Slots 'lock-up' law could cost millions

BOSTON -- The Fitchburg, Mass. Sentinel & Enterprise is reporting today that, with the state's first slot parlor due to open in five months, Massachusetts regulators are calling on legislators to make adjustments to the 2011 gambling law or face the possibility of losing millions of dollars in revenue.

Under the law authorizing up to three casinos and a slot parlor, operators are required to stop a gambling machine transaction once someone wins $600. The nascent gambling industry in Massachusetts believes increasing the threshold is "absolutely critical," according to Massachusetts Gaming Commission chair Stephen Crosby.

According to the Sentinel & Enterprise, Crosby said given the expected opening of a Penn National Gaming slot parlor in Plainville on June 30, the issue has become time-sensitive for the industry. "That's one of the reasons I brought it up now, because the time is short, because they have to program their machines," Crosby said. "The machines have to be programmed to do something, whatever it is that the policy is going to require."

Commissioner Enrique Zuniga said a low threshold such as $600 could drive players to the gambling facilities in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Crosby said based on numbers from Penn National, if 5 percent of slots players felt this was "enough of an imposition" on their gambling and they head out of state, it could cost the state $6 million in revenue.

Crosby said he plans to provide lawmakers with additional analysis in the next week, according to the Sentinel & Enterprise report.