Massachusetts House Denies Proposal for Public Hearing on Gambling Bill

Tuesday was a day that online poker players were either looking forward to with excitement or simply dreading. It was the day that Massachusetts House Bill 4591, which would expand gambling in the Commonwealth, was to be debated in the state legislature. Part of the bill includes language that would make online gambling, including poker, illegal in Massachusetts. The debate is scheduled to resume on Wednesday.

What had some people up in arms Tuesday, though, was the overwhelming vote against opening up the bill to a public hearing. Representative Jennifer Callahan put forth the proposal, saying, “The public has been forced to sit in the bleachers with an obstructed view of the legislative raceway while special interests get the inside track. We need to put the brakes, at least temporarily, on ramming this bill through the legislative process.”

Callahan gained support from the other side of the aisle, as House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. called the gambling legislation a “huge issue,” important enough to merit public input.

Representative Daniel E. Bosley, added that, if passed, the bill would create “generational change in our economy, the importance of which cannot be overemphasized.” Bosley has long been against gambling expansion.

Despite the support from some of her colleagues and the fact that nobody spoke out against it, Callahan’s proposal for a public hearing was shot down by a decisive 102-30 vote. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who introduced the bill that has the online poker community in an uproar, has said previously that because gambling bills have been debated for years in Massachusetts, there is no need for additional public hearings.

The main crux of House Bill 4591 is the establishment of two casinos in Massachusetts and 750 slot machines at the four racetracks in the Commonwealth. As one might expect, some are opposed to the expansion of gambling, while others see it as a way to bring in revenue and create jobs. Additionally, there is debate over where the two casinos should be located. Representatives from Western Massachusetts believe one should be built in their part of the state, but a proposal to require one to be built in the “left half” was defeated by a vote of 136-17.

For online poker players, the alarming part of the bill is the following language, which would criminalize internet gambling: “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.”

As reported Monday on Poker News Daily, both Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Kentucky State Director Rich Muny and Executive Director John Pappas claimed to have received confirmation that the anti-online poker language will either be stricken completely from the bill or amended so as not to include poker. A technical corrections package, which is rumored to eliminate the anti-internet gambling language, passed the House on Tuesday and must now be approved in the Massachusetts State Senate.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for further developments from Massachusetts.

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Poker lexicon:

RAGS - Board cards that are small, not suited and not in sequence, e.g., 9-5-2. When "rags flop", it is unlikely that anyone has a good hand, except possibly the big blind in an unraised pot.
RACE - In tournaments it is sometimes convenient to remove all lower-denomination chips from play, as the remaining players' stacks tend to grow. Small chips are converted to larger chips and any odd chips are "raced off" in the following way: each player with odd chips places them in front of his stack and is dealt one card for each chip. Highest card (rank and suit) takes all the small chips and converts them to higher-denomination chips.
TABLE STAKES - A standard rule whereby during a hand players can only bet the money they have on the table. If the bet to a player is more than the player's stack, that player may call with all his chips and be eligible to win only that portion of the pot he contributed to equally. A side pot is created, for which only the remaining players may compete.
LEAK - To show one's hole cards (often unknowingly).
BAD-BEAT JACKPOT - In some cardrooms, a prize that is shared by the players in a game, when a very good hand (usually Aces full, or better) is beaten by a higher hand. Jackpots are usually financed by taking a drop ($1 is a common amount) from every pot. A typical division of the jackpot will give the losing hand 50 %, the winning hand 25 %, and the other players at the table share the remaining 25 % of the Jackpot.
BUTTON - A distinctive token held by the player sitting in the theoretical dealer's position, when a house dealer is used. The button rotates around the table so that every player has an opportunity to be the last to act. Also, "THE BUTTON" can refer to the player who currently has the button. ("I was the button and called the blind".) Synonyms: BUCK, PUCK.

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