A new bill that would potentially legalise online poker in the state of New York has been introduced by Assemblyman James Gary Pretlow, the head of the Assembly Committee on Racing and Wagering. The new legislation would allow for regulated online poker in the Empire State, bringing it into line with other US states like New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware which have legislated for online poker playing within their jurisdictions.
Bills have been introduced to New York regarding online poker legislation before but have not succeeded in passing. A Senate version of the same bill is also currently being considered.
There has been no major progress on the issue in recent years. Pretlow is a Democrat member of the New York State Assembly and was elected in 1992. He introduced similar proposed legislation in 2014, but apart from some discussion amongst New York lawmakers, there was no significant movement on the poker regulation. Poker players in the state have long called for proper legislation for playing online.
The new bill is similar to the 2014 version but has some modifications, including defining poker as a game of skill rather than chance (which many have lobbied for) under state gaming law, allowing up to ten licenses for online poker sites, and tax rate of 15% of gross gaming revenue. The license fee for an online poker site in New York will last for a decade and will cost approximately $10 million.
This regulatory scheme would allow for online poker to be played in New York legally, in a similar way to a growing number of other US states.
The next step for the legislation will presumably be for the new bill to be considered in the Assembly committee chaired by Pretlow. While there is certainly a great deal of support for the bill among the gambling industry and poker community in New York, there is a lack of momentum generally amongst lawmakers when it comes to legalising online poker. The chances of the bill passing not seem particularly propitious but there is still hope that it may fare better than last year.
