a player in Nevada can grab a mask, which is now mandatory in all casinos and public places in Nevada, and in one-stop fund their account for the entire summer.

The New Jersey Difference

In New Jersey though, there may be some planning ahead that needs to be done.

For each of the deposit methods, outside of cash at the cage in Nevada, there are deposit limits. Some of these deposit limits are daily, some are weekly and they vary from method to method and from player to player. The aforementioned PayNearMe has a daily deposit limit of $500 while PayPal’s upper limit can be in the thousands.

“There are transaction limits on each deposit method, and these are different for each player, set by payment processors,” Barielle said. “For players in New Jersey, the most effective method for most players will be ACH.” She also added that for players in both states PayPal and Play+ should also be viable options.

Test Your Geolocation

Another potential stumbling block for players who are making the journey from out of state is geolocation and having a unique IP address form which to play.

Geolocation is how an online poker operator ensures that you are inside the boundaries of the regulated state in order to play. For most players, this won’t be an issue. The technology has been refined since U.S.-based online operators began using it back in 2013 making it easy to log on almost anywhere inside the state. However, players who live right on the edge of a state and plan to just cross the border and play some poker should make a test run ahead of their first event to see how deep into the state they’ll need to go in order to safely log on.

Caesars Properties Newly Whitelisted

The larger issue for traveling players may be sharing an IP address.

“Per regulations, multiple players from the same IP are unable to join the same tournament, SNGs, or cash games,” Barielle explained. This can pose problems for players who are all looking to battle for a bracelet while staying in the same house and sharing a wi-fi connection. That also goes for players who opt to stay in a hotel that uses a single IP address for their customers.

There is good news for players who plan on staying at a Caesars property on either coast.

“We were recently granted approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board and NJ Department of Gaming Enforcement to whitelist Caesars properties IPs to allow for players from the same IP to join MTTs,” Barille said.

That’s big for the WSOP who have, for years, heard complaints about the single IP regulation. While it’s unlikely to solve the issue for their customers entirely, as many players travel and stay in AirBnBs, it should make it so players in Nevada or New Jersey should be able to have no problem logging on and playing from a Caesars hotel room.

Create A Hotspot

However, for players at non-Caesars properties, they could encounter the shared IP problem.

One workaround for this is to use a mobile phone as a hot spot. The phone’s own network will generate an IP for a player to log on to the online site. If the online site does not check the credentials again, a switch to the larger wi-fi network is then possible. A player could also use the phone’s generated wi-fi to play out the tournament however the dangers are the strength of the signal from the phone and, of course, it will tax a phone with a limited data plan.

Booking A Win

One final thing to keep in mind when it comes to getting money on and off of WSOP.com is how to take your money off the site. The WSOP.com online bracelet events are expected to have some of the largest fields in the site’s history, many providing six-figure paydays. U.S. players who dabble in unregulated markets may be used to withdraw limits but that’s not the case for the World Series of Poker.

“There are currently no withdrawal limits in place. A player who wishes to withdrawal simply needs to request it through the client,” Barielle said. “We also require document verification when requesting a withdrawal. This includes uploading of documents to verify all accounts used for depositing.”

Don’t be surprised when right after a win, it takes a little bit of time to get that money offline. It is mandatory to confirm a player’s identification, especially if it is a new account.

So, this year, spend the time you would have spent in line registering for your third bullet in the Big 50 to get your online affairs in order so that come July 1 all you need to do is grind.