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Gary Trask

Gary serves as Casino City's Editor in Chief and has worked as a writer and editor more than 25 years. The Boston native was a member of the Poker Hall of Fame's inaugural Media Committee.

Contact Gary at gary@casinocity.com and follow him on Twitter at @CasinoCityGT.

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

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."