BY TOM SOMACH

Having trouble sending money to your favorite online poker room so you can play?

BetZip poker says, “No problem.”

In a mass e-mail sent out to customers and potential customers earlier this week, BetZip stated: “Now that Neteller no longer accepts U.S. poker customers, you may be looking for another way to play poker for cash prizes. If so, why not try BetZip, the only site that accepts U.S.-based credit cards?”

So what exactly is BetZip?

And more importantly, why is it “the only site that accepts U.S.-based credit cards?”

According to the BetZip website, “BetZip was founded by two entrepreneurs who were frustrated with the unrealistic game play at multi-player online games sites. At most of these sites, players don’t play competitively because there’s no incentive to win and there’s nothing at stake. At sites where there is an incentive to win, such as gambling sites, players can lose a lot of money.

“BetZip’s patent-pending business model was developed to encourage people to play competitively to win prizes without requiring them to risk losing money. BetZip plans to apply its unique approach to many types of online multi-player games, enabling players to ‘win big without the risk’. BetZip’s launch in 2005 was kicked off with the rollout of one of the largest poker sites on the web. With the incredible rise in the popularity of poker, and BetZip’s unique approach, Betzip has already attracted hundreds of thousands of customers.

“The company is funded by several prominent Silicon Valley angel investors and venture capitalists, and is located in San Francisco. BetZip is committed to responsible game-play and is not a gambling site. Because we do not offer gambling, we make it impossible for players to lose money, but still provide an exciting and entertaining experience. Our goal is to maintain the thrill of online games while keeping it safe for everyone.”

Because BetZip isn’t so much a gambling site as it is a gaming site, it is legal in the U.S., and therefore legal for U.S. bank-issued credit cards to be used to fund play.

Which begs the question, if BetZip allows people to play poker “without requiring them to risk losing money,” as the website states, then what are credit cards needed for?

BetZip charges a “membership fee” for some players to join, and out of those fees come the cash prizes.

According to the website: “BetZip has two membership levels, BetZip Basic and the BetZip Player’s Club. The BetZip Player’s Club costs $19.99 per month. Player’s Club members are entitled to play for over $100,000 in cash prizes every month. Player’s Club members have access to a minimum of $2,800 in cash prizes every day and never have an entry fee or a buy-in to any tournament.

“They also receive valuable benefits, such as an individual ranking based on their performance in tournaments, and live chat customer support. In addition, Player’s Club members can play in the $10,000 Classic Tournament, a $10,000 qualifier based tournament that occurs once every three months…Basic membership has absolutely no cost (no buy in, no entry fees, no deposits required). Basic members can play in the $10,000 Classic Tournament, a $10,000 qualifier-based tournament that occurs once every three months.”

There’s also another big difference between BetZip and traditional online poker rooms.

Whereas some traditional online poker rooms allow customers from every country in the world except the U.S., BetZip only allows customers from the U.S. and few other countries.

The BetZip website notes: “BetZip currently accepts customers from the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.”

For more information about BetZip, check out their website at www.betzip.com.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)