The UIGEA is in full effect now, there’s no denying it. Poker Stars, Absolute Poker and Full Tilt Poker are no longer available to the USA poker playing public. Does that mean all hope is lost for would-be online poker players in the USA? Hardly.

Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006, preventing US players from participating in online poker by making it a crime for US banks to process transactions for offshore gambling sites. Aand despite all recent efforts, even within the halls of Congress,  to overturn it, repeal it or replace it with a better law, as of December 2010 the law has gone into effect, after giving sites and banks time to comply with the new regulations. Now the full scale enforcement effort is on.

Despite that, several poker site owners are still being brave (or would it be brazen?) enough to continue opening their doors to US players, serving real money Texas Holdem poker games and tournaments to all-comers.