(could be worse he could be asking for the electric chair, The morel of this story is if you don't want the threat of jail but want to play poker then www.clububt.com Players wanted Story: Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick wants jail terms of up to two years and $25,000 fines for those who play poker and other casino games for real money online. The Boston Globe reported this weekend that Massachusetts is looking to follow in the footsteps of Washington State, which already makes it a Class C felony to place bets online. The provision, buried deep in Patrick's bill to allow three casinos to the state, puts the governor at odds with a fellow Democrat: US Representative Barney Frank, the sponsor of federal legislation to license and regulate online gambling nationally. Yesterday Frank strongly criticized the governor's plan to punish online gamers while inviting casino operators to set up shop. "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." The proposed law would also seek to punish Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots fans. These are among the most bet on teams in professional sports today. Fans of Boston College Football and the surging Celtics will also be looking at potential jailtime down the road should this new law come to fruition. Patrick officials declined yesterday to explain the governor's rationale for including the provision in the proposed legislation. 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. Others suggested the provision was included to make casino licenses more lucrative by preventing competition from online operators. "If you were cynical about it, you'd think that they're trying to set up a monopoly for the casinos," said David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Patrick's casino legislation, which has been introduced at the State House but is not expected to get a hearing until next year, according to the Globe. Presently there are a handful of challenges against a Federal US law that holds banking institutions responsible for the prevention of online gambling by US citizens. Martin Owens, an Attorney representing the i-Gaming industry, told an audience at last month's i-Gaming Expo in Barcelona that the trend is actually for more states to lean towards accepting online poker and other forms of Internet gaming. "Change starts from the bottom up," he said. "All current statutes and laws (in the US) trace back to state laws including the UIGEA."
