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.

New York State: Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

By JOSH RUSSELL 

   ALBANY, N.Y. (CN) - A new lawsuit filed in Albany Supreme Court challenged the constitutionality of the New York legislature's legalization of "Interactive Fantasy Sports" gambling.
     The lawsuit coordinated by Stop Predatory Gambling, an anti-gambling group, argued that New York State Constitution §9.1 prohibits gambling and pool-selling, except for specifically granted exemptions, including wagering on horse races, charitable contests, a limited number of commercial casinos and the state-operated lottery.
     The lawsuit seeks a judgment declaring Chapter 237 of 2016 New York State law unconstitutional and injunction prohibiting the implementation of the legalization of "Interactive Fantasy Sports" gambling.
     FanDuel and DraftKings, major daily fantasy sports websites, suspended their operations on March 21, 2016, amidst lawsuits filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in New York Supreme Court calling the online contests gambling and also alleging consumer fraud and deceptive advertising.
     Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is named as a defendant in the latest lawsuit, signed legislation on August 3, 2016, legalizing daily fantasy sports in New York.
     At the time of the signing Cuomo said, "This new legislation strikes the right balance that allows this activity to continue with oversight from state regulators, new consumer protections, and more funding for education." 
     The lawsuit points out that the August legislation legalized online sports gambling just in time for the Sept. 16 kickoff of the National Football League's 2016 season.
     New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman blasted DraftKings and daily fantasy sports gambling in a November 2015 cease-and-desist letter, in which he said "Like most gambling operations, DraftKings' own numbers reveal a far different reality."
     Schneiderman elaborated in his cease-and-desist order, "In practice, DFS [daily fantasy sports] is far closer to poker in this respect: a small number of professional gamblers profit at the expense of casual players. To date, our investigation has shown that the top one percent of DraftKings' winners receive the vast majority of the winnings."
     A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman commented that daily fantasy sports "are creating the same public health and economic concerns as other forms of gambling, including addiction. Finally, DraftKings' advertisements seriously mislead New York citizens about their prospects of winning"
     The lawsuit noted that fantasy sports are included in Gamblers Anonymous' list of activities it defines as gambling.
     New York supporters of Stop Predatory Gambling helped bring the lawsuit.
     "We believe in improving the lives of the people of New York," said Les Bernal, Stop Predatory Gambling's National Director. "Daily fantasy sports gambling is a huge rip-off for all citizens, regardless whether you gamble or not."
     The New York State Gaming Commission offered no comment, referring inquiries to the New York State Attorney General's Office, which is handling the litigation.
     The plaintiffs are represented by Cornelius Murray at O'Connell & Aronowitz in Albany, New York.
     The complaints were not made available to the public by the court as of press time. Courthouse News obtained the complaints on the Stop Predatory Gambling site as part of this blog post: http://stoppredatorygambling.org/blog/spg-helps-to-file-constitutional-challenge-of-nys-internet-gambling-law/. 

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/10/06/group-cries-foul-on-nys-fantasy-sports-law.htm

New York State: Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

Courthouse News Service

The lawsuit coordinated by Stop Predatory Gambling, an anti-gambling group, argued that New York State Constitution §9.1 prohibits gambling and ...

Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

By JOSH RUSSELL 

ALBANY, N.Y. (CN) - A new lawsuit filed in Albany Supreme Court challenged the constitutionality of the New York legislature's legalization of "Interactive Fantasy Sports" gambling.
     The lawsuit coordinated by Stop Predatory Gambling, an anti-gambling group, argued that New York State Constitution §9.1 prohibits gambling and pool-selling, except for specifically granted exemptions, including wagering on horse races, charitable contests, a limited number of commercial casinos and the state-operated lottery.
     The lawsuit seeks a judgment declaring Chapter 237 of 2016 New York State law unconstitutional and injunction prohibiting the implementation of the legalization of "Interactive Fantasy Sports" gambling.
     FanDuel and DraftKings, major daily fantasy sports websites, suspended their operations on March 21, 2016, amidst lawsuits filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in New York Supreme Court calling the online contests gambling and also alleging consumer fraud and deceptive advertising.
     Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is named as a defendant in the latest lawsuit, signed legislation on August 3, 2016, legalizing daily fantasy sports in New York.
     At the time of the signing Cuomo said, "This new legislation strikes the right balance that allows this activity to continue with oversight from state regulators, new consumer protections, and more funding for education." 
     The lawsuit points out that the August legislation legalized online sports gambling just in time for the Sept. 16 kickoff of the National Football League's 2016 season.
     New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman blasted DraftKings and daily fantasy sports gambling in a November 2015 cease-and-desist letter, in which he said "Like most gambling operations, DraftKings' own numbers reveal a far different reality."
     Schneiderman elaborated in his cease-and-desist order, "In practice, DFS [daily fantasy sports] is far closer to poker in this respect: a small number of professional gamblers profit at the expense of casual players. To date, our investigation has shown that the top one percent of DraftKings' winners receive the vast majority of the winnings."
     A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman commented that daily fantasy sports "are creating the same public health and economic concerns as other forms of gambling, including addiction. Finally, DraftKings' advertisements seriously mislead New York citizens about their prospects of winning"
     The lawsuit noted that fantasy sports are included in Gamblers Anonymous' list of activities it defines as gambling.
     New York supporters of Stop Predatory Gambling helped bring the lawsuit.
     "We believe in improving the lives of the people of New York," said Les Bernal, Stop Predatory Gambling's National Director. "Daily fantasy sports gambling is a huge rip-off for all citizens, regardless whether you gamble or not."
     The New York State Gaming Commission offered no comment, referring inquiries to the New York State Attorney General's Office, which is handling the litigation.
     The plaintiffs are represented by Cornelius Murray at O'Connell & Aronowitz in Albany, New York.
     The complaints were not made available to the public by the court as of press time. Courthouse News obtained the complaints on the Stop Predatory Gambling site as part of this blog post: http://stoppredatorygambling.org/blog/spg-helps-to-file-constitutional-challenge-of-nys-internet-gambling-law/. 

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/10/06/group-cries-foul-on-nys-fantasy-sports-law.htm

Massachusetts: Professor briefs lawmakers on problem gambling study results

Professor briefs lawmakers on problem gambling study results

27.5 percent of the state's population were non-gamblers and 63.4 percent were recreational gamblers

Katie Lannan, State House News ServicePublished: September 21, 2016,

BOSTON, Mass. (STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE) – An estimated 88,000 adults in Massachusetts are problem gamblers, and another 390,000 are deemed “at-risk” gamblers and may bet more than they’d planned or borrow money to gamble, according to study findings presented Wednesday.

Research required under the 2011 law that legalized casino gambling in Massachusetts found that 1.7 percent of that state’s adult population were considered problem gamblers and 7.5 percent were at-risk gamblers, said Rachel Volberg, the study’s principal investigator.

A UMass-Amherst professor who specializes in gambling research, Volberg presented findings from a baseline study of the Massachusetts population, conducted from September 2013 to May 2014, before the state’s first slot parlor opened in Plainville. Additional research will be conducted as resort casinos authorized under the terms of the 2011 law – two are under construction – move forward and open for business.

Enrique Zuniga, one of five members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, described the research project as “very ambitious” and “something that has never been done before in the world, mostly because we’re looking at it before and after the introduction of casinos.”

The survey found that, with no casinos yet open in the state, 27.5 percent of the state’s population were non-gamblers and 63.4 percent were recreational gamblers who find betting enjoyable and do not experience harm from it.

Volberg said there were “significant differences” in problem gambling rates based on race, gender and level of education attained.

“Men are three times more likely to have a gambling problem than women, blacks are four times more likely to have a gambling problem than whites, and individuals with a high school diploma or less are twice as likely to have a gambling problem compared with individuals with a college degree,” she said during a briefing on the research for lawmakers and staff.

The baseline survey also gauged respondents’ attitudes toward gambling, finding that 57.5 percent believed some forms of gambling should be legal while others should be illegal, and that 63.1 percent believed the current availability of gambling in Massachusetts was fine. Around 22 percent said not enough gambling was available in Massachusetts, while nearly 15 percent said it was too widely available.

Seventy-two percent of respondents had participated in at least one gambling activity in the past year, with the state lottery the most popular. According to the survey, 59 percent played lottery games, 32 percent participated in raffles, 22 percent visited a casino, and 13 percent bet on sports. Only 2 percent said they gambled online.

After the emergence of popular daily fantasy sports websites like the Massachusetts-based DraftKings, lawmakers have expressed interest in exploring and further regulating both daily fantasy sports and the broader world of online gaming. Lottery officials have unsuccessfully sought legislative authorization to offer their products on the internet, pointing to stagnant instant ticket sales as more and more bettors choose to wager on daily fantasy sports or elsewhere.

An economic development law Gov. Charlie Baker signed last month created a special commission to study the regulation of online gaming, fantasy sports gaming and daily fantasy sports, including “economic development, consumer protection, taxation, legal and regulatory structures, implications for existing gaming, burdens and benefits to the commonwealth and any other factors the commission deems relevant.”

“We continue to think about expanded gaming, whether we’re talking about online lottery, whether we’re talking about different types of online sports gambling, other things,” Marlene Warner, the executive director of the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, said during the briefing. “I think it’s important for us to be paying attention to the data that we have currently around gambling that currently exists in Massachusetts.”

Copyright 2016 STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

http://wwlp.com/2016/09/21/professor-briefs-lawmakers-on-problem-gambling-study-results/

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Pete Iorizzo: Fantasy games pave way for sports betting

By Pete Iorizzo

Updated 7:34 pm, Saturday, August 6, 2016

If daily fantasy sports isn't gambling, then I'm going to be the starting quarterback for the New York Jets this season.

The bill signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday makes it legal to win or lose money — or ... you know ... gamble — based on the performance of your imaginary team of real players.

Lawmakers essentially ran an end-around play to elude another state law that makes games of "chance" illegal, instead defining daily fantasy sports as games of "skill."

Please. If you've had your fantasy football season waylaid by a balky hamstring, then you know that even the geekiest stat-heads can't succeed without some good fortune.

To be clear, though, this isn't to argue that daily fantasy sports should be illegal.

Sure, I can think of better things to do with your paycheck than letting it ride on the Arizona Cardinals' kicker and Cleveland Browns' running back. But who am I — and who is the state of New York — to tell you how to spend your money? Some of us collect stamps, some of us have FanDuel accounts. To each his own.

But defining lottery games, daily fantasy sports and horse racing as legal forms of entertainment while prohibiting bets on the Cowboys-Steelers game as a threat to civil society is so blatantly hypocritical that it's not sustainable.

It won't happen overnight, but the real takeaway from the state's thumbs-up to daily fantasy sports should be that we've taken a step closer to fully legalized sports wagering.

The major hurdle remains a 1992 federal law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which bans most forms of sports wagering in all but four states.

That law already has been challenged by New Jersey, where in 2012 Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill legalizing sports betting in the state. That's not to say there is now fully legalized sports betting in New Jersey. The state has lost suits from the four major sports leagues that have argued New Jersey is in violation of the 1992 federal law, though the appeals process continues.

But this is a case in which the court of public opinion could factor significantly. With public pressure and lobbying from the major sports leagues, Congress could change the 1992 law, an outcome that isn't all that far-fetched, several legal experts tell me.

Expanding the right to bet on sports seems to be one of the few issues on which most Americans agree. An estimated 57.4 million people play daily fantasy sports in the United States and Canada, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. And each year an estimated $400 billion is wagered illegally.

Guess what: People like to bet on sports.

And though the major sports leagues vehemently have resisted New Jersey's push to have the federal law struck down, their opposition is much more nuanced than it might appear.

Many professional sports teams now are invested in daily fantasy companies, a sign they're not queasy about getting cozy with wagering. NBA commissioner Adam Silver even wrote an op-ed for the New York Times in 2014 calling for more widespread legalization. The NHL is putting a team in Las Vegas, and the NFL is talking about doing the same.

Their real opposition to New Jersey's push is that it would legalize sports betting without establishing a federal framework for regulation. Probably, the leagues have their self-interests in mind, too. If we're going to have fully legalized sports gambling, the owners will want a cut.

"It seems there is a lot of hypocrisy in the sports leagues' sustained opposition," says Marc Edelman, a professor of law at Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business. He'll appear Wednesday at the Saratoga Institute on Equine, Racing and Gaming Law Conference's panel discussion on sports wagering.

"They seem opposed to traditional sports gambling when they're not in a position to profit directly from the activity, but they're more willing to accept it if they are. ... It seems reasonably likely to believe that at least the four traditional sports leagues would support the repeal of PASPA if sports gambling would lead to direct profit to their owners."

How might that happen? Owners could become shareholders in sports wagering organizations, just as they have made chunky investments in daily fantasy companies.

In New York, repealing PASPA would make it possible for the new casino being built in Schenectady to include a sports book. In fact, it seems inevitable that someday you'll be able to drive down Erie Boulevard to bet the Giants and the over.

The effort to continue banning sports betting seems awfully futile when you consider that so many of us already do.

http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-sports/article/Pete-Iorizzo-Fantasy-games-pave-way-for-sports-9127023.php