Money laundering and poker
It occurred to me that one reason the feds may be interested in poker is because the player-to-player transfer function can be used as a money laundering mechanism by ordinary criminals, organized crime, terrorists, etc. I doubt federal investigation is being driven by concerns about tax cheats--let's face it, there isn't a lot of revenue possibility there.
Before you laugh off the suggestion that Al Qaeda has been using Party Poker or Pokerstars to launder funds, consider that they have proven to be very adaptable in using technology to their advantage (e.g., distribution of propoganda via webclips, steganography, cryptography, etc.)
Also consider that banking institutions are subject to Patriot Act, whereas the player-to-player money transfers on poker sites have not been (thus far) subject to regulatory scrutiny (to my knowledge). This is another reason poker should be legal but regulated, FWIW.
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