Compared to what crosses the tables at MGM Springfield or other state casinos, the bets once placed on pitch games at the Pleasant View Senior Center in East Longmeadow were small potatoes.

It wasn’t unusual to see 50 to 60 adults sitting around, laughing, talking and playing the card game known as pitch, hoping to win a small amount of money.

Then came the crackdown. The legalization of sports wagering raised concerns at senior centers around the state, says Gabe Adams-Keane, director of legislation and communication for state Sen. John Velis.

Today, those games, shorn of wagering, draw scarcely more than a dozen people to the East Longmeadow center. Other centers report similar declines in players.

“You don’t mess with pitch,” Sarah Long, director of the West Springfield Council on Aging, said. “Their heart and soul is in this game.”

Proposed legislation would carve out an exception for small-stakes games at senior centers.

State Reps. Angelo Puppolo and Brian M. Ashe have filed separate bills that would allow legal — and limited — gambling in senior centers.

Puppolo’s bill, H. 1724, would allow for legal gambling through card games, including poker, pinochle, bridge, rummy, canasta, hearts, dominos, cribbage and any recreational bingo in the commonwealth.

But with guardrails. The bill would restrict individual bets by players to $5 per session, with a limit of $20 per “single game or session.” Ashe’s bill, H. 612, would allow a maximum win of $50.

“Nobody’s going to become a millionaire (from this),” Puppolo said. “It’s just a matter of being able to have a little more excitement for our seniors.”

Puppolo’s bill was discussed Tuesday at a public hearing of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.

After the meeting, state Sen. James B. Eldridge, chair of the Judiciary Committee, told The Republican and MassLive he had not been aware of the issue at senior centers and appreciated Puppolo’s efforts in filing this bill.

“Like every bill, we will review it, but I think he made some very strong arguments,” Eldridge said. “He explained that a number of seniors liked doing this activity but are now suddenly prevented from doing it and don’t feel like it harms anyone.”

The Puppolo and Ashe bills each have roughly a dozen co-sponsors. Velis has filed the same measure as Puppolo in the Senate.

“While this issue may seem significant to some, it is not insignificant to our seniors,” Velis said in a statement. “I filed this legislation in the Senate to clarify that these low-stakes recreational games are indeed allowed under Massachusetts law.”

State Rep. Bud L. Williams is another supporter of the Puppolo bill. Williams said he hopes a law tweak returns a favorable form of entertainment for older people.

“At the rate we’re going, everything is going to be legalized, in terms of gambling,” Williams said.

Other older adults in local centers support the bills Puppolo, Ashe and Velis have filed, such as Joseph Russo, a patron at the Agawam Senior Center.

“There’s a social aspect to playing cards together,” Russo said. “That’s what the senior center is supposed to be — interaction amongst seniors. If a card game would do it, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

He added, “(If) the money is going to be (given out) within the group, then that will be a fine thing as far as I am concerned.”

“The camaraderie of people and the joy of playing cards is enjoyable,” said Robert Knowles, a regular at the Pleasant View Senior Center.

Cathy Ferrero, a patron of the West Springfield Council on Aging, who previously held pitch games at the Longmeadow Adult Center, is doing more than just hoping.

She has a petition going with 35 signatures so far. Ferrero aims to secure 100 signatures in support of Puppolo’s bill.

“I think it is great,” she said. “He’s representing the older people.”

Julia Rojas, a volunteer at the Holyoke Council on Aging and Senior Center, also backs the bill. “I agree that (playing for) a little money for fun is okay,” she said.

Some see pitfalls

Among those who lead senior centers, there appears to be some caution.

In an email, Erin Koebler, director of the Council on Aging in East Longmeadow, said she was unavailable to comment on the question of allowing small-stakes gambling.

Michael Squindo, executive director of the Agawam Senior Center, declined to comment, saying he needed approval from Agawam Mayor Bill Sapelli before he could share his thoughts.

In the midst of support, some older adults, such as Marcia Crenshaw, are against the proposed exemption, viewing any form of gambling for people her age as financially irresponsible.

She is a patron of the Raymond A. Jordan Senior Center in Springfield, where two other older adults, who declined to be identified, shared similar sentiments.

“When you’re a senior, you’re on a limited income,” she said. “It’s not like when you are working.”