latest news on massachusetts gaming

[rockycatt]

Gambling Amendment Approved by Massachusetts House
April 15th, 2010 by Carol R
Well give this state a BIG hand!!! Finally one that has come to their senses. Maybe this will lead to more and more doing the same. We can only hope! If we continue to let them know what we want and that is “our Rights”, it will change things.

Hot off the press!!

14 April 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. — (PRESS RELEASE) — The Massachusetts House of Representatives yesterday approved a Poker Players Alliance-supported amendment to the state’s gaming legislation which removed language criminalizing playing online poker and other gaming over the Internet.

The bill should meet final passage later today. PPA, the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide and over 25,000 members in Massachusetts, has been working closely with Massachusetts lawmakers since 2008 to preserve Massachusetts’ citizens’ rights to play poker, whether online or in person.

“Of course, the PPA is very pleased that the House-passed gaming bill does not criminalize online poker, but I am even more proud of our members in Massachusetts who really stepped up to the plate on this issue and made their voices heard among the House lawmakers. This was grassroots at its finest,” said John Pappas, executive director of the PPA.

The PPA has been engaged in the gaming debate in Massachusetts since 2008, when a broad casino bill contained language making it illegal to play online poker, carrying a criminal penalty of up to 2 years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine. That legislation ultimately lost momentum, but was reintroduced this year.

Notwithstanding assurances that the criminalization language would not be part of the new bill introduced this year, it was. The PPA, its members in Massachusetts, and lobbying team quickly rallied to provide an amendment, offered by State Representative Brian Dempsey, striking the criminalization provision and to communicate the wide support for legal online poker among Massachusetts citizens.

Additionally, the PPA has been working with State Representative Brian Wallace on his legislation, H4069, which would officially define poker as a game of skill in Massachusetts.

reference---> Posted in Online Casino News and Information | No Comments »

S.C. Set To Legalize

[jetset]

This was a success for the PPA in as much as it mounted a crash campaign against the earlier inclusion in the proposal of a small clause actively making the facilitation of online gambling a crime.

This was despite previous campaigning and communication with politicians by the PPA regarding the clause, which was buried in a general land gambling expansion bill.

When the PPA noted that the offending clause was still in the proposal when House Speaker Robert De Leo presented it, the poker orgnanisation marshalled its 25 000 Massachusetts members to blitz their political representatives.

Shortly after that politicians supporting the bill contacted the PPA and asked them to 'call off the dogs' as the inclusion had been inadvertent (a hangover from previous bills) and would be removed via one of the amendments.

This was duly done. It's a small victory for online gambling that this was headed off in Massachusetts, but it does not really change the overall picture.

[rockycatt]

This was a success for the PPA in as much as it mounted a crash campaign against the earlier inclusion in the proposal of a small clause actively making the facilitation of online gambling a crime.

This was despite previous campaigning and communication with politicians by the PPA regarding the clause, which was buried in a general land gambling expansion bill.

When the PPA noted that the offending clause was still in the proposal when House Speaker Robert De Leo presented it, the poker organisation marshalled its 25 000 Massachusetts members to blitz their political representatives.

Shortly after that politicians supporting the bill contacted the PPA and asked them to 'call off the dogs' as the inclusion had been inadvertent (a hangover from previous bills) and would be removed via one of the amendments.

This was duly done. It's a small victory for online gambling that this was headed off in Massachusetts, but it does not really change the overall picture.

jet as i under stand it massachusetts residents are free to play on line gaming with out breaking a law , [correct me if I'm wrong here ]

but government track record of failure in what they do [we dodged a other wise big bullet], oh and id love to buy the bullets when the time is right

thanx for the response R C

[nisosbar]

You see? When you contact your elected officials, it can make a difference.

Frankly, the reason why the UIGEA got so much support in the first place was, among other reasons, the bricks/mortar gaming concerns were attempting to quash online competition. Thus, they lobbied Congress in favor of the bill.

Thanks for the good news.

[rockycatt]

You see? When you contact your elected officials, it can make a difference.

Frankly, the reason why the UIGEA got so much support in the first place was, among other reasons, the bricks/mortar gaming concerns were attempting to quash online competition. Thus, they lobbied Congress in favor of the bill.

Thanks for the good news. :thumbs up:

i agree completely actually i think a lot of there work is criminal and we
really need to send quite a few of them to the slammer