Dear Honorable Representative_______________;

I am a resident of Massachusetts a registered voter and a member of the Poker Players Alliance. I am contacting you because I am very concerned about the current bill (H.4307, s. 15(h)(2)(i)) that sits in the committee of which you are a member, The Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.

Under this bill, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts seeks to expand casino gambling while simultaneously seeking to criminalize online poker. This utter hypocrisy must not stand! As a hard working, law abiding citizen of this state, I take exception to any law(s) that infringe on my rights to play America’s favorite game.

H. 4307 was proposed by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. He inserted the language in the bill which we are vehemently opposed. On December 18th, 2007, in a Boston Globe article called: Governor Patrick Testifies on Casinos, Governor Patrick is quoted as stating the following:

The above statement is not in line with his proposed legislation at all. It is clear that Governor Patrick is giving into special interest groups by allowing a section of the bill that would criminalize online poker while seeking to expand casino gambling in the Commonwealth. It’s obvious that the section in the bill which seeks to criminalize online poker was inserted in an attempt to alleviate any potential competition that the proposed casino might have.

Ultimately, Governor Patrick is right in his testimony; the state should not have the right to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do with my entertainment dollars. I simply cannot see why the state would want to give someone like me a criminal record and/or a $25,000 fine for playing a $5.00 poker tournament online.  It is on this basis, that I respectfully urge you to examine H. 4307 and omit sec. 15 (h)(2)(i) that seeks to criminalize online poker.

Respectfully,

John M. PokerPlayer