The Department of Justice and FBI here in the US have used their powers to seize the domains of the top three online poker web sites, saying that they were operating illegally and commiting fraud and money laundering, among other things.  True?  Who knows, I can't say it'd surprise me much if it was though.

Gambling is illegal in most states here in the US, why exactly is hard to say, probably because it's fun and addictive I suppose.
In any case, those looking to get their gambling kicks online are going to have a somewhat harder time of it, and if they try to go to one of the (ex) top3 sites they'll be treated to DOJ and FBI logos rather then poker.

"At the same time, the U.S. seized five Internet domain names used to host the poker games and filed a civil money laundering and a civil complaint against the companies, their assets and the assets of several of their payment processors. Restraining orders were also issued against more than 75 bank accounts used by the poker companies and their payment processes.

'These defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits,' Bharara said in a statement. 'Foreign firms that choose to operate in the United States are not free to flout the laws they don’t like simply because they can’t bear to be parted from their profits.'"

Source:  Fox Business

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