Online Gambling News from Some US States

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In the United States the focus on online gambling legislation is moving to the individual states. Last week Massachusetts and New Hampshire were in the news. However the news can only be classified as bad and very bad from the point of view of the online gambling community. In both cases it appears that online gambling has been pitted head on against live casino gambling.

The very bad news comes from Massachusetts, where a bill has been introduced in the state House of Representatives that seeks to allow the establishment of two land-based casinos. The objective of this move is to generate funds in order to partially cover the budget gap. The bill was introduced by the Speaker Robert De Leo. This in itself is not harmful for online gambling. The very bad news is that this bill seeks to make online gambling illegal. The bill provides for any person who knowingly places or receives a wager by any telecommunication device to be punished. The telecommunication devices include telephones, cellular phones, the Internet and local area networks. Also punishable are persons who knowingly install or maintain such devices or equipment for wagering. The bill clarifies that this proposed law applies to all residents of Massachusetts and it does not matter whether the wager is placed in a gaming establishment within or outside of the state. The proposed punishment is imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of up to $25,000. Though the bill has yet to become law the signs are ominous.

In New Hampshire the Governor John Lynch has expressed intent to legalize online gambling, again with the objective to bridge the budget gap. It has been reported that the Governor has made preliminary inquiries with concerned authorities and will be moving ahead. A complete plan is expected to be released shortly. However the bad news in this case is that the Governor had rubbed the land casino lobby the wrong way by opposing a bill that provides for up to17,000 land-based legalized slot machines and table games in New Hampshire. The ground that the Governor has given for opposing this bill is that it would lead to proliferation of gambling. Now the proponents and the beneficiaries of that bill are emphasizing that online gambling is the shortest way of proliferation of gambling. Green Meadow Golf Club is one of the hopeful beneficiaries of the bill under consideration as it expects to build a land casino and resort in Hudson. Former Senator Bob Clegg, who is acting as a lobbyist for the club said, "The governor is worried about proliferation of gaming but it sounds like he’s going to make every computer terminal in every home and every BlackBerry - including those BlackBerrys held by kids in high school - a gambling facility."

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