A gambling industry analyst says slot machines in New England are nowhere near saturation, but legalization of casino gambling in Massachusetts and the addition of slot machines would hurt Connecticut and Rhode Island, The Associated Press reports.
Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, said at a conference at the Mohegan Sun on Tuesday that slots saturation is possible in the future, but not now.
He says failed legislation that would have brought thousands of slot machines to Massachusetts would have drawn huge numbers of gamblers from Connecticut and Rhode Island.
A deal to bring casino gambling and slots to Massachusetts fell apart in the Legislature in August.
BNP Media, an industry company, and the research firm Spectrum Gaming Group are sponsoring the first New England Gaming Summit.
Executives, industry analysts, lawyers, elected officials and others are meeting Tuesday at a conference at the Mohegan Sun casino in eastern Connecticut to discuss state legislation permitting casino gambling, competition, social and economic effects of gambling and other issues.
Two efforts fell short this year to expand gambling in New England. The Massachusetts legislature failed to permit casino gambling. In New Hampshire, the House killed a bill passed by the Senate to legalize up to 10,000 video slots at four locations.
