After moving fitfully for the past few years, online poker in the state of New York received a huge leap forward as it passed legislation out of committee this week to regulate the industry.
After a meeting of the New York Senate’s Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, a vote was taken on S 3898, a bill sponsored by State Senator John Bonacic that would look to regulate online poker in the Empire State. By a vote of 10-1, the subcommittee approved the bill and forwarded it to the Senate Finance Committee. In addition to the vote to regulate online poker (alone, no full casino gaming), a hearing on sports betting was held to discuss that issue.
S 3898 is an interesting bill in that it must change the definition of poker before any regulatory issues can be picked up. Under current New York statutes, poker is considered gambling and exempt from the “game of skill” protections that New York law would provide it. Citing the fact that in Texas Hold’em it takes “complex forms of…player strategy and decision,” the bill would look to move poker under that umbrella of a “game of skill” and, thusly, protected under law.
Following that change in definition, the actual regulation of the internet game emerges. “The internet has become an integral part of society,” the bill notes, “and internet poker is a major form of entertainment for many consumers.” It ends its discussion by saying that “regulatory oversight is intended to safeguard the integrity of the games and participants and to ensure accountability and the public trust.”
Strangely enough (and from a strict reading of the bill), there are only two forms of poker covered. Texas Hold’em and Omaha Hold’em are the only bills expressly mentioned by name and, it is possible to conclude, those would be the only types of poker authorized under the bill. At no point are any other games – Stud, Pineapple, Badugi or a myriad of other disciplines of the game – mentioned anywhere in the bill.
The bottom line is, of course, the bottom line. All potential licensees in the potential New York online poker industry would be required to pay a one-time fee of $10 million for a ten-year license. Gross gaming revenues would be taxed at a rate of 15%, comparable to other states who have passed online poker regulations, but it once again would not allow for full casino gaming. It would, however, immediately allow for compacting with other states to maximize revenues.
This isn’t the first time that there has been action in the New York legislature. Each year, however, it has gone further than the year prior. When he first introduced the legislation in 2013, Bonacic stated that it was only to get the discussion going on the subject. That was much the same case in 2014, but in 2015 Bonacic inched forward with his work. He was able to introduce a bill into the New York Senate, but it never received a hearing.
In 2016, though, Bonacic could start to see some rewards for his work. Hearings were held about online gaming and/or poker and the bill Bonacic put forward made it out of committee. In 2017, Bonacic gained some allies in the New York General Assembly that began talking about passing some regulatory legislation. That proved to be talk, however, as Bonacic pushed his bill through the full Senate, but the Assembly wasn’t willing to vote on an online gaming bill.
But there’s more impetus in 2018 than there has been in any year prior for New York to do something regarding the online poker question. With New Jersey’s full casino gaming industry taking down more than $200 million in 2017 (for the first time in its four-year history) and Pennsylvania preparing to open their own online casino gaming industry, New York is in danger of being left behind. Not only would citizens of the Land of Gotham be able to hop across the border to take part in online casino gaming, the state coffers would be affected by the loss in taxation revenue.
Now the ball is in the court of Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, Bonacic’s partner in the General Assembly and the driver of online gaming legislation for that body. While previously he has been cautious in approaching internet gaming, Pretlow is now saying that he will look to move early in 2018 rather than wait until the last minute as has been done in previous years. Within the first half of 2018, it is possible that we’ll be able to “read the tea leaves” and determine if New York will become the next state to pass online gaming and/or poker regulation.
