Letter to AG Maura Healey on Penn National's Deceptive Online Marketing Practices

Below is our letter today to Attorney General Maura Healey requesting that her office take swift action to protect Massachusetts consumers from Penn National's deceptive and unfair online marketing practices as reported in today's Boston Globe.

I encourage you to contact her office by email or a hard copy letter, urging her to act against these fraudulent practices. 

Thanks.

Best,

Les Bernal,
Stop Predatory Gambling

March 23, 2016

Attorney General Maura Healey
Office of the Attorney General
c/o Gaming Enforcement Division
One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108

Dear Attorney General Healey:

On behalf of Stop Predatory Gambling (SPG), I am writing to request that your office act swiftly to stop the unfair and deceptive marketing practices being used by Plainridge casino in their online marketing program.

As reported by The Boston Globe on March 23rd, Plainridge’s parent company Penn National has designed a fraudulent online slots game that creates an illusion of success with the intent of luring more citizens to use real slot machines.

According to the story:

“If the games look the same and sound the same, but the payback of one is much lower, then that’s misleading,” said Natasha Dow Schull, an associate professor at New York University and the author of Addiction By Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas.
Schull said online casino sites have a bait-and-switch quality to them because their large payoffs condition players to expect the same at the casino.

The goal of online slot machines, a growing trend known in the casino industry as social gaming, is to “prime your system for gambling — to hook you in,” she said.

The real slot machines inside Penn National’s casino are designed mathematically so users are certain to lose their money the longer they play. At the same time, the machines are literally designed so citizens cannot stop using them, exploiting aspects of human psychology and inducing irrational behavior.[1] Every feature of a slot machine - its mathematical structure, visual graphics, sound dynamics, seating and screen ergonomics - is designed to increase a player's "time on device" – which means how long a person plays.[2]  (See Figure 1 below)

Figure 1: Addiction By Design by MIT Professor Dr. Natasha Schull, Pg. 112

 

No single act of government creates more inequality of opportunity than its promotion of gambling. Bringing about major reform on this public policy includes stopping the unfair and deceptive marketing practices used by commercial gambling operators such as Penn National.

For additional information on the issue, please contact me at (202) 567-6696. Thank you for your attention to this important consumer protection issue.


Sincerely,

Les Bernal

National Director
Stop Predatory Gambling

________________________________

[1] Natasha Dow Schull, PhD, Addiction By Design, Machine Gambling in Las Vegas, (2012), available at http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9156.html

[2] Natasha Dow Schull, PhD, Beware: Machine Zone Ahead, Washington Post, July 6, 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/04/AR2008070402134.html

____________

Build a more humane and just society: sunset the policy of government-sponsored gambling because it's dishonest, financially damaging to citizens and contributes to rising inequality of opportunity.

If you support our mission and work, please become a member by contributing $10 or more today to help sustain it.

New plan to open a casino inside every Massachusetts home

In Massachusetts many citizens got involved in the movement to stop casinos because they opposed a casino where they lived.

Today there is a lobbying effort underway for state government to sponsor online gambling which will ultimately open a casino and lottery retailer right inside your home and on your smart phone, as well as for everyone else in your community.

Attorney General Maura Healey's office has proposed an initiative legalizing online gambling by regulations, a political strategy that contrasts the actions of the New York and Illinois Attorney Generals who have acted to shut down online gambling operations in their states.

The Attorney General's proposed regulations represent the biggest expansion of gambling in Massachusetts history. While it has been presented to the public as a bid to regulate online fantasy sports gambling, the end game for gambling interests is to offer more extreme forms of gambling to citizens through the internet.

Casino companies like MGM and Caesars have unsuccessfully lobbied for internet gambling to be legalized at the federal level.  Authorizing DFS would provide gambling interests like these and others a back door way to bring in internet casino gambling.

Legislation was recently filed in the Massachusetts Legislature to do just that. It's also why when the Mass Gambling Commission released its review of so-called "Daily Fantasy Sports" this week, it also looked at other forms of online gambling.

I urge you to please share your comments about this issue with Attorney General Healey and her staff by Friday, January 22. Here is the info about her proposal to introduce internet gambling. Comments can be emailed to DFSRegs@state.ma.us

A few items to help you learn more about the topic:

1) Read our national report.

2) Here is a colorful, recently published New York Times Magazine story titled “How the Daily Fantasy Sports Industry Turns Fans Into Suckers.”

3) Our testimony presented at the AG's hearing this past Tuesday.

4) National political comedian John Oliver's review of online fantasy sports gambling on his HBO show Last Week Tonight. (If the image below doesn't show in your email, watch the segment here.)

We believe Attorney General Healey, her staff and others who propose to introduce internet gambling into Massachusetts are better leaders than this initiative demonstrates.

Best,

Les

____________

Les Bernal

National Director

Stop Predatory Gambling

Build a more humane and just society: end government-sponsored gambling because it is dishonest, financially damaging to citizens and contributes to rising inequality of opportunity.

If you support our mission and work, please become a member by contributing $10 or more today to help sustain it.

STOP PREDATORY GAMBLING

Massachusetts Attorney General taps retired judge for gambling commission

Attorney General taps retired judge for gambling commission

Associated Press Saturday, October 31, 2015

BOSTON — The panel that oversees casino gambling and horse racing in Massachusetts has a new member.

Attorney General Maura Healey appointed retired Superior Court Judge Lloyd Macdonald to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Friday.

The Dartmouth resident replaces James McHugh, a retired judge who served his last day on the five-member commission Thursday.

According to Healey's office, Macdonald's legal career spanned four decades and included stints as a Superior Court judge, criminal defense attorney and a prosecutor.

Macdonald, a Harvard University and Columbia Law School graduate, was a Regional Administrative Judge where he oversaw all criminal and civil sessions in Bristol County. He also served as chief of the Public Corruption Special Investigations Unit at the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts and worked for the Boston law firm of K&L Gates.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2015/10/attorney_general_taps_retired_judge_for_gambling_commission

AG warns gambling regulators about Southeast MA market 'oversaturation'

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, who supported an unsuccessful 2014 ballot question repealing the casino law, said she hoped the Gaming Commission would take the latest development as an opportunity to review the prudence of licensing another casino in southeastern Massachusetts.

Posted Jul. 23, 2015 



STATE HOUSE, BOSTON - The decision by prospective developers to abandon plans for a resort casino on the New Bedford waterfront brings into "sharp focus" the threat of oversaturating the gambling market in Massachusetts with a third casino, Attorney General Maura Healey told the News Service on Thursday.

KG Urban wrote a letter to the Gaming Commission on Wednesday announcing that it would drop its bid to build a casino in New Bedford, despite voters in that city overwhelmingly approving the concept of a casino. The developers cited their inability to put together financing for the project, as well as the "possibility of competition from a nearby Indian casino which would pay no taxes or other compensation to the Commonwealth."

Healey, who supported an unsuccessful 2014 ballot question repealing the casino law, said she hoped the Gaming Commission would take the latest development as an opportunity to review the prudence of licensing another casino in southeastern Massachusetts.

"I think the Gaming Commission has to take a hard look at this. What we see in New Bedford is a reflection of some of the concerns that have been expressed already about market saturation and what's happening in that region and it's a really important issue and I hope the Gaming Commission take this opportunity to task a hard look at what is happening in the region," Healey said.

With the New Bedford developers out of the competition for a license, the Gaming Commission is left with one commercial proposal in the region - Mass Gaming & Entertainment's plan to build a casino in Brockton. Commissioners had expressed their desire to have at least two bids to create competition for the license, and planned to discuss KG Urban's withdrawal at a meeting Thursday.

The Mashpee Wampanoag has plans for a casino in Taunton, but that project has stalled as the tribe seeks federal approval for land to be taken into trust as native tribal lands. If it wins federal approval, the tribe could build a casino without a license from the commission.

"You don't want to have a situation where casinos operate and fail. That's not going to be good for taxpayers, it's not going to be good for the state and it's certainly not going to be good for the communities surrounding the places where the casinos are going to operate," Healey said.

Plainridge Park Casino, which won the state's sole slot parlor license, has begun operations in southeastern Massachusetts and out-of-state gaming venues in Rhode Island and Connecticut compete for customers from Massachusetts.




http://raynham.wickedlocal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20150723%2FNEWS%2F150728219

Tribe objects to casino operation

Tribe objects to casino operation

By Taunton Gazette
Posted May 15, 2015 at 5:18 PM

BOSTON — Nearly a month from Plainridge Park Casino’s targeted opening, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe is claiming the type of machines and number of positions at the commercial slots parlor violate state law.

“I’m very confident in our work, in our lawyering and in our process, but I’m also open to talking about it,” Gaming Commission chairman Stephen Crosby said.

Penn National Gaming, which was awarded a license to open a slots parlor at Plainridge Park in Plainville, near the Rhode Island border, plans to open the new facility on June 24. Under its license, the facility is restricted to 1,250 slot machines and no table games.

While the slots parlor has 1,250 machines, the Gaming Commission decided last year to allow the facility to have up to 1,500 gamblers playing at the same time, as some machines offer multiplayer games. Differing from traditional slots, some of the machines offer video simulations of poker and other table games.

Crosby said the commission’s actions reflect the panel’s understanding and interpretation of the statute.

The tribe, however, disputes that interpretation.

“The Tribe hereby respectfully requests that the Attorney General’s Office investigate this matter and advise the Commission to rescind or amend its regulations to bring them into compliance … ,” attorney Howard M. Cooper wrote in a May 13 letter to Attorney General Maura Healey.

Healey spokeswoman Emalie Gainey said the tribe’s letter is under review.

The Mashpee, who have faced a series of delays and setbacks in their pursuit of a tribal casino in Taunton, claim the additional positions at Plainridge could divert $30 million in revenue from a future tribal casino.

“We believe their claim is completely without merit and that we are in full compliance with state regulations,” said Eric Schippers, Penn National’s senior vice president for public affairs and government relations.

The gaming commission on Thursday approved the floor plan for Plainridge Park. The panel’s legal counsel, Catherine Blue, said the decision is unrelated to the tribe’s complaint. She vowed the commission will cooperate with the AG’s office.

Crosby said the tribe’s complaint “came out of left field.”

The decision to allow 1,500 gambling positions, Crosby said, underwent a careful legal review and rigorous public comment period last year. The commission, he said, works to interpret and match the language of the gambling statute to industry norms.

“We discussed this in a very public, robust extended conversation,” he said.

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150515/NEWS/150519447

....Massachusetts casino competition as New Bedford advances....

Somerset developers withdraw from Massachusetts casino competition as New Bedford advances

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press First Posted: May 14, 2015

BOSTON — Developers of a proposed Somerset casino have withdrawn from the competition for Massachusetts' third and final resort casino license, leaving two proposals in the running: one for New Bedford's waterfront and another for the Brockton Fairgrounds.

Crossroads Massachusetts LLC, in a brief letter released by state regulators Thursday, does not cite a reason from dropping its application.

No one from Crossroads was present at a meeting of the state Gaming Commission and a representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said he wasn't surprised by the plan's demise. Commission members in recent months have expressed doubts about the viability of the project as its leadership team changed and it scrambled to assemble financing.

"Nothing surprises me in this business. We never know who is in or out until the last minute," he said.

With Somerset officially out of the competition, attention now shifts to New Bedford and Brockton.

Brockton voters on Tuesday narrowly approved a casino referendum calling for a $650 million resort developed by Mass Gaming and Entertainment, a subsidiary of Rush Street Gaming, a Chicago-based company that operates casinos in Pennsylvania and other states.

On Thursday, the gaming commission allowed the New Bedford casino proposal to move forward in the competition.

After warning the applicant about continued delays, the commission voted to deem their initial application "substantially complete," on the condition that they submit the last of their required financial details in two weeks.

"We're really just down to the final economic terms," promised Scott Butera, a former Foxwoods CEO who is now a partner with KG Urban Enterprises, the New York-based firm that wants to build a $650 million Foxwoods resort on the site of a former NStar power plant.

"Our patience is not unlimited," said Crosby. "Word to the wise: this has got to get moving quickly."
Crosby said the commission hopes to award the license by the end of 2015.

And, in a related development, an Indian tribe seeking federal approval to build a resort casino in Taunton, a city also in the state's southeast, said the gaming commission violated state law by allowing slot parlors to offer electronic versions of table games like blackjack and roulette.

The Mashpee Wampanoag, in a letter to state Attorney General Maura Healey's office released Thursday, said state law limits slot parlors to 1,250 machines and no casino table games.

But the state Gaming Commission approved a regulation last year allowing for up to 1,500 "gaming positions" on 1,250 gambling machines.

Healey's office said it's reviewing the complaint.

Crosby and other commission members defended their actions, saying the now-disputed regulation clarified ambiguity in the state law and was approved after a "rigorous" public hearing process in which no one objected.

The complaint comes as Plainridge Park Casino, a slot parlor in nearby Plainville, is slated to open June 24 with 1,250 slot machines, of which about a dozen are multi-user electronic table games.



http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/ebcbe266eada4db989058c6e94d23f40/MA--Massachusetts-Gambling/

Healey wants tougher casino regulations

Healey wants tougher casino regulations
Posted: Friday, April 3, 2015 12:00 am

Associated Press

 

                                                  

BOSTON — Concerns that casinos could lead to greater criminal activity led Massachusetts' top prosecutor to urge the state's gambling overseers to come up with regulations combating money laundering, human trafficking and other illicit activities.
 Attorney General Maura Healey suggests that the state Gaming Commission requires casinos to file timely reports to the state about suspicious activity and large cash transactions and to incorporate "zero tolerance" language in employee and vendor contracts about trafficking in people and drugs, among other measures.

"Such regulations should deter would-be money launderers, and identify those engaged in other criminal enterprises, such as drug traffickers, human traffickers, loan sharks and organized crime," Healey wrote in the letter dated March 27.
 State Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said the panel will discuss the letter.
 "Obviously, everyone is opposed to money laundering and human trafficking," he said Thursday.

"The question is, What's the most effective way to make sure that these things are minimized? ... We don't want to blow it out of proportion, but you do want to think aggressively and creatively about how you make sure these things don't become problematic in our state."
 The American Gaming Association, a casino industry trade group, called Healey's concerns "completely misguided " and indicative of a "deep and disappointing bias against the casino gaming industry."
The organization said it recently provided Healey's office with a "comprehensive document" about the industry's anti-money laundering efforts, which it says were developed in coordination with the federal government.
 Healey, a Democrat and casino opponent elected in November, has promised to make gambling enforcement a priority, saying she'll be looking to ensure casino consumer protection laws are enforced, criminal activity is prosecuted and casinos honor the commitments they've made to cities and towns.
 After years of debate and controversy, Massachusetts' casino industry launches in earnest with the expected June 24 opening of a $225 million Penn National Gaming slot parlor on the Rhode Island border.

Two other major resort casinos are also in development: an $800 million MGM casino in Springfield and a $1.7 billion Wynn casino in the Boston suburb of Everett.

In a related development, Revere's mayor is calling on Healey to launch an investigation into a land deal between Wynn Resorts and the state transit agency.
Revere Mayor Daniel Rizzo, whose administration is suing to block the casino development, suggests Healey look into how the deal came about, including why much of the discussions happened outside of public view, how Wynn became the "winning bidder" and how the $6 million sale price was reached.
"Allowing a state agency and a private developer to act in this manner erodes the public's confidence in government," he wrote in a Thursday letter. "Wynn has been allowed to proceed with its project seemingly unchecked, with little regard for the law or for impacted communities."
State Gaming Commission members said Thursday that they are closely watching the issue. Healey's office declined to comment, as did Wynn Resorts.
The casino purchased the roughly 1.75 acres, which are part of a bus repair facility, for the resort's main point of entry.
But the governor's office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has said the state Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority violated state regulations when it completed the land deal before it could complete its own review


http://www.eagletribune.com/news/healey-wants-tougher-casino-regulations/article_e75d0251-a306-584b-98a7-726fd4117bc4.html

Our casinos must be competitive....Oh?

Harrah's [now Caesars that's going through a convoluted bankruptcy process] determined that

90% OF THEIR PROFITS ORIGINATED FROM 10% OF THEIR PATRONS


that's GAMBLING ADDICTION!

The Gambling Vultures ONLY profit from Gambling Addiction.

The Gambling Vultures ONLY profit by CREATING Gambling Addiction.

Our casinos must be competitive

The Lowell Sun

Updated: 01/27/2015

Fresh off taking her oath of office on Wednesday, Attorney General Maura Healey on Thursday put the state gambling commission on notice that there is a new chief law-enforcement officer in charge now, and she will be taking a close look at the 2011 legislation allowing casino gambling in Massachusetts.   Healey's fresh look is welcome as the slots-only casino in Plainville looks to its June opening, and resort-style casinos in Everett and Springfield move forward. But we oppose measures that make Massachusetts casinos less competitive than gambling halls in neighboring states.   The state's legislation bans ATMs on the casino floor, but federally chartered banks might be able to skirt that provision, putting state-chartered banks at a disadvantage. Changes should be made to level the playing field. But Healey's call for a "standalone" public process for regulating ATMs at casinos, including setting the cash machines a certain distance from the casino floor, might be a bit much.    A temporary ruling by the gaming commission calls for ATMs to be situated at least 15 feet from the casino floor. While stricter limits on casino ATMs might help public officials sleep better at night believing they have placed the cash machines in just the right place to deter their abuse, surely they must know that degenerate gamblers will find their way to an ATM on a casino property no matter how far it is from their favorite slot machine.


Also Thursday, Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said casino operators oppose a provision in the law that requires operators to shut down a slot machine once a player wins $600 so an employee can take down the player's name, address and 5 percent of the winnings for a state withholding tax. Most other states have the machines lock at $1,200 in winnings, and Penn National Gaming, holder of the Plainville slots license, told Crosby that difference alone could make 5 percent of its customer base head out of state, resulting in a loss of $6 million in revenue. Considering the state takes nearly half the slots revenue, that's not an insignificant amount of money.   During her testimony Thursday, Healey correctly noted how casinos in Atlantic City, Connecticut and Rhode Island are struggling. The attorney general must know that the biggest reason those markets are struggling is increased competition from other states. While the Bay State debates the issue, casino gaming in the Northeast has expanded to include not only Connecticut but Rhode Island, New York, Maine and Pennsylvania.   Our advice to state officials: Work hard to make sure casino operators in Massachusetts don't have to give gamblers any reason to drive out of state to place their bets.


Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/opinion/ci_27401143/our-casinos-must-be-competitive#ixzz3Q3lIOMYl

Suffolk Downs survived again

Suffolk Downs survived again

Before the lights truly went dark on Suffolk Downs, Patrick received a bill for his approval extending the former horse track's simulcasting rights through March, giving the track owners three additional months to figure out what comes next after losing out on a casino license.

Sen. Anthony Petruccelli, who sponsored the original bill that would have let Suffolk Downs takes bets on out-of-state races through July 2016 without any live racing of its own, painted the move as a job saver, linking simulcasting to 100 Eastie jobs. Art courtesy of Wikipedia.

Stop Predatory Gambling and the leaders of Repeal the Casino Deal were quick to jump on an amendment slipped into a banking reform bill on Christmas Eve that would have revised the state's policy on ATMs at casinos.

Sen. Stephen Brewer, who will retire from the Legislature next week, attempted to use the banking bill as a vehicle to clarify state regulations that currently ban cash machines from the "premises" of gambling facilities. The amendment would have restricted ATMs to areas off the gaming floor.

While Brewer and backers say the change was necessary to create a level playing field between state and federal banks and address confusion about the Legislature's intent for ATMs in the 2011 casino gaming law, the swift outrage from anti-gambling groups worried about giving problem gamblers access to quick cash caused the House and Senate to back down on New Year's Eve.

With Attorney General-elect Maura Healey joining the chorus for more deliberation, the banking bill was sent to Patrick without any changes to casino ATM rules.



http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2015/01/03/28370-was-week-was-state-politics