Proposed internet poker ban in MA

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

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I just saw your post Uglyowl so I guess I didn't need to make mine - yours seems to confirm my expectation.

I'm unfortunately living in this stupid state and can't move atm so will be contacting church groups, anti-gambling Repubs and Dems plus whatever other of our "poker enemies" I can think of to see how to kill this proposal.

Hopefully the ppa will have some suggestions because besides that I don't have the slightest idea how to take steam out of this idiot's proposal.

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The only way to take steam out of the proposal is to convince the legislators that internet gambling poses no threat to the revenue stream from B&M casinos.

Good luck on that one.

[schwza]

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i live in mass. i'd be happy to call, but who should i call? also can you give you me a better talking point than "c'mon, i really like internet poker"?

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Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor
Office of the Lt. Governor
Room 360
Boston, MA 02133
Phone: 617.725.4005
888.870.7770 (in state)

My talking points:

- Only a few states have laws explicitly outlawing internet poker, I would hope Mass. wouldn't join the others.

- I switched to Democratic Party and have been donating to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, to various Democratic candidates in close elections including Steve Beshear.

- Told his office I voted for him, my first Democrat Party governor in 12 years due to the Republicans effort for a "nanny state" (got that word in there without sounding like a Yahoo) and specifically for attacking online poker.

- While the Governor proposes expanded gambling in the state, I didn't want to be a criminal for playing online poker from my living room after I put my son to bed.

- My friends and many co-workers enjoy online poker

- Bring up Newton based- WorldWinner Inc. may be in danger due to wording of legislation

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thanks, just called. went mostly for the hypocrisy angle re online vs land-based casinos and state-run lotto.

[TheEngineer]

If any of you are, or know of, a MA area lobbyist, can you please PM me? Thanks.

[whangarei]

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This section shall apply to any person who, from within this commonwealth, transmits a wager to, or receives a wager from, another person or gaming establishment within or outside of this commonwealth ...

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Probably stating the obvious at this point, but the bill prohibits internet wagers with entities outside of Massachussetts, so it is definately not just a clause preventing internet wagers to their own casinos as it seemed possible on first read.

[oldbookguy]

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If any of you are, or know of, a MA area lobbyist, can you please PM me? Thanks.

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This is an issue much larger than it seems at first glance affecting much more than the citizens of Mass.

We need a full court press on this language, not just from the citizens there, but all the PPA membership.
Why? Simple. If we want poker to be treated equal to and on the same footing as skill games we need to fight this fight.

There are many players in this one, not just World Winner. There is Fun Technologies who owns the site and in turn Liberty Media (a U. S. NASDAQ) traded company that has a major state in F. T. as well.

Also, AOL & MSN are affiliates to W.W., this company provides the games; both free and paid they offer as well.

There must be language in the bill exempting ‘skill’ gaming.

A talking points needs to be drawn up and posted at the PPA and 2+2, this, in the end, could be a defining event in our efforts.

Poker need not be the focus of our push; rather SKILL gaming needs to be.
This will add credibility to the PPA (not a single issue group) by showing we are fighting for all gaming on the Internet.

Note: posted at 2+2 & PPA Forum, e-mailed to TE & PPA

obg

[meelo]

So, who's gotten the real answer from Mass? Does it or doesn't it outlaw internet gambling?

[Uglyowl]

From oberservation I would bet that the % of PPA members from Mass is higher than % of population of Mass makes up the entire USA. Any idea Engineer what % of PPA members are from Mass? Mass. had 2.16% of the nations population in 2005 (probably went down a bit since).

[Grisgra]

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i live in mass. i'd be happy to call, but who should i call? also can you give you me a better talking point than "c'mon, i really like internet poker"?

[/ QUOTE ]

Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor
Office of the Lt. Governor
Room 360
Boston, MA 02133
Phone: 617.725.4005
888.870.7770 (in state)

My talking points:

- Only a few states have laws explicitly outlawing internet poker, I would hope Mass. wouldn't join the others.

- I switched to Democratic Party and have been donating to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, to various Democratic candidates in close elections including Steve Beshear.

- Told his office I voted for him, my first Democrat Party governor in 12 years due to the Republicans effort for a "nanny state" (got that word in there without sounding like a Yahoo) and specifically for attacking online poker.

- While the Governor proposes expanded gambling in the state, I didn't want to be a criminal for playing online poker from my living room after I put my son to bed.

- My friends and many co-workers enjoy online poker

- Bring up Newton based- WorldWinner Inc. may be in danger due to wording of legislation

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thanks, just called. went mostly for the hypocrisy angle re online vs land-based casinos and state-run lotto.

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Just called -- got in instantly. Pointed out I'd rather not get thrown in jail for playing poker online, and the oddness of this being in the same legislation that makes it legal to gamble on the same games, just in casinos. Sounds like he was even taking notes.

Call, call, call.

[Skallagrim]

Really good work, call and write the Governor as he is the one proposing this legislation. Ask his office if he really wants to be known as the Governor who wants to kill online poker in Mass while allowing live poker/table games and slots. Point out the hypocracy and remind him how this would make enemies of people who would otherwise support his proposal.

There is still a long way from proposal to law, so further opportunities to influence this will come during the legislative process (committe hearings and floor votes at least). Learn the names of your local state reps and senators too!

Skallagrim

[downrange]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This section shall apply to any person who, from within this commonwealth, transmits a wager to, or receives a wager from, another person or gaming establishment within or outside of this commonwealth ...

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably stating the obvious at this point, but the bill prohibits internet wagers with entities outside of Massachussetts, so it is definately not just a clause preventing internet wagers to their own casinos as it seemed possible on first read.

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I figured it would be in there for one/various reasons:

1. Anti-gamblers asked/made it known it needs to be in there (IOW "maybe we can live with a casino or two in these tight budgetary times but we won't support a gambling free-for-all");

2. B&M/casinos have some misguided notion it hurts them;

3. Didn't occur to anyone Internet poker is caught by that definition;

4. The state is taking this opportunity to make it clear they have and still consider online poker/gambling illegal;

5. The state wants full control over gambling revenue;

6. ?

#3 now looks out of place after Uglyowl's post. But none of the other potential reasons allow for online poker to co-exist so IMM there's no fixing this proposal. So I believe the calls we make (to parties other than the Governor) should be to stop this thing. And this is why:

I think a big part of the problem is that in this regard online poker and "Internet gambling" are one in the same; online sports betting, online roulette wheels, online craps and whatever other degenerate crap you can think of. The whole "Internet gambling" topic really hasn't been discussed in the public much (from the standpoint of politicians wanting to know who's side they should switch to) so I seriously doubt anyone pushing this proposal here in MA has any interest whatsoever in weighing down their casino push by adding the whole online gambling discussion to it.

If they did, IMO they seriously jeopardize what they most want, which is land-based cash machines pumping $$ into the statehouse. That's all they want. They aren't interested in principle or hypocrisy or any of that; they want it easy and simple and as painless as possible. And you can't separate out online poker without enraging all the other online gambling interests. The proposal's backers I'm sure realize that you make this thing too big and too messy and people will just throw up their hands in frustration and say "forget the whole thing". So their simple answer? "Any gambling besides in the casino is illegal. End of story."

This proposal is no good for us and I believe there is 0.000 interest in fixing it for online poker players. We either get casinos and lose Internet poker or we try to kill the whole thing and hope there's a status quo to return to. That's why I think the calls we make should be to kill this.