The high-tech and biotech booms that have transformed the Boston area into a national wealth magnate have bypassed New Bedford.

Now, in the cruelest blow of all, the gambling boom is poised to make a wide detour around the proud but struggling old industrial city, one that has long been ready to roll the dice on expanded gambling to boost its flagging fortunes.

In a squeeze play, well financed and politically wired gambling operators in Boston and in Palmer in Western Massachusetts are close to securing a lock on Beacon Hill for their proposed casino projects, State House insiders say.

Last week’s announcement that lawmakers are pushing off a vote until next year could help give New Bedford officials a little more time to plead their case.

But that still doesn’t change the essential power equation here.

No More Bets, Please

Meanwhile, despite protests from the powers that be that it’s too early to say, the template for expanded gambling in Massachusetts appears already set.

It calls for two casinos on either end of the state – in Boston and Palmer – augmented by two smaller racinos south of Boston, State House insiders say.

“They (New Bedford) have been supportive of this issue since 1995,” contends Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis at the University of Massachusetts and a gaming industry expert.

“For New Bedford to get cut out at this point will create a lot of political bad feeling.”

Not alone, New Bedford is just one of a myriad of towns and cities with casino hopes of their own, from Springfield to Milford.

With the emergence of serious casino proposals in Boston and out in Palmer, all now face an uphill battle to win a meaningful spot in gambling legislation lawmakers are starting to slowly hammer out at the State House.

But while there are many casino wannabes, New Bedford’s plight may be the most poignant.

The once-wealthy whaling city long ago fell on hard times and has struggled for decades as its industrial-era economic base has steadily eroded.

The recession has made a bad situation even worse, driving the city’s unemployment rate to more than 14 percent – or nearly double the state average.

“It is Depression era unemployment levels,” Barrow said.

City leaders have responded by pushing a series of redevelopment projects, but the efforts, including an ill-fated and years-long bid to build a waterfront aquarium, have failed to dramatically turn around New Bedford’s fortunes.

But a casino on the city’s harborfront, one that would bring in a steady stream of cash-laden tourists and gamblers, could generate the kind of economic big bang New Bedford needs, contends Barrow.

A New Bedford casino would bring in revenue ranging from $350 million to $500 million a year, the size of a mid-sized Atlantic City gambling palace, he estimates.

Such a cash infusion could make New Bedford the Massachusetts version of Gulfport or Biloxi, struggling southern port cities that have become hot destinations with the help of casinos, according to Barrow.

“I think this is the most important economic development initiative in New Bedford in 30 years,” Barrow said.

Power Outage

But desire alone won’t cut it in the bare knuckles world of Massachusetts power politics.

New Bedford is caught between two powerful casino developers, New York casino investor Richard Fields, who has set up shop at Suffolk Downs in East Boston, and Mohegan Sun, which has staked out a site in Western Massachusetts.

Fields, who acquired a leading stake in Suffolk more than three years ago, has steadily built up a powerful base of political support for his plans.

He’s hired three lobbying firms and has won over Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino to his plans.

For its part, Connecticut-based casino Mohegan Sun, which already has plans for a major casino in the Western Massachusetts town of Palmer, has picked O’Neill and Associates to help get its message through to state lawmakers, state records show. O’Neill is headed by former state Lt. Gov. Thomas P. O’Neill.

“It just seems awfully hard,” said one State House insider. “Suffolk has been building a case for three years. The Mohegans have a downtown office and Palmer all sewn up for two years.”

Now I don’t say there is a purposeful attempt to squeeze New Bedford out, though the less competition is better for these two big players.

But when it comes to casinos in Massachusetts, three is truly seen as a crowd on Beacon Hill.

While pro-casino lawmakers believe they can sell their colleagues on two casinos, three sounds like a stretch.

In addition, the favored plan at this point calls for two racinos Southeastern Massachusetts, one at the Plainridge racetrack near the Rhode Island border, the other at the Raynham Taunton track.

There’s also the Mashpee Wampanoag proposal to build a $1 billion resort casino in Middleboro.

The fear is that if New Bedford is given a green light, Southeastern Massachusetts could end up with four gambling venues, two of them full-fledged casinos.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo has not endorsed any plan yet, though he specifically mentioned the two casino, two racino option in a Boston Globe article.

Seth Gitell, the House leader’s spokesman, cautioned it is much too early for such discussions on who’s in and who’s out.

But Martin Walsh, D-Dorchester, vice chair of the House’s Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government and a top State House backer of casinos, made clear he is wary of a New Bedford casino.

At some point you have to draw the line, and, for Walsh, it is at two casinos.

“You can overdo casinos,” Walsh argued. “We don’t want to have 10 casinos around Massachusetts.”