Poker Tournaments In Ma
At this point in time there’s no live Texas holdem poker available in
Massachusetts in any casinos. Although there are some promising signs that this
will change soon. So, if you live in Boston or somewhere else in the state
there’s some things to look forward to.
Massachusetts Poker Room Information Massachusetts has a total of 137 poker tables spread across 4 poker rooms. You can play a number of poker games, including Stud, Limit Holdem, No Limit Holdem, Pot Limit Omaha, Texas Hold'em, Omaha, NL Texas. Every poker tournament series, event and festival in the US and Canada is here on PokerAtlas, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP), World Poker Tour (WPT), Heartland Poker Tour (HPT), and all others. Click on any event for the full tournament.
In the meantime, you still do have some decent options in respect to finding
live poker action without too much inconvenience. Gaming in Massachusetts is
mostly acceptable these days with horse and dog racing betting, lottery, bingo,
and raffles all permitted.
Recently the state has introduced legislation to allow casinos to be built
under a series of strict regulations and permits. This is where the silver
lining exists for Massachusetts residents.
Currently there are two casinos being constructed in Springfield and Boston
Harbor. These are being built and run by MGM and Wynn respectively.
This means by 2018 you’ll have access to at least two poker rooms and more
than 30 tables to get your live poker fill anytime, any day. This is a great
thing for the residents of Massachusetts who in the past have had to commute to
Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New Jersey to play live poker.
While this isn’t such a bad thing and isn’t too much of an inconvenience
given the relative proximity to most of the larger cities in the state, it’s
always better to have options in your own backyard.
Neighbouring States
Until these new casinos are built and operating, you’ll need to play your
live poker at the above-mentioned establishments. If you live in Boston or in
the southern part of the state, the best place to play is Foxwoods in
Connecticut. In the north of the state the best is The Poker Room at Hampton
Falls or Seabrook Poker Room, both in New Hampshire.
In the western part of the state you’ll want to go south into Connecticut as
well. From mid-February, you’ll also have the option of the casino and poker
room at the Rivers Casino and Resort at Mohawk Harbor in Schenectady, New York.
Otherwise if you want to take a short flight you can get down to Atlantic City
in New Jersey quite quickly where there are still some decent options available
in respect to Texas holdem poker.
Other Gaming
One casino has already opened in the state and that’s Plainridge Park Casino.
This features a harness racing track, which has been around for a while, and a
slot parlour which opened in 2015. It was since this point that the venue
officially became a casino. The casino is in Plainville and is owned and
operated by Penn National Gaming, who have deep gaming interests in Pennsylvania
and Las Vegas.
If you’d like to participate in some form of gaming until the new casinos are
open and operating your options will be a bit limited. You can play lottery,
raffles, and bingo, and place wagers on horse and dog racing. You can also hit
up the Plainridge Park Casino for some slot action, as we outlined above.
This should provide you with some level of entertainment to keep you covered
between the poker tables, although if you truly love poker and are a purist you
generally wouldn’t touch these kinds of things with a ten-foot pole, and that’s
purely because it’s all luck based and the odds are stacked against you.
This isn’t so true for horse and dog racing, where a little bit of effort and
study can result in some modest wins on a long enough time line, but you need to
put in a lot of hours and have the patience of a saint to achieve this though.
In any case, that’s not to say it isn’t a lot of fun though, and who doesn’t
like to have a flutter every now and then on luck based games and the horses and
dogs?
Online Poker
Online poker is currently not regulated in the state of Massachusetts and as
such you won’t be able to find and play on any local card rooms online. While
online play is still possible through off shore poker sites, this is a bit of a
grey area and carries associated risks.
The big and respected sites such as Pokerstars, Full Tilt, and Party Poker
don’t welcome any players from Massachusetts, and most of the United States for
that matter, so if you are playing online you’ll have to go through one of the
smaller and less reputable card rooms. The future does look bright for online
play though and once New York regulates online play it’s anticipated that
Massachusetts will quickly follow suit.
If you wish to play online casino games from Massachusetts, you can also do
so. You’ll be able to find several respected and trusted online casinos that
offer slots and tables games, including craps, blackjack, roulette and baccarat.
Conclusion
While things aren’t great in the Bay state at the moment in relation to Texas
holdem poker, there’s significant change coming in this area in the next few
years. While this will hurt some of the major casinos in the surrounding states
it’s undoubtedly a good thing for players and will attract a new cohort of
players to the game.
This will continue to put pressure on lawmakers and representatives to
continue to regulate and allow more live poker and games online. The game was in
an amazing place prior to black Friday, and we can only hope we’ll return to
these glory days once more states open live rooms and then online play.
This will generate more interest in the game as a sport as well, which will
add an extra layer of excitement to the game and attract different demographic
groups towards this great game. Things are looking great for Boston and
Massachusetts overall, so stay tuned for more updates and only good news for
poker in this state.
Every poker tournament series, event and festival in the US and Canada is here on PokerAtlas, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP), World Poker Tour (WPT), Heartland Poker Tour (HPT), and all others. Click on any event for the full tournament schedule, including dates, start times, buy-ins, structures, and details about each.
Have a question about any tournament series? Ask our community!
Online Poker Promotions
NV
Recent Action
