Couresty from our friends at www.gambling911.com

Massachusetts residents are up in arms over that state's Governor, Deval Patrick, threatening to jail people up to two years for playing online poker while he works hard to legalize land-based casinos in the state.

"It's an outrage!" cried one Massachusetts resident, who wished not to be named. "Patrick needs to be held accountable for his seemingly blatant self-agendas."

Gambling911.com reported Monday on how Massachusetts may have its hands full with this type of criminal offense.

The New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox are big favorites to win their respective Championship games in 2008, The Super Bowl and World Series, respectively. But if Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick gets his way, residents of his state will be jailed up to two years for placing a bet on the Patriots and other popular New England-based sports teams.

The Boston Globe reported this weekend that Massachusetts is looking to follow in the footsteps of Washington State, which already makes it a Class C felony to place bets online.

The provision, buried deep in Patrick's bill to allow three casinos to the state, puts the governor at odds with a fellow Democrat: US Representative Barney Frank, the sponsor of federal legislation to license and regulate online gambling nationally. Yesterday Frank strongly criticized the governor's plan to punish online gamers while inviting casino operators to set up shop.

"Why is gambling in a casino OK and gambling on the Internet is not?" Frank said. "He's making a big mistake. He's giving opponents an argument against him."

Tom Barlow of BloggingStocks.com writes:

The governor would like to toss me in jail for up to two years and fine me as much as $25,000 for gambling online. The dude is not against gambling, however. The law making Internet gaming a crime in Massachusetts is part of the legislation he's pushing to allow three casinos to be built in his state.

"Protectionism" is at the root of a firestorm involving a World Trade Organization finding against the US policy pertaining to Internet Gambling. Tiny Antigua won this landmark case but the US government has thus far refused to acknowledge defeat. As such, more than a dozen other countries are asking for billions of dollars in compensation for the United States for what it alleges is "unfair trade".

Massachusetts Governor Patrick's move comes at a time when many politicians, including 2008 US Presidential hopeful Ron Paul, have come out in support of the burgeoning online gambling industry.

Comments on BloggingStocks.com included:

The Governor of Mass. should be charged with some kind of crime like being unaware of what millions of people like to do in the privacy of their homes - play poker - wow! bad criminal, he should worry about all the crimes, drugs, and bad activity on his street. What little harm comes from addictive personality people will always be there, whether gambling smoking or fornicating excessively.

And:

A QUESTION FOR THE GOVERNOR --- What will the penalty be if I go to the corner store and get caught placing place a bet with the "neighborhood bookie" on the Patriots game this Sunday? One thing in defense of internet gambling --- if I want to bet $500 on the aforementioned Patriots thru my internet account I MUST have $500 in that account. However, I can call a local bookie and bet $500 over the telephone and then, should I lose, hope like hell I can come up with $500 by Tuesday. The biggest problem with gambling with bookies is that people bet money they don't have....this is what leads to the violence, etc. You cannot do that on the internet. Deval should be focusing on the real problems and not grandstanding on this.

And yet another readers questions whether the good Governor of Massachusetts broke his own yet to be passed law by placing a bet over the telephone with the Governor of Colorado on the Red Sox to win the 2007 World Series.

Courtesy of Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher