A hearing on Tuesday, March 18th will discuss a bill introduced by Governor Deval Patrick. The H. 4307 establishes the framework for construction of three casinos in Massachusetts, but at the same time makes playing online poker punishable by up to two years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

H. 4307 is designed to bring revenue and jobs to Massachusetts. With casinos such as Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun nearby, the state finds itself losing potential sources of revenue. The text of the bill reads, “Revenue generated from resort casinos can be used to find critical needs in the commonwealth, including investments and upgrades to roads and bridges, and other important infrastructure.” Atlantic City is just a 350 mile hop from Boston, making for a range of gambling options for Massachusetts residents right now.

The trouble brewing in the Massachusetts. Home to Congressman Barney Frank, one of online poker’s leading proponents and author of the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, Massachusetts may have taken a turn for the worse on this critical issue.

Luckily, Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society Founder and President Charles Nesson, Congressman Frank, and an army of individuals from the Poker Players Alliance are working to reverse a detrimental course of action the state is embarking upon.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 14th, 2008 at 4:20 pm and is filed under Online Poker, Poker Industry News, Poker Players. 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.