This post is coming out a bit later than normal because it did not seem fair to grade the payment processing over the holidays. With entire departments off for the holidays, and banks closed, the time required to process a cashout was going to be higher. Unfortunately, it seems that several of the U.S. friendly online poker rooms have been unable to catch up from the holidays. Almost every poker room experienced slower cashouts over the last 6 weeks than they had in the previous period. This month, I started grading on a curve. Cashout speeds are not quick for any U.S. facing room anymore so it is time to start grading on the new reality. Last month's grades are in parenthesis.

True Poker/Americas Cardroom - A- (B)

U.S. players have several cashout options on the network now known as the Winning Poker Network. The fastest options are cash transfer and the debit card option. Both involve high fees, but process in 1-3 days. Players can request a check and expect it in about two weeks unless it is over $1000. If it is over $1000, it is sent by courier and takes about one week. Players requesting over $5000 can receive a bank wire. The fee is $500, or the equivalent in player points. Bank wires over $10,000 have a $600 fee, or the equivalent in player points.

Intertops A- (B)

Intertops has a $150 minimum cashout for U.S. players. There are three cashout options at Intertops. Those are bank wire, check, or cash transfer. A check takes about one week and has a $50 fee. Bank wires take about 1-2 weeks and players receive one for free every month. Cash transfer takes about two days and has a fee of 5-10% depending on its size. Intertops is a member of the Cake Poker Network with their own cashier system.

Bodog/Bovada C+ (B)

It is unknown if the exodus of players after the change to anonymous tables has caused it, but Bodog/Bovada cashouts are taking longer than they did last month. Checks are now taking 2-4 weeks to arrive. Checks are often hand written, and sent from locations outside the U.S. Bank wires also take 2-4 weeks. Many players have reported not being able to cash out by Rapid Transfer anymore, so this is certain to be causing higher volumes to other methods.

Everleaf Gaming C (B+)

Everleaf Gaming was in the top spot last month. This month, Everleaf has fallen quite a bit. This is because cash transfers, the only option for most U.S. player withdrawals, is taking 1-3 weeks. Last month, these same transfers were taking 2-5 days. Bank wires are also available for cashouts, but the minimum is $5000. Even players outside the U.S. are reporting cashout speeds of 1-3 weeks. We will conitnue to monitor the cashout issues at Everleaf Gaming. Everleaf Gaming skins include Minted Poker and Cellsino Poker.

Merge Gaming C- (C)

Checks are taking longer at Merge Gaming than they were last month. Checks are now taking 6-8 weeks to arrive. Last month, checks took 4-7 weeks. Players can request a cashout for between $100 and $2500 for a fee of around $15, depending on their VIP level.

Cake Poker D- (D)

Last month, Cake Poker was taking 8-12 weeks to mail checks to U.S. players. Now it is taking 12-16 weeks for checks to arrive. After a slight improvement on cashout speeds, it seems Cake Poker is going in the wrong direction. Players can request a check for $500-$3000.

WSEX F (F)

We continue with our monthly warning about World Sports Exchange, and their sister poker room World Poker Exchange. WSEX/WPEX owe out over $700,000. Many players have been waiting over a year for a cashout. Even with the added liquidity of football season, WSEX could not lower their outstanding debt. In fact, their outstanding debt grew.

Hopefully the slower cashout speeds are only because of the holiday season. We will check back in the next 3-4 weeks with a new report on U.S. online poker payment processing.