{"id":15396,"date":"2015-01-23T15:24:31","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T23:24:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=15396"},"modified":"2015-01-23T15:24:31","modified_gmt":"2015-01-23T23:24:31","slug":"stir-crazy-in-massachusetts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/stir-crazy-in-massachusetts\/","title":{"rendered":"Stir crazy in Massachusetts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For all the restrictions it has placed upon its casinos, there&#8217;s one restraint the <strong>Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> wants to ease. It has proposed raising the $600 &#8216;<strong>IRS<\/strong> lockdown&#8217; imposed on slot winners: &#8220;a player will not be able to play the machine again <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Crosby.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-12185\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Crosby.jpg\" alt=\"Crosby\" width=\"155\" height=\"155\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Crosby.jpg 155w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Crosby-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 155px) 100vw, 155px\" \/><\/a>until a casino or slots employee takes down the player&#8217;s name, address and 5 percent off of the $600 in winnings for a state withholding tax.&#8221; The prevailing lockdown point in the U.S. is $1,200. Commissioners are worried that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lowellsun.com\/breakingnews\/ci_27378469\/slot-lock-up-law-could-cost-millions\" target=\"_blank\">the inconvenience of a lower jackpot lockdown<\/a> could impel them to play in <strong>Rhode Island<\/strong> or other neighboring states.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And the whole point of the <strong>Massachusetts<\/strong> law was to repatriate Massachusetts dollars that are now being spent in other states, and this runs counter to <!--more-->that objective for regular players, making it much more problematic,&#8221; explained MGC Chairman <strong>Stephen Crosby<\/strong>. Among those pushing for the change is <strong>Penn National Gaming<\/strong>, whose racino will sit practically atop the state line. But lawmakers are pushing back. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to hold your feet to the fire. If this holds water, if this is really an issue, we will give it a serious look,&#8221; was Crosby&#8217;s summary of their objections.<\/p>\n<p>* The MGC also took testimony from new Attorney General <strong>Maura Healey<\/strong> over whether ATMs should be permitted in casinos or not. Crosby indicated that the MGC <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bostonherald.com\/business\/business_markets\/2015\/01\/new_ag_casinos_should_follow_consumer_laws\" target=\"_blank\">had received quite a volume of comments<\/a> over whether ATMs should be within 15 feet of casinos or not, without revealing which way public opinion was running. Healey also proposing forbidding casinos from selling players&#8217; debt to collection agencies.<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>New Orleans<\/strong> casinos had better prepare to feel a squeeze. Smoking in Crescent City gambling halls <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centredaily.com\/2015\/01\/22\/4566221\/new-orleans-nears-vote-on-smoking.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\">has been banned<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>* It only makes sense to lower the license-renewal fee for an <strong>Ohio<\/strong> casino worker to $196. Right now it costs as much to renew &#8212; $546 &#8212; as to initially apply. That&#8217;s an unfair burden to apply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For all the restrictions it has placed upon its casinos, there&#8217;s one restraint the Massachusetts Gaming Commission wants to ease. It has proposed raising the $600 &#8216;IRS lockdown&#8217; imposed on slot winners: &#8220;a player will not be able to play &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/stir-crazy-in-massachusetts\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[117,84,112,71,69,25,141,31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15397,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15396\/revisions\/15397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}