With the year coming to an end it is hard to believe that it has been only twelve months since the U.S. online gambling market received a wakeup call from the U.S. Justice Department. With the Wire Act of 1961 been revised the floodgates have been opened nationwide and there has been a flurry of legislative activity with the clear aim of getting in on the multibillion dollar intent gambling industry.
As we have extensively covered, the leading states are Nevada and New Jersey but many other individual states are not waiting for the federal government to do all the work for them.
The latest development is coming out of the State of Massachusetts where Treasurer Steven Grossman is looking to ask the lawmakers to legalize online lottery games.
Currently the sale of online lottery ticket sales is illegal in the Massachusetts lottery and this ban includes all other online game. Grossman plans on not only offering online tickets to well known lotteries like Powerball and Mega
Millions but also intends to expand the request to “social gaming.” As we all know social gaming is exactly what scratch cards are all bout. In fact every lottery utilizes scratchies as a significant portion of their overall lottery offerings. The fact that scratch cards are available wherever we buy our local paper makes them as legitimate as purchasing a newspaper. In fact if asked there would be few people who consider scratch tickets as gambling as they hardly require one to be a seasoned gambler.
Grossman stated that the Massachusetts Lottery would need to undertake various tests to determine which games offer the best potential for the most revenue. Grossman was quick to point out that Massachusetts needs to get proactive regarding the legalization of online gambling as there is point in ignoring the reality that millions of people gamble on a daily basis despite being illegal in many states.