Last year the Commonwealth of Massachusetts nearly passed a bill that would have brought two mega-casinos and several slot parlors to the state, but the bill was vetoed by Governor Deval Patrick (a supporter of casinos on the state) because of the exclusivity clause that would be given to current Massachusetts racetracks in applying for the slot licenses.

Now the Massachusetts legislature is at it again, and this time they are not only looking to bring Brick & Mortar casinos to the state, but one legislature Daniel Winslow (R-Norfolk) is pushing for an amendment that would also allow legalized online poker in Massachusetts.

The Winslow amendment would allow five online poker licenses to be awarded in the state, something Winslow cited as being able to bring high-tech jobs to Massachusetts, and the amendment would make a clear distinction between games of skill and games of chance. Another caveat of the amendment Winslow introduced would be in regulations; which according to Boston.com would mean:  “the amendment would also require the state to draft new regulations to ensure that Internet poker games have integrity and consist of games of skill and not games of chance.”

The bill to bring three casinos and a single slot parlor to Massachusetts is set to be debated in the coming weeks, and it’s likely a number of amendments will be brought up during the debate.

Tags: Amendments, Amp, Brick, Casinos, Caveat, Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, Distinction, Exclusivity Clause, Games Of Chance, Governor Deval Patrick, High Tech Jobs, Integrity, Internet Poker Games, Lawmaker, Massachusetts Legislature, Mortar, Online Poker, Racetracks, Winslow

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 at 3:56 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.