Patrick, pushing casinos, wants to make Internet bets illegal

BOSTON --Gov. Deval Patrick is proposing to make Internet gambling illegal for Massachusetts residents, even as he pushes his plan to bring three casinos to the state.

A provision in Patrick's bill to allow the casinos proposes prison terms of up to two years and $25,000 fines for residents who place a bet online, The Boston Globe reported.

Patrick's plan drew criticism from a fellow Democrat, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, who is sponsoring federal legislation to license and regulate online gambling nationally.

"Why is gambling in a casino OK and gambling on the Internet is not?" Frank said. "He's making a big mistake. He's giving opponents an argument against him."

David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, suggested the provision was included to make casino licenses more lucrative by shutting down online competition.

"If you were cynical about it, you'd think that they're trying to set up a monopoly for the casinos," Schwartz said.

Patrick officials declined Friday to explain the governor's rationale for the proposed ban on online gambling. They also would not respond to Frank's comments.

"Several of the provisions of the governor's proposed resort casinos bill seek to clarify the laws relating to gaming in Massachusetts, including online gaming," said Kofi Jones, spokeswoman for the governor's chief gambling adviser, Daniel O'Connell, secretary of economic development.

Patrick's casino legislation has been introduced at the Statehouse, but is not expected to get a hearing until next year. It would license three casinos in three regions of the state, and casino developers would bid on the licenses. Patrick expects they would attract 10-year licensing fees of $200 million to $300 million for each casino.

Federal law prohibits betting using telephone lines, and U.S. Department of Justice has interpreted that as prohibiting all online gambling. But the government's policy has been to prosecute the operators of Internet gambling sites, not the gamblers.

Patrick's provision would penalize parties on both ends of the transaction. It would apply to anyone in Massachusetts who places or receives a wager of any type using a telephone, cell phone, Internet, or local wireless networks.

If Massachusetts adopts an online gambling ban, it would join such states as Utah, Nevada, and Washington.

The Poker Players Alliance, a group that says it represents the interests of online gamblers, supports the governor's proposal for three Massachusetts casinos, but plans to oppose the overall bill because of the online gambling prohibition.

"It makes absolutely no sense to me," said Randy Castonguay, director of the Massachusetts chapter of the Poker Players Alliance. "It's actually kind of laughable if you think about it."

News Added: 11 November, 2007

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