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Internet Poker Ban and Casino Bill Gets 'No' Vote from Key Mass. Committee- Now to HouseFri, Mar 21st, 2008 @ 12:00am The Massachusetts Economic Development committee voted 10 vs. 8 on Wednesday, advising lawmakers to vote against Governor Deval Patrick's Casino Bill that includes a section to criminalize playing online poker or gambling on the Internet, and to fine violators up to $25,000 or a two year sentence. In Governor Deval Patrick's Bill, whose main focus is to build 3 casinos, the hidden Internet gambling ban is described in three paragraphs. It 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. BILL EFFECTIVELY KILLED The key legislative committee's negative recommendation, which came after a four-hour delay and arm-twisting by House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, effectively kills the Casino bill for this session. So the quick-to-come vote in the House of Representatives is predicted to be a mere formality. If the bill is defeated in a House vote, it cannot be brought back until next year. One committee member abstained from voting and another member's vote was pivotal. Rep. Richard Ross told The Associated Press he dropped his support for the bill after the owners of the Plainridge horse trotting track in his district said they would rather take a shot at the House passing a bill to install slot machines at the state's four racetracks than seek to amend Patrick's proposal to allow those machines as well as the casinos.
"I got a loud and clear message from my district, that they really wanted me to vote for the adverse report," Ross said. "Really, until the eleventh hour, 59th minute, I was on the phone."
Patrick's bill proposed licensing three casinos spread across Massachusetts. It called for a licensing fee of at least $200 million each, and he projected it would generate $400 million in annual revenues and thousands of permanent jobs. BILL SPARKED PROTEST RALLY TUESDAY DURING PUBLIC HEARING The committee vote followed a marathon public hearing Tuesday, where members of the committee heard from opponents and supporters, including Patrick, who all but conceded the bill was heading for likely defeat. Patrick blamed the expected defeat in part on pressure from House leaders, including DiMasi. Meantime a protest rally was held outside the legislature's offices where the public hearing was being held. Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson and members from his Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society, reps from the Poker Players Alliance, and representatives from the iMEGA Internet freedom pressure group criticized inclusion of an Internet gambling ban within the Casino Bill (click here for related article).
ONLY WASHINGTON STATE MAKES PLAYING ONLINE POKER A CRIMINAL OFFENSE
The state of Washington is currently the only U.S. state that makes playing poker online a criminal offense; the legality of criminalizing it is being challenged in a court case (click here for related article). Read Related Articles:
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World Poker Tour Finds New Home on Fox Sports Net It was announced Thursday that World Poker Tour Enterprises has reached an agreement with Fox Sports Network (FSN) to broadcast Season VII of the WPT series. Tournaments are already underway for the new season, which will consist of 26 one-hour episodes.
EGBA Sets New Best Practice Standards for Responsible Gaming The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), in support of their mission to promote fair competition for European-licensed operators and consumer choice in a regulated European online gaming market. has launched a new set of best practices to ensure consistent standards of player protection, fair gaming and responsible operator behavior in the European online poker, Internet gaming and betting environment.
World Poker Association Changes Membership Terms The new leadership under Founder and present Chairman of the World Poker Association (WPA), Jesse Jones, has taken immediate measures to address the needs of the over 1400 members who have joined the WPA to date, through several key membership changes. These changes include:
Stanley Ho's IPO Reveals Setbacks Since Macau Regulation, Competition Arrive The delayed listing of Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau Holdings (SJM) group on Hong Kong's Stock Exchange until today, 16 July, is characteristic of the many challenges the firm has faced since 2002, when foreign operators were allowed to build casinos, and regulations increased. Since then, the 86-year old billionaire's four decade dominance of the Portuguese colony's gaming market, determining where and when you could play poker has waned.
'November Nine' Final Table of the World Series of Poker Is Set From 6,844 to nine, the players for the final table of the Main Event of the 39th World Series of Poker have now emerged after nearly two weeks at the tables. The so-called 'November Nine' will return on November 9 after a 117 day hiatus as the most well prepared final table in poker history, as well as being guinea pigs for this first-ever delayed final table experiment.
Poker Tournaments in Bars -- The New Prohibition? While the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) has devastated internet poker, separate, quiet battles are being fought, and won, to make poker legal in bars under state laws.
'November Nine' Emerge Today at World Series of Poker, Hellmuth Places 45th Today, July 14, is a big day at the World Series of Poker, when the three remaining tables of the Main Event will be trimmed to one, from the 27 players starting play today Day 7. That means that today we will learn the identities of the 'November Nine', the nine finalists who will return November 9 to play out the final table under the television spotlights.
Biggest $250,000 Guaranteed Poker Tournament in Bodog History Coming History will be made this summer at Bodog Poker, as the online poker powerhouse hosts its largest guaranteed prize pool tournament ever on Sunday, Aug. 10, at 4 p.m. EST, with a guaranteed $250,000 in total prize money to be awarded-- regardless of the number of registrants.
$5 Million Guaranteed Prize Pool for 2008 Borgata Poker Open in Sept. Details of the 6th annual Borgata Poker Open series have just been announced: the 16-day tournament begins Sept. 3rd and concludes with the $10,000 buy-In 5-day World Poker Tour (WPT) / Borgata Poker Open Championship event, September 14-18, at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.
PKR Now 15th Largest Online Poker Site Online poker site PKR recently announced that is has overtaken industry stalwarts Cryptologic and Entraction to claim 15th place in Pokerscout's online poker rankings, attributing its continued growth to highly innovative marketing campaigns. |
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