“Rather, it may be cracking one of the most lucrative and so far elusive potential gambling markets in the country – Massachusetts.

“Some of the world’s top gambling magnates have long dreamed of building giant casinos in Massachusetts, where the state Lottery is a billion-dollar-plus affair and residents still have enough money left over to fill the coffers of two Connecticut casinos.

“It has long been an unrequited love, with stodgy State House lawmakers spurning one gambling proposal after another over the years by lopsided margins.

” But the odds may be finally shifting, with a proposal to put slot machines at local racetracks facing the best chance of any such bill in years?”