I thought online gambling was generally not legal.
The anti-gambling/anti-poker laws from "Black Friday" in 2011 actually have to do with banking and USD.
This is why there are actually several US-facing card rooms operating out of country semi-legally - they do not do banking in the US, so they are not afoul of laws in most states. I believe New York is a notable exception along with a few other states which sites like Bovada will not accept US users from.
any idea if there's a way i could play on any of these sites in this manner ?
On the other hand, all of them have low volume of users, so you may not find a game immediately on any of them.
...for tax purposes by the IRS. That's completely separate from its treatment in regard to other things, like financial services (e.g., money transmitter) regulation, and potentially gambling regulation.