Will Massachusetts Get Their First Resort Casino and Offer Poker?

The Mashpee Wampanoag Indian tribe and the Cape Cod town of Middleboro Massachusetts USA are anxiously awaiting word from Governor Deval Patrick regarding whether he supports casinos in the state, as the tribe and town wish to develop a $1 billion Mohegan Sun-style casino in Middleboro, making it the state's first casino.

A task force led by state Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Daniel O'Connell studied the issue of gambling in the Bay State, and last month submitted their secret report to the governor, who so far has exhibited his best poker face in refusing to reveal where he stands on the issue.

Patrick promised an announcement this week.

When the Mashpee Wampanoag were granted federal recognition in May, they immediately became eligible to offer, on their own sovereign land, any kind of gambling allowed in Massachusetts. The tribe has said it will apply within the next two weeks to take more than 500 Middleboro acres into trust for the purpose of locating a $1 billion Mohegan Sun-style casino there.

If Gov. Patrick does approve casino-style gambling, then the Massachusetts State Legislature still needs to decide whether full casino gaming will be permitted.

Should the Legislature not approve Class III gaming (which allows bettors to play against the house), the tribe has said it will build a Class II gaming facility, offering bingo slots in which bettors technically wager against one another, although the machines function like traditional slot machines.

After more than 3,700 voters approved an agreement at a special Town Meeting last month, Middleboro has become the tribe's partner in the casino venture. The project would bring the financially battered town upwards of $11 million a year and $250 million for road and infrastructure improvements.

Indian casino gambling in Massachusetts would require an agreement with the state, presumably with the tribe turning over a percentage of its revenue in lieu of taxes, according to a Standard-Times staff writer, since a casino would be on Indian land, which is not taxable. A portion of that payment could be used to mitigate potential damages in surrounding communities.

MORE CASINOS ON THE HORIZON?

Though the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is in the current gambling spotlight, the state is not limited to only Indian gambling. In fact, state Treasurer Timothy Cahill has proposed licensing a limited number of commercial casinos as a way to boost state revenues.

He said two casinos, for example, would provide the state with "a minimum of $500 million and we're looking at the possibility of up to $1 billion."

In fact, a report issued earlier this month from UMass Dartmouth's Center for Policy Analysis recommended that the state license three commercial casinos, including one in Southeastern Massachusetts, and to allow the area's Indian tribes to run two of them.

Center Director Clyde W. Barrow said: "If the governor and state Legislature approve world-class commercial resort casinos at Suffolk Downs and in Southeastern Mass. and Western Mass., they will ensure Massachusetts' dominance of New England's gaming, entertainment, tourism, hospitality, and convention and meeting industries."

He also suggested that New Bedford would be a better Southeastern Massachusetts location than Middleboro because it would be better situated to "recapture" some of the Bay State gamblers now going to Connecticut and Rhode Island.

In an earlier study, the Center concluded that Bay Staters spent more than $1 billion in 2006 at Connecticut's casinos (Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun) and Rhode Island's slot parlors (Twin River and Newport Grand).

Along with the Mashpee Wampanoag, there are several groups with casino projects they would like to develop in Massachusetts, should Govenor Patrick give his approval.

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