Massachusetts regulator looking at free-play online casino games?

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which our readers will recall recently suggested it may be the time for omnibus legislation covering all forms of intrastate gambling, may be about to broaden its interest to include the social free-to-play online offerings of Penn National Gaming’s Plainridge Park.

A report in the Boston Globe newspaper Tuesday confirmed that the regulator has invited the casino, along with other interested parties, to send representatives to a meeting it plans to hold in May this year where the free-to-play facility will be discussed.

Plainridge’s freeplay service is powered by Play4Fun software from Scientific Games, which has presumably also been invited.

Last week the Globe gave some space to opinions by problem gambling specialists that the free-to-play games are misleadingly generous and present the danger of persuading players to transfer to real-money gambling with flawed expectations. A casino spokesman responded by claiming that calculated on a percentage of spins, the “winning experience is similar to that at a [bricks and mortar] casino.”

The regulator has been upfront in admitting that it is not clear whether it is empowered to exercise oversight on social online gaming issues, but chairman Stephen Crosby told the newspaper that everyone involved stands to benefit from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission getting an early start in studying the issue and the possible problems and benefits it represents.

The Boston Globe notes that others expected to attend the May meeting could include outside social gaming specialists and other land casino operators in the state Wynn Resorts and MGM. Another possible participant may be GAN (GameAccount Network), which has supplied its free-to-play social Simulated Gaming software to ten US land casino operators.

Related and similar