The United States government has shut down four major online poker sites amidst charges of money laundering and illegal gambling.
Visitors to Poker Stars, FullTilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB.com are met with a message saying the domain has been seized by the FBI.
Eleven people were arrested in the crackdown, including the founders of the three largest sites open to US players, according to this story in the LA Times.
Many poker players have money in online accounts, but there is no information on the blocked sites to help them out.
Meanwhile, Poker.ca is capitalizing on the shutdown, issuing a press release pointing out that it's an opportunity for Canadian sites.
"While these sudden shutdowns of such popular online poker rooms may initially come as a blow to Canadian players who were comfortable playing on U.S.-facing sites, now is the time to expand our horizons and see what else the world has to offer," read the release, which lists online poker sites and casinos for Canadians.
On its web site, Poker.ca said that three of the 11 defendants in the US crackdown are Canadians although it noted the three are not in the US and have not been arrested.
