There’s only one site I know of doing poker legally in the US – I can’t stand it, and I don’t know a lot of folks who can, either. it’s called "Duplicate Poker". They are legal because the game has a serious variant. The cards you are dealt are dealt to another player. Your goal is to play the hand better than your "partner" and get more chips in the round (or lose less) than your "partner".

I tell you this because I am giving you an example of what they determined legal to conduct in the US. Duplicate Poker is legal as it is deemed a "game of skill", much like World Winner, etc. . .

It has not been made formally illegal to gamble online with offshore accounts in most US states. A few, like Washington state, made expressly written law prohibiting it, but there is no federal law regarding individual gamblers with offshore sites. What isn’t legal is for US banks/credit card companies to process gaming transactions. What isn’t legal is a US-based conduction of a game of chance for monetary prizes That’s what the UIGEA laws relate to.

Sadly, they treat conventional poker as a "game of chance" for these purposes.