St. Paul resident Chris Wallace said he makes about $2,000 a week playing poker online, enough to support himself, his fiancée and his dog. He’s not about to stop, even as Minnesota officials take new steps to try to crack down on online gambling.

“I have e-mailed the Justice Department, and I’ve volunteered to be arrested,” said Wallace, 35, who left college because online poker was taking up so much of his time. “I play online poker. Come and get it.”

The state of Minnesota wants to do just that. A division of the state Department of Public Safety that enforces gambling and alcohol laws said Wednesday that it has instructed 11 national and regional telephone and Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access by all Minnesota-based computers to nearly 200 gambling websites.

Minnesota, citing a 1961 federal anti-gambling law, says all online gambling within its borders is illegal, even if the games are hosted outside the United States.

“We are putting site operators and Minnesota online gamblers on notice and in advance,” says John Willems, director of the state’s Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division. “State residents with online escrow accounts should be aware that access to their accounts may be jeopardized and their funds in peril.”

Full story at: startribune.com