February 7, 2010
MasterCard in the past has tried to stop US Citizens from being able to deposit money into online poker and other gambling sites. Since President George Bush signed the law Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006 to not allow financial institutions to fund online poker websites. In the past people were able to get past these blocks using techniques such as sending the transaction as household so your bill would show luggage instead of the website. This is usually done at the poker sites back-end. While this was in the past MasterCard recently announced again they will be cutting off all poker and gambling funding for US players across the internet. A few sites have removed the MasterCard logo some including Ultimate Bet, Full Tilt, Absolute Poker, Bodog, and Doylesroom.
US Players can still use options like electronic check, bank wires, or doing a online poker transfer. An online poker transfer moves your funds safely with other people that are looking to transfer poker funds into your room while you transfer chips into their poker rooms. Using a social community like PokerWallets is a safe place to start and allows people from the US or other countries to fund there poker accounts safer with no fees to worry about.
