Good News About Massachusetts Casino Gambling Bill

April 22, 2010 | News Category: Gaming Law

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There was some concern over a bill that proposed two licensed land-based casinos as well as a large number of licensed slot machines at four Massachusetts racetracks. The proposed bill had a clause in it that was very concerning to the online gambling industry. The Massachusetts gambling bill, however, was passed without the anti-online gambling components that had been included in the original bill.

The original bill had banned online gambling in Massachusetts. Not only had the ban illegalized online gambling, but it had stated that those who were caught gambling online would be punished.

Part of the amendment to the bill read as follows: "And move to further amend the bill by striking out, in lines 2695 to 2704, inclusive, the following words: (v) Any person who knowingly transmits or receives a wager of any type by any telecommunication device, including telephone, cellular phone, Internet, local area network, including wireless local networks, or any other similar device or equipment, shall be punished."

This amendment was passed and included in the bill before the final vote was taken. The final vote for the land-based casinos was a favorable one, with 120 lawmakers voting in favor of the two new land-based casinos and the slot machines to be installed at four Massachusetts racetracks. There were 37 lawmakers who voted against the bill.

Much of the credit is said to go to the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), since they, and the 25,000 poker players in Massachusetts, under the PPA’s guidance, put a lot of pressure on Massachusetts’ lawmakers.

PPA’s executive director, John Pappas praised those that helped to have the bill amended. However, there is still a wait to see how the more senior Massachusetts politicians, in the senate, respond to the bill.

Pappas said: "We will now focus our efforts on the Massachusetts Senate to include the skill language into the bill and to ensure the criminalization provision stays out of the final package."

The senate may have some issues regarding the installation of slot machines at the racetracks. Specifically, the Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, and a number of other senior Massachusetts politicians, are not pleased with the racetrack slot machines since this does not really create any jobs in the long term.

Pappas, however, intends to keep the Massachusetts players mobilized in order to try and ensure that the anti-online gambling clause is kept out of the final bill, should it pass through the senate’s vote.