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Mar 23, 2016 The New York budget. Like Pennsylvania, the New York budget is a contentious process, and there really is no way to forecast the chances of online poker being included in a final version of the $154 billion budget bill. However, we will have answers relatively soon, as the budget is due in less than two weeks. And while online poker wouldn’t.
With a looming deadline to approve a state budget, New York legislators have added a provision to the 2013/2014 budget proposal that would clear the way for online poker in the Empire State. The budget proposal, signed by both Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein, leaders in the state Senate, is reported to have the support of New York’s Senate Majority Coalition.
The language in the proposed operating budget specifically says, “The Senate supports authorizing and regulating internet gaming for games of skill, including poker, to reflect recent changes in the classification of these games.”
A 2011 clarification by the United States Justice Department of the 1961 Federal Wire Act essentially stated that the law applies only to sports-betting and not to other forms of Internet-based wagering, a ruling that New York state lawmakers believe permits the state to act on this issue.
Should online poker be stricken from the budget, which has a deadline for approval of the first of April, it is believed that the issue of online poker would be put back on the shelf until sometime in 2014 at the soonest. If passed, the introduction of online poker to the New York market is expected to help the state rake in an additional $100 million each year.
To keep up with competition from other states, New York is also working on land-based casino expansion, an issue that has, as in many places across the nation, become a contentious one. This is due in no small part to the fact that New York is home to several powerful Native American tribes, which operate their own casino properties and have been deeply divided on the issue of expansion.
Speaking to the media on Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that in his vision, the casino expansion would rollout slowly over a period of years, with a focus on the promotion of upstate casinos. As part of Cuomo’s plan, there would eventually be a New York City casino, however it would move forward only after the upstate properties were underway so as not to deter would-be operators.
“If the franchises upstate are going to be worth money, they’re worth more money if you can promise there’s not going to be a casino in New York City,” Governor Cuomo said.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Pennsylvania, casino expansion there has allowed the state to capture the title of second-largest gambling market in the US, a distinction it stole from Atlantic City last year.
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Positive news bits about online poker in the U.S. tend to be few and far between over the past few years, but Americans got two tempting morsels early this week that may portend good things.
First off, the long-debated online poker legislation in New York may be finally picking up some momentum. According to recent reporting by Online Poker Report, support for a bill is growing and this could finally be the year that one of the major dominoes falls into place to make the U.S. market stable and strong.
Second and much more speculative is the possibility of the multi-state gaming compact coming to fruition. While there's been no official word on this development, some small clues point toward the possibility of it happening, which would be more great news for online poker players in the U.S.
Long-Awaited Momentum in NY
While California has always been the white whale when it comes to the state in which everyone is most eager to get online poker legalized — a population of 40 million will do that — New York wouldn't be a bad consolation prize. New York has its own hefty population of 20 million, and getting online poker legalized there would be one of the biggest gets yet on the legislative battleground.
Unfortunately for poker players, the history of bills in New York is less than rosy. The state has tried and failed to pass online poker legislation before, including last year when $10 million from online poker was earmarked for the state budget. Bills passed through the Senate easily before dying in the Assembly.
This year, it wasn't included in the budget, but Matthew Kredell of OPRreported A 5250 could have support that's never before been seen for New York's online poker legislation.
New York City Poker
Newly elected Assemblyman Clyde Vanel told Kredell support for online poker is building among his peers.
'I think we have a good shot of getting it through this year.'
'The next few weeks will show some traction for the bill,' he said. 'With enough co-sponsors, I like it to get out of committee and onto the floor. I think we have a good shot of getting it through this year.
'We have poker in New York but we’re not allowing it online. Folks can’t articulate why.'
Indeed, poker has been available in New York at live casinos for some time now. In fact, a new room just opened about a month ago at Resorts World Catskills. However, the performance of the New York casino market has been under scrutiny after the commercial casinos came in $230 million under revenue projections.
Online gambling could be a way for the state to make up for the revenue shortfalls, with online poker playing a role.
Vanel looks likely to be a key ally for online poker proponents in New York, and he suggested that anyone in New York wishing to see online poker become legal should contact their representatives in the Assembly and make their voices heard.
Expanded Interstate Poker?
Last October, New Jersey made a landmark announcement that it had agreed to join the unified online poker pool with Nevada and Delaware.
Online poker players had hope for improved liquidity and bigger events. The small populations of all of the states to get iPoker legislation passed meant players were fighting for pieces of very small pies. Combining everyone into one pool would help things, along with the prospect of newly legalized Pennsylvania, meant things might be improving in the future.
Nothing of material note has happened since then as everything appears to be bogged down in technical checks and other red tape. However, a small hint may have been dropped on Delaware poker players, as one player reported receiving an email about 'expanding your network.'
Steve Ruddock at PlayNJ wrote that he's been hearing buzz about a combined pool in advance of the WSOP.
'Word around the campfire has New Jersey joining with Delaware and Nevada before the start of the 2018 World Series of Poker,' he wrote.
Poker players who supplement their summer live grinds in Las Vegas with online poker will likely take that as most welcome news, and poker players around the U.S. will eagerly wait and see if all of these potential positive developments come to fruition.
Poker Rooms In New York
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New York Online Poker Bill
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