Majority Vote Passes New York Online Poker Bill In Senate

New York Online Poker Bill
  • Profile picture
  • PG News June 16, 2016
  • 2 Minutes Read

The New York senate has approved of Senator John Bonacic’s online poker bill, S5302C with a huge majority of 53-5 votes. The moves comes as a shot in the arm for the case of online gaming in the US, where several states are mulling the legalization of this market and comes close on the heels of Michigan fast-tracking an online poker bill, besides Missouri and Colorado giving a yes to a bill for daily fantasy sports (DFS) recently.

Early in June, the bill was first approved by New York Senate Finance Committee by a 20-8 vote and will now have to pass muster in the Assembly, which would decide on amendments, if any are necessary and whether to pass the bill or not. From there it would go to Governor Andrew Cuomo, who would get 10 days to veto or pass the bill. If the Governor did not move within the stipulated 10 days, the bill would automatically become law.

Despite the upcoming battle, the passing of the bill by the senate comes as a huge victory for poker players and the sport in the state, which have been fighting for legalization since years.

The only negative voice was that of Gary Pretlow, Chairman of the New York Assembly racing and wagering committee who stated that legalization of online poker “is dead”. However, most ignored this, as it was attributed to the Assembly session expiring on Thursday, June 16 and the fact that the bill did have low support among members.

Keeping in mind this last point, the Poker Players Alliance and popular pros, such as Twitch streamer Jason Somerville have taken to the media, urging the public to write in their support to the Assembly and the Governor, in order to get the bill passed without a hitch.

The bill also has support from many other quarters. MGM Resorts International, one of the giants in the gambling market welcomed the move and stated that a regulated industry would safeguard online players’ interests and that the revenues generated could be used for other purposes such as education.

John McManus, MGM General Counsel told the press, “We applaud the Senate for passing this sensible legislation that will help protect New Yorkers who have for years played online poker on unprotected, off-shore poker websites that today operate with no regulation, fraud controls, or age restrictions. This bill will open opportunities for all providers of online poker to deliver a safe, regulated alternative.”

MGM has recently acquired 50% of the Borgata Hotel casino and Spa in a $900 billion deal from the Boyd Gaming Corp and is looking at entering the regulated New Jersey online gaming market through the partnership.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Top Online Poker Rooms

Top
PokerGuru