New York Online Poker Bill Re-IntroducedProposal Would Lead To The Regulation Of Web Poker |
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New York will have another crack at online poker.
Legislation that would regulate online poker sites in the Empire State was re-introduced this week. The measure was considered last year but didn’t gain any traction in Albany.
The bill is from Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, who is pushing legislation along with Sen. Bonacic, who has yet to re-introduce his proposal. Both are at the helm of gaming and racing committees. The latter’s poker bill was up for public discussion in the fall, although a vote wasn’t held.
New York held the hearing in early September on whether to regulate online poker in the future. The hearing was largely favorable to online casino games, but testimony did indicate that the games would not likely come until the new brick-and-mortar casinos are open. New York could be the largest online poker market among the states currently considering the activity, with the exception of California, which has about double the population of New York.
Kevin Cochran, Senior Legal Analyst for GamblingCompliance, testified at the hearing that the New York online poker market could be more than $120 million in the first 12 months after launch.
New York made great progress toward its beefed up casino industry late in the year by awarding three licenses to casino developers. Collectively, roughly $1.5 billion is being spent on new brick-and-mortar casinos in the Empire State. New York currently has nine racetrack casinos and five tribal casinos.
New York has said its residents spend $1 billion each year at out-of-state casinos. The entire Northeast has been home to a casino arms race over the past several years.
Along with New York and California, the state of Pennsylvania is considering regulated online poker. The Keystone State had a real shot last year, but the measure was put on hold until this spring. One Pennsylvania lawmaker recently said that online poker could become legal in his state by the middle of the summer.
Online poker is currently legal and regulated in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware. Nevada’s governor recently announced that he would be relaunching a committee to discuss the future of the web card game. While Nevada doesn’t release revenue figures for online poker, New Jersey and Delaware do. Both states saw online poker revenue shrink in 2015.
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