11 Feb 09

Massachusetts Clause Incriminating Online Poker Removed

A Massachusetts bill regarding online gambling contained a clause that would criminalize online poker until not long ago. However, the Poker Players Alliance took a stand and managed to get the clause removed from the bill.

A Massachusetts bill called "Act Establishing and Regulating Resort Casinos in the Commonwealth" was introduced in 2007 by Governor Deval Patrick. The main purpose behind this bill was to allow three casino resorts to offer their services to citizens in the state and redirect the state money flow from major nearby gambling areas such as Atlantic City (Foxwoods) and Conneticut (Mohegan Sun).

However, one particular clause within the bill criminalized online gambling, including poker, with the punishments being either a fine of up to $25,000 or two years in prison:

"Any person who, except in accordance with section 5C of chapter 128A, knowingly transmits or 1448 receives a wager of any type by any telecommunication device, including telephone, cellular phone, Internet, 1449 local area network, including wireless local networks, or any other similar device or equipment or other medium 1450 of communication, or knowingly installs or maintains said device or equipment for the transmission or receipt 1451 of wagering information shall be punished by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than 2 years, 1452 or a fine of not more than $25,000, or both."

The bill was reintroduced this year by state representatives Martin Walsh and Brian Wallace, but the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) promptly answered to this bill and managed to get the incriminating clause removed. John Pappas, Executive Director of the PPA, said:

“The story behind this bill has been a very interesting case. When the bill came back to life last week, many of the representatives didn’t know this language was still in it. Through the grassroots efforts of our membership in Massachusetts, the legislature discovered the statements regarding the criminalization of online poker. Within eight hours, the representatives either e-mailed or called people who spoke up about it and said they would not be putting the legislation through with that language still in the bill."

Brian Wallace agreed that the clause incriminating online poker does not belong in the bill: "I am going to move to strike the entire section on online poker. It was inadvertently added to the bill. We only had a few hours to put the final bill together, and we had a number of different people adding and subtracting from other bills that were filed in the past. The bill is 49 pages and that simply slipped by. It was a mistake which we are going to rectify."

Pappas was pleased with the way things worked and he said that the PPA will be "keeping an eye on further activity in Massachusetts regarding this case": "It goes to show you how the efforts of the members of the Poker Players Alliance are working."