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Casino City's Friday Five: Lots of legislation edition

8 December 2017

Rules, regulations and lawsuits were the order of the week.

We've got stories on certifications in Massachusetts, two opposing views on the New Jersey sports betting Supreme Court case, and a reminder about net neutrality. Plus, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes are taking Connecticut to task for failing to follow through on an agreement.

5. MGC issues two Gaming School Certifications
Recently, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission handed out gaming school certifications to Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College. This means that the colleges have been approved to launch a Casino Management program as part of an overall workforce training initiative.

The classes are planned to begin February 2018.

MGC Chairman Steve Crosby said, "We applaud the collaborative effort among community colleges that will play an important role in training up a regional workforce to connect local residents with the opportunities and benefits that the gaming industry will provide."

In recent months, a couple of other locations have opened casino dealer schools or offered training classes.

4. NJ sports betting supporters hopeful after U.S. Supreme Court hearing
Proponents of sports betting have begun to rejoice after Monday's U.S. Supreme Court hearing regarding New Jersey potentially being allowed to offer sports betting.

Though the hearing lasted only about an hour, law experts left with a spring in their step, taking to Twitter to share the news.



American Gaming Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman also had a few good things to say, stating, "Today is a positive day for millions of Americans seeking to legally wager on sporting events."

Though the real test, as always, will be the test of time—a decision could come anywhere between January 2018 and 29 June 2018.

3. It's too soon to start high-fiving over legal sports betting in the US
As a counterpoint to the above article, we present to you this.

Vic Salerno, who has been running a sportsbook business for, oh, decades, says it's "a fragile business." Not to mention that the sports betting industry isn't exactly risk-averse. There's quite a bit that can be bungled during the process of regulation, says Salerno. For instance, he predicts that New Jersey sports book operators will increase the standard 11/10 betting odds to 12/10 or, perhaps, 13/10 as a result of taxation and the burden of "all the entities seeking entitlements."

And this leaves a wide-open space in which the black market can squeeze, offering those tantalizing 11/10 odds again. Just something to think about.

Obviously, we don't really know what the outcome of the whole situation is going to be, but it can't hurt to temper your expectations a little, right?

2. Mashantucket Pequot, Mohegan Tribal Nations file suit against Department of Interior
Connecticut found itself in some hot water this week when the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes filed a suit with the Department of Interior over the department neglecting to approve a mutually agreed upon amendment to existing compacts in the state.

The tribes had previously obtained the OK from the State of Connecticut to operate a commercial gaming facility. They then submitted amendments to the Interior and even received assistance from the department itself, so it's no wonder that this about-face from the Department of the Interior is somewhat surprising.

1. This Week in Gambling: The dangers of losing net neutrality
We know you know how absolutely catastrophic it would be to lose net neutrality. (And even if you somehow didn't know, the internet would have inundated you with all the necessary information on the issue at this point.)

Even so, we think it bears repeating: Net neutrality is in trouble! Aside from the absolute havoc the lack of it would wreak on the state of the internet at large, no net neutrality would affect online gambling, an industry near and dear to our hearts.
Casino City's Friday Five: Lots of legislation edition is republished from Online.CasinoCity.com.
Abby Messick

Abby served as an associate editor for the Casino City editorial team for three years, between 2015 and 2018.
Abby Messick
Abby served as an associate editor for the Casino City editorial team for three years, between 2015 and 2018.