If you are having trouble playing on the tables of PokerStars, Full Tilt, Absolute, or UB you are not alone. As amazing as it might seem, four of the biggest online poker rooms have been shut down but the Federal Government this morning. Almost a dozen people that are connected to these sites have been accused of bribing and using trickery to get around U.S. gambling laws. In 2006, Congress passed the U.I.G.E.A. legislation that was to prohibit banks and credit card companies from assisting gamblers in the United States from transferring money to international gambling companies.

Charges were also filed against the payment processors, Ryan Lang, Ira Rubin, Bradley Franzen, and Chad Elie alleging that they laundered gambling money for these poker sites by obtaining bank accounts in the United States. John Campos is a part owner of a bank in Utah called Sun First Bank and he has also been accused of accepting a $10 million dollar investment in the bank in exchange for processing transactions for internet gaming transfers. Elie and Campos were arrested today and Bradley Franzen has been scheduled to show up for arraignment on Tuesday. Civil charges against these payment processors were also filed and it is believed that $3 billion in penalties are being sought after.

Overall this morning the United States Attorney in New York was extremely busy. Restraining orders were issued against over 75 bank accounts, 11 people were indicted, and 5 of the largest online poker internet domain names were seized.