Re: Mass. General Law 137 and internet poker
IMHO, MA criminal gambling laws DO NOT apply to online poker. There are a lot of reasons for this, the defintion you cite being one of them, the fact that all the MA crimnal statutes refer to "places of gambling" is another.
Section 137 is not a criminal law, it is a "contract" law. It means if you beat somone at a poker game in MA that person, or another person on his behalf, could sue you for return of his losses. "In MA" is important language here. It is an open but probably losing argument to say that this language applies to the internet: the statute was written long before the internet, and the internet is interstate commerce, which only the Feds can regulate.
Hope that helps.
Skallagrim
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