Actually, the law doesn't target individuals at all. It prohibits financial institutions from allowing transactions *to* sites for the purposes of "illegal internet gambling". Since the Wire Act has not been ammended as part of this legislation, its not really even clear what "illegal internet gambling" is, particularly as applied to poker.

Financial transactions *from* sites to your bank account are not covered at all by this legislation, so there is absolutely no issue with removing winnings. Since the vast majority of players are long-term losers, however, restricting the ability to fund their accounts amounts to shutting them down when the lose their current stake.

Using an offshore account is a way around the issue, since the US legislation targets the activities of financial institutions located in the US. The only issue then is whether the site will allow US residents to play on them. As Jeff mentioned, some have said they will no longer allow US residents to play. This is considered by many in the industry to be an overreaction, since the law absolutely does NOT prohibit US players from playing poker online. The law doesn't prohibit *individuals* from doing anything -- it targets financial institutions.

PS: TigerJimmy is correct about more than one thing