THERE’S AN ODD quirk in the law legalizing sports betting in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is allowed to license seven mobile sports betting apps, in addition to mobile apps that are tied to in-person gaming facilities like casinos and racetracks. But the law also lets the commission give an unlimited number of temporary mobile […]
Gambling
Posted inGambling
Casinos ready to go on sports betting
AT A MEETING a meeting of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Thursday, the message from the state’s three casinos was clear: We’re ready to roll. To roll out sports betting, that is. The holdup, however, will be the length of time it takes the commission to develop and implement regulations for the brand new industry. […]
Posted inGambling
A loud lament over the latest gambling embrace by state leaders
THERE WERE WHOOPS AND HOLLERS from DraftKings, the state’s casinos, and lawmakers as the state legalized sports betting earlier this month. For Les Bernal, it was not a moment to celebrate, but instead marked a new low in how far Massachusetts would go to draw in revenue by exploiting those most vulnerable to the addictive […]
Posted inGambling
Nightclub at Encore hit with $25,000 fine
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER FIVE separate incidents in which patrons at Encore Boston Harbor’s Memoire nightclub, some of them underage, were served more alcohol than they should have been, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has fined the nightclub operator $25,000 and the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission is upping its presence there. The fine and required […]
Posted inGambling
Let the betting begin – in a number of months
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday signed a law legalizing sports betting in Massachusetts, joining more than 30 other states that have authorized sports betting since the US Supreme Court overturned a federal ban in 2018. “Our administration first filed legislation to legalize sports wagering in the Commonwealth several years ago, and I am glad to […]
Posted inGambling
Lottery reports record revenue, prize payouts
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FISCAL YEAR 2022 was another record-setting one for the Massachusetts Lottery with all-time highs for total revenue, prizes paid out, and commissions or bonuses paid to retailers, but the agency came up just short of topping its profit record, officials said Tuesday morning. Estimates for the fiscal year that ended June […]
Posted inGambling
Leominster group pursuing fourth casino region
A GROUP of Leominster business officials, with the help of former Senate president and now lobbyist Stan Rosenberg, is pursuing a long-shot, end-of-the-legislative-session bid to create a fourth casino region in Massachusetts in northern Worcester County. Under current state law, there are three casino regions in Massachusetts. The A and B regions are home to […]
Posted inOpinion
Roadmap to go on sports betting
MAY 14 MARKED the four-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision that struck down the federal ban on state-authorized sports betting. For four years, Massachusetts – home to one of the most sports-obsessed markets in the country in Boston – has watched from the sideline as nearly every other state in New England has […]
Posted inCourts, Gambling, State House News Service
SJC orders discovery into Everett casino land deal
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICES THE ACTIONS OF the Massachusetts Gaming Commission almost a decade ago could be put under a new microscope after the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that a lower court should look more closely at the “highly unusual character of the commission’s actions” related to the award of a casino license to […]
Posted inOpinion
We see sports betting, financial literacy connection
SPORTS BETTING is coming to a town and phone near you. Whether you are on the side of those who want to bring sports betting out of the shadows, like NBA Commissioner Adam Silver who wants betting to be “legal and safe,” or you think this is the beginning of a doomsday scenario, let’s face […]