I’ve posted on this before (I think) years ago, and certainly thought about it after living in NYC for decades, but rather than reinvent the wheel I’ve decided in these troubling times simply to pass on another bloggers post.  At the end of the piece he questions why the SDNY is pursuing the action and not the jurisdictions in which state law specifically outlaws online poker.  I cannot be certain – only US Attorney General Holder knows the answer – but I would harbor a guess that the SDNY took action for a variety of reasons, including that Manhattan is the home of numerous large banks that have been hampered by the UIGEA’s requirements, the SDNY often takes the lead in pursuing advanced financial fraud, and NY federal law (precisely because of the first two reasons) is more developed than most jurisdictions on financial issues.  One other point about the post.  The allegations include bank fraud (i.e., lying to the banks about what the companies did) as opposed to admitting it was poker-related.  This is a significant distinction as proving poker is a game of skill will not remove the bank fraud allegations.  In other words, the sites still could be shut down.  Well, at least Absolute Poker.