Another year of New York online poker bills appears poised to end in disappointment for poker players yet again.
The trend began in 2014, with an Assembly bill – always sponsored by Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow – that goes nowhere. Senate bills each year do the same, though they’ve changed hands from State Senator John Bonacic submitting an annual proposal to Senator Joe Addabbo taking over after Bonacic’s retirement. The reasons for the lack of success change, but the results do not.
There has never been significant progress to legalize online poker or igaming in the state of New York.
While there is the opportunity for an uncharacteristic late-year push in 2023, it appears doubtful. The bills currently in the New York legislature – one for online poker and another for a broader range of igaming – will die a quiet, unsurprising death yet again.
Tale of Two Bills – 2023 Edition
This year started like so many others. New York Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow introduced a bill to declare online poker a game of skill and legalize it for state-run licensing and regulation. A01380 was this year’s bill designation. It immediately went to the Racing and Wagering Committee, where it collected dust.
New York State Senator Joe Addabbo Jr took a different tact this year. He went out on a limb and introduced an interactive gaming bill (S4856) that included online poker and casino games. He did this on February 15, and his bill went directly to the Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee on the Senate side of the legislature. And there it stayed.
Addabbo appeared to be ready for a push of S4856, noting that igaming revenue has been consequential for the states that legalized the internet games. And seeing New York rise quickly to become the top mobile sports betting market in the country, igaming would be poised to follow. He also quoted research that showed New York having the potential to deliver $150M in the first year of igaming revenue alone.
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Budget Hopes
The first weeks of March came and went without discussions about igaming with fellow legislators. Even so, there was hope that the bill – for revenue that New York could most certainly use – would be included in budget talks. Governor Kathy Hochul was still entertaining options to complete her budget proposal.
By March 14, however, it became clear that igaming – not even online poker – would make it into the budget submitted by lawmakers. PlayUSA confirmed that Pretlow didn’t include igaming in his budget letter, not did Addabbo on the Senate side.
As for Addabbo, he said that he brought up the topic as a solution to the problem of an MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) deficit, but he was the only one supporting it. “I’m not going to be the only one talking about it,” he said. I threw it out there. Everyone knows its doable. If no one else wants to do it this year, that’s fine. I’m not going to pound the drum for it anymore.”
Pretlow said that the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council lobbied against igaming for fear of cannibalization, which would see online operators hurt land-based casino profits. However, this has been proven a false flag by every state that has legalized online poker and casino games. Pretlow knows this, and he admitted that casino groups in New York have no cannibalization fears, but the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council won the day.
https://twitter.com/MatthewKredell/status/1635776052923604992?s=20
Next Year Again?
For the umpteenth year in a row, New York lawmakers say that next year will be the best time to push for legal online gaming.
Online poker supporters have heard that refrain too many times.
Addabbo insists that he will continue to propose igaming at budget time every year. He claims that the state is losing approximately a billion dollars for each year they don’t operate an igaming business.
There is still a tiny bit of hope that Hochul’s budget could have a huge deficit to fill, and Addabbo could propose igaming, at which point all of the lawmakers will squeal with delight and insist that online poker and casino games be legalized right that minute.
If that doesn’t happen, it will be 2024 when new bills will emerge and players will get their hopes up yet again.
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