Has MasterCard finally mastered the system?

Apparently so, at least when it comes to Internet poker.

Online poker players in the USA who use a MasterCard credit card to deposit funds may no longer have that option.

According to media reports, MasterCard this week began rejecting deposits made to most online poker rooms and online casinos.

Among the poker rooms affected are major rooms such as Doyle’s Room (www.doylesroom.com), Bodog (www.bodoglife.com), Ultimate Bet (www.ultimatebet.com) and Absolute Poker (www.absolutepoker.com), the reports said.

MasterCard, an American credit card company, under U.S. law is prohibited from processing credit card transactions for online gambling.

However, many online gambling sites got around the law by coding their credit card transactions so MasterCard didn’t know the transactions involved online gambling, the reports said.

MasterCard has apparently figured out the coding–or more accurately, miscoding–system used by the gambling sites and is now banning transactions that previously slipped through, the reports said.

Meanwhile, the other major American credit card company, VISA, continues to process most credit card transactions related to online poker and other forms of online gambling, the reports said.

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