Poker News: Massachusetts House Defeats Casino Bill Banning Online Poker

Good news for lovers of online poker. The controversial Massachusetts bill that would allow three resort-style casinos while criminalizing online gambling was defeated by a House vote of 106-48 on Thursday.

The defeat of the bill that was proposed by Governor Deval Patrick had become a hot topic and the defeat was happily celebrated by House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, who was opposed to the bill in part due to what he believed were unrealistic portrayals of the money the casinos would generate for the state of Massachusetts. Thursday's House vote ensured that the bill could not come up again for debate until next year at the earliest.

On Wednesday, the House Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies voted 10-8 to reject the bill prior to sending it to the House floor. Without a vote of support from the committee, the bill would face an uphill battle in a full House vote. The narrow margin was a result of key abstention by Democratic Representative Robert L. Rice Jr. Prior to the committee vote, Rice had been considered a supporter of the bill by those lobbying in its behalf.

To some extent they were correct about Rice, he does support certain types of casino gambling for the state however this bill contained a provision for the criminalization of online gambling and Rice was uncomfortable with that aspect of it.

"I didn't disagree with the concept; I disagreed with the specifics," said Rice. "I thought that by abstaining, it would give me flexibility to do what I'm doing." During the six hour debate on the House floor, Rice attempted to introduce an amendment that would remove the online gambling criminalization provision, but by that time, the momentum to defeat the bill in any form was already too strong.

If you live in Massachusetts and you love to log on and play Texas Hold 'Em, you still can!

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 posted by My Poker Room Supplies