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Online Poker Ban Removed from Massachusetts Legislation

Online poker players in the United States have won a victory, even if it’s a small one — language in a Massachusetts bill that would have criminalized online poker has been removed.

In Massachusetts, a bill that would approve licenses for casinos in the commonwealth is being fast tracked through the legislature. That bill originally had language that would make online gambling and poker illegal. Here is the wording that was deleted in a session of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, according to the Poker Players Alliance, a U.S. interest group:

Any person who knowingly transmits or receives a wager of any type by any telecommunication device, including telephone, cellular phone, Internet, local area network, including wireless local networks, or any other similar device or equipment or other medium of communication, or knowingly installs or maintains said device or equipment for the transmission or receipt of wagering information shall be punished by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 2 years, or by a fine of not more than $25,000, or both such fine or imprisonment.

The bill still needs to make it through the Senate, but it seems unlikely that the removed language would be added back in, at this point. Massachusetts’ legislature is trying to pass the bill, which would license a pair of casinos and allow 750 slot machines at its racetracks, in order to create revenue for the commonwealth. At this point, the bill is expected to pass both houses and be signed into law, so online poker players in Massachusetts are glad the language has been removed.

According to a press release from the PPA, executive director John Pappas had this to say after the victory: “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.”

The Poker Players Alliance claims 25,000 members in Massachusetts, and many PPA members and online poker players called and e-mailed their legislators to voice their displeasure with the language that would ban online poker. Clearly, the PPA had a large role in the striking of this language, and it’s one of the clearest victories for the advocacy group, which was formed in 2005.

An amendment to the casinos bill is also still under consideration which would define poker as a “skill game.” Here’s the proposed an amendment: “Nothing in this bill shall be construed to prohibit, limit, criminalize, regulate, or require a license to operate, set up, promote, aid, play, or otherwise participate in games of skill played peer-to-peer, including but not limited to poker.” The inclusion of this language would be another victory for online poker players, as it would not lump poker in with other games of chance.

This is the second time that Massachusetts had considered legislation that included language that would criminalize online poker and gambling. The first bill on casino licensing, in 2008, contained similar language. That bill never became law, however.

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