Proposed internet poker ban in MA

[Jurollo]

Ok folks. Deval Patrick will be on the radio Thursday November 1st @ 1pm (I believe he comes on the first break of ths show) on Eagan and Braude on WTKK (96.9) I suggest a good thing would be to flood the phone lines asking about the hypocrisy in allowing B&M casinos to break ground in the state of MA while making online poker illegal. I think pointing out the WorldWinner tie is extremely important here otherwise we will get the usual answer about creating jobs and such, oh really governer? Worldwinner is located in MA and this law would likely shut them down.

Eagan & Braude site

Phoning into the show Thursday #969 on Verizon wireless, i forget the # offhand for non Verizon users. I suggest calling in @ noon on the dot and getting a bunch of us in the queue so we can get some answers from Deval.

~Justin

[flight2q]

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1) Fill in this email form for the Governor's office.
http://mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilitie...ov3_contact_us
Possible subject header: "Proposed casino legislation should NOT make online poker illegal in MA" (they read & track EVERY submission, this makes it easy for them)

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I am looking at Governor Patrick's draft legislative proposal, An Act Establishing and Regulating Resort Casinos in the Commonwealth, at http://www.mass.gov/legis/HD4626.pdf
As a native of Massachusetts, now living in Kansas, I was disturbed by section 15(h)(2)(i), page 28, on placing, sending, transmitting, relaying wagers. This provision appears to attempt to criminalize people throughout the world if they so much as play Internet poker and someone from Massachusetts sits at their table. If this were enacted, I could not recommend anyone to take the risk of visiting Massachusetts, even though the foliage is splendid right now.
While I have social concerns about online slot machines, online scratch off tickets (available in Kansas), and other gaming not based on skill, I believe poker, bridge, Scrabble, and other skill-based games do not merit the same concerns. Of these, poker has special problems; it has acquired the stigma of a chance game due to being a skill game hosted at resort casinos. The resort casinos have expanded their poker offerings in recent years to attract customers generated by the Internet poker boom. If the intent of section 15(h)(2)(i) is to enhance the resort casino revenue by interfering with Internet poker, then I believe this attempt is misguided.

[TheEngineer]

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I'm anxious to do what I can. This appears to be a unique opportunity- we get to fight for changes to this bill BEFORE it's enacted, rather than lament after the fact and fight a massive uphill battle to change it later.

That's great that Randy's working on that and reassuring to know there's a system somewhat in place and ready to fire.

Even something as simple as making a sticky thread here in Legislation cross-linked to Internet Gambling forum with "Action Steps to Fight Mass. Online Ban" would likely boost 2+2er activity.

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Definitely PM him with any ideas you have (I guess you have sent him some already).

[Tuff_Fish]

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I think since people are essentially lazy, making it as EASY and SIMPLE as possible for people to step in and help fight this is essential to getting a large % of poker players / PPA members to actually do something.


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If online poker players choose to be lazy, they will rue the day they chose to do nothing instead of something.

To refine my thoughts a bit.

At a minimum the Governor and his staff need to be made aware, nay, totally convinced, that we will fight this proposal, and in due course fight the legislators who support this bill, tooth and nail if this section is not removed or amended to our satisfaction. They should be told that we are very well versed on this issue, and we know exactly which arguments we can hand the opponents of his bill that are most effective.

The governor and his staff need to be made aware that we will support his bill, and the legislators who support this bill, with equal fervor if online poker is explicitly given a skill exemption.

The Governor and his staff need to know, with no doubt about it, that we intend to play this hand "all in" and does he want to risk his whole stack on the current provision.

Tuff

[NewGuy]

I think you may have misunderstood my point a bit, Tuff, since I agree with you but I may have been a bit unclear. We agree that poker players need to act or they'll regret it, and we definitely agree that the Governor needs to be made aware of this constituency's concerns and willingness to fight.

My point was just that the simpler and clearer we explain to poker players exactly what specific steps they need to take, the more people there will be that actually take these steps (since people can be a bit lazy or unmotivated if unsure their actions will make a difference).

[Tuff_Fish]

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My point was just that the simpler and clearer we explain to poker players exactly what specific steps they need to take, the more people there will be that actually take these steps (since people can be a bit lazy or unmotivated if unsure their actions will make a difference).

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Point well taken.

Tuff

[DeadMoneyDad]

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One tactic to consider is to offer lots of help (in volunteers and money, BUT YOU GOTTA DELIVER) to supporters of the bill IF they will slip in a provision that explicitly allows online poker, INCLUDING HOSTING, while explicitly prohibiting other online gambling. Use the same arguments as are being used for the Wexler bill.


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How do you go about it so it doesn't seem like you are buying them off or is that ok to make a "contingent" donation. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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Promises of suport or opposition both money and volunteer efforts are done all the time. This is true grassroots politics.

IMO the volunteer efforts are worth more than money to most pols.


D$D

[Uglyowl]

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IMO the volunteer efforts are worth more than money to most pols.


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Silly question... how do I phrase this when calling up the Governor's office? "If you take this section out, I will assist you by volunteering or donating $100 or $200 to the effort of getting this bill passed"

[NewGuy]

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Ok folks. Deval Patrick will be on the radio Thursday November 1st @ 1pm (I believe he comes on the first break of ths show) on Eagan and Braude on WTKK (96.9) I suggest a good thing would be to flood the phone lines asking about the hypocrisy in allowing B&M casinos to break ground in the state of MA while making online poker illegal. I think pointing out the WorldWinner tie is extremely important here otherwise we will get the usual answer about creating jobs and such, oh really governer? Worldwinner is located in MA and this law would likely shut them down.

Eagan & Braude site

Phoning into the show Thursday #969 on Verizon wireless, i forget the # offhand for non Verizon users. I suggest calling in @ noon on the dot and getting a bunch of us in the queue so we can get some answers from Deval.

~Justin

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Good idea to call in.

Any merit to this line of questioning?

"Governor, hypothetically, are for or against making playing in an Scrabble or chess tournament a felony?"

"Oh, well how about if that same tournament was online?"

"Are you aware that there's a company based in Massachusetts called WorldWinner that operates online games just like these? This company would likely be driven out of business to put people out of work unless the language in Section 15(h)(2)(i) is changed to allow games of skill over the internet to be played?

"Unless this language is clarified and corrected, you are about to lose the support of the Poker Players Alliance and tens if not hundreds of thousands of people who like to play poker on their computers, Governor.

"Do you honestly think someone who plays in a $5 poker tournament on their computer sitting at home should be charged with a felony punishable up to two years in prison? If the answer is no, or if Mass residents would in fact never be charged with such an offense, should it be made law?"

[NewGuy]

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Silly question... how do I phrase this when calling up the Governor's office? "If you take this section out, I will assist you by volunteering or donating $100 or $200 to the effort of getting this bill passed"

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I don't think that's a silly question at all. Knowing what/how to say things like that are just the kind of talking points (almost approaching a script) that I think a lot poker players (including me) would like to have in their arsenal when they connect with someone on the phone.