WILL ONLINE GAMBLING MAKE IT THROUGH IN MASSACHUSETTS?

Saturday October 8, 2011 :  Amendments may come under fire in continuing Senate debate this week
 
Representative Dan Winslow's amendment adding intrastate legalised online poker to a Massachusetts land gambling bill made it through the House earlier this month on a 123-32 vote  but now faces a sterner test in the state Senate when debate continues this week.
 
The Senate has spent two days wading through the bill's 182 amendments and has yet to finalise its deliberations, although it has already approved several changes, including a one-year ban on lawmakers working in the gambling industry after leaving office, and a ban on councils on aging from using state funds for trips to out-of-state casinos once new gambling land facilities open in Massachusetts.
 
The main thrust of the bill now before the Senate is the introduction of three resort-style land casinos and one slots parlour in the state.
 
The bill has enjoyed bi-partisan support in the House, and its supporters are hopeful that it will make it through the Senate.
 
Representative Winslow hinted at how the online gambling amendment survived the House, tweeting earlier this month that lawmakers had approved the formation of a gaming commission tasked with developing legalization for intrastate online poker.
 
It is not known whether, like Nevada, this preparatory measure includes implementation being conditional on federal legalization.