Minn. Asks ISPs to Block Gambling Sites

Why go to all the trouble of buying a physical ticket?

(NEWSER) - Poker sites may be strictly verboten , but another kind of online gambling is starting to crop up: state lotteries. Minnesota has already begun selling lottery tickets online, even offering year-long subscriptions for its Powerball and Mega Millions games, USA Today reports. Several other states are considering following suit. A bill allowing online lotto sales has already passed a New Jersey Assembly committee, and another has been introduced in New York. More»

Stats guru Nate Silver made most of his money playing in the boom years

(NEWSER) - Nate Silver offers a lengthy primer on the online poker industry and its prospects for survival after the recent crackdown by the feds , with this interesting reveal from the stats whiz: "Between 2004 and 2006, I played a substantial amount of online poker, using it as my primary source of income despite playing essentially in my spare time," he writes at his FiveThirtyEight blog in the New York Times. He cleaned up because so many newbies had joined in the great boom that started in 2003. Alas, restrictions then went into place that weeded out many novices, and "I went from a significantly winning player to a modestly losing one, giving back about one-third of the money that I had made during the boom years, and withdrawing the other two-thirds." More»

(NEWSER) - Minnesota has dropped a bid to cut off access to online gambling after a legal challenge from an industry group, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The state had petitioned Internet service providers to block the sites. Whether the lobby “ultimately would have prevailed in court is unknown,” a state official said. “It may be more appropriate to resolve this problem by working to create clear and effective government policies.” More»

Unwilling to wait for the federal wrangling, states make bold moves

(NEWSER) - State lawmakers aren’t sitting around waiting for Washington to solve the mortgage crisis, the Wall Street Journal reports. Instead, many are taking aggressive steps to ease borrower pain, sometimes running afoul of lenders in the process. Illinois, Maryland, and Minnesota all have bills in the works to impose a moratorium on foreclosures—in one state as long as 12 months— for families attempting to restructure mortgages. More»

Battlefield-bar disparity irks during wartime, argue supporters

(NEWSER) - Several states are considering lowering the drinking age, spurred in part by concerns that teenage service members can fight overseas but can’t drink at home, USA Today reports. Kentucky, Wisconsin, and South Carolina are weighing a military-only change to alcohol laws, while other states may lower the legal age for all, with a few stipulations. More»