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Gaming Guru

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List of Minnesota banned sites includes just 44 that accept U.S. players

6 May 2009

By Gary Trask

Only 44 of the 200 Web sites that Minnesota's Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division want to block from its residents actually accept players from the state, according to an audit of the list that was completed by Casino City. That means just 22 percent of the sites AGED wants to block affect Minnesota residents.

Last week, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) announced that it had instructed 11 national and regional telephone and Internet service providers to prohibit access of all Minnesota-based computers to nearly 200 online gambling websites. On Friday, the AGED released the list.

Of the 44 that accept U.S. players, only eight are listed on Online Casino City's Top 25 casinos available to U.S. residents (Bodog, English Harbour, Slot Land, Club Player, Las Vegas USA, Slots Plus, Slots of Vegas, Caribbean Gold Casino). Other prominent names on the list include Full Tilt Poker, Everest Poker, Golden Palace, Intertops Casino, Ladbrokes Casino, Titan Poker and William Hill Casino.

AGED Director John Willems defended the Minnesota list when asked about it by Casino City last week saying that it was a "random sampling" of sites. But Interactive Media and Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) Chairman Joe Brennan Jr. questioned "how much thought was put into the selection of these sites."

Gary Trask

As Casino City's Senior Editor, Gary helps coordinate, write and edit all of the editorial content for the company's Web sites and publications. The Boston native has worked in the journalism field as a writer and editor for more than 15 years and he is the former editor of a golf magazine. Gary has been with Casino City since 2007 and he was recently asked by Harrah's to become a member of the Poker Hall of Fame's Media Committee.

Gary's gambling "career" began in junior high when he and his friends would buy hundreds of pieces of bubble gum and use them as the stakes in a weekly poker game played in a friend's garage. The bubble gum eventually turned into poker chips and thus an avid card player was born.

No Limit Hold'em tournaments are a personal favorite of Gary's, but he also enjoys a night of dealer's choice with a variety of games like Seven-Card No Peek, Guts or Five-Card Draw with a qualifier. In addition to playing cards, another of Gary's interests is golf, a game that allows his two favorite hobbies to collide quite naturally.

Gary, who, when in Las Vegas, spends most of his time inside the sportsbooks, welcomes your comments, questions and story ideas. You can reach him at gary@casinocity.com or you can follow him on Twitter at @casinocityGT