Casino Bill Hides Heavy Fines for Online Poker Players in Massachusetts

The Boston Globe this past weekend reported that buried in the bill proposing to bring three casinos to the U.S. state of Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick included verbage to make internet gambling illegal for residents, who could incur fines up to $25,000 or a two year sentence for betting online, including placing bets to play online poker.

Patrick's provision, which is described in three paragraphs of the bill, applies to anyone in Massachusetts who places or receives a wager of any type using a telephone, cell phone, Internet, or local wireless networks. It also applies to anyone who knowingly installs equipment for transmitting wagers. The provision also specifically exempts the proposed casinos from the law.

Fellow Massachusetts democrat Barney Frank, who in Feb. introduced HR 2046, legislation to license and regulate online gambling in the USA, strongly criticized Patrick's plan to punish online gamers while inviting casino operators to set up shop.

"Why is gambling in a casino OK and gambling on the internet is not," asked Frank.

POKER PLAYERS ALLIANCE LOBBIES MASS. LEGISLATORS

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), whose mission is to promote poker, ensure its integrity and protect the right to play poker, immediately began a letter-writing campaign last week and has generated 1,700 letters to the governor and various state legislators.

The Washington-based organization has 16,000 members in Massachusetts, which is a fraction of what the alliance estimates are the 250,000 online poker players in the state.

"I feel betrayed by the very existence of this legislation," the letter read. "It's especially aggravating that this language is contained in a larger bill to expand casino gambling in the Commonwealth. This contrast is utter hypocrisy."

The organization, which recently campaigned against Governor Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky for nixing a proposed casino referendum (click here for related article), supports the governor's proposal for three Massachusetts casinos, but plans to oppose the overall bill.

"Ironically, H.4307 is pro-casino gambling legislation, yet it makes Internet gaming a crime," Randy Castonguay, director of the Massachusetts chapter of the PPA told Pokerlistings. "This is an unacceptable double standard!"

WHY INCLUDE ANTI-ONLINE GAMBLING PROVISION?

Governor Patrick's spokesmen have thus far failed to explain the governor's rationale for including the provision in the proposed legislation. They also declined to respond to Frank's comments.

But Kofi Jones, who spoke on behalf of the governor's chief gambling adviser, said: "Several of the provisions of the governor's proposed resort casinos bill seek to clarify the laws relating to gaming in Massachusetts, including online gaming."

Others have suggested the provision was included to make casino licenses more lucrative by preventing competition from online operators, the newspaper reported.

"If you were cynical about it, you'd think that they're trying to set up a monopoly for the casinos," the report quoted David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Patrick's bill will likely not be voted on until 2008.

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