On April 15, 2011, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York seized and shut down Pokerstars and several of its competitors' sites, alleging that the sites were violating federal bank fraud and money laundering laws.

PokerStars is legal in the US for online casino players aged 21 or older. However, it is only legal in 3 states in the US, these being, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.