New York Online Poker May ‘Fold’ Due To New Study

Updated On Feb 1, 2019 by Natalie Whitehead

Regulated online poker may not be coming to New York anytime soon as a new bill gains momentum. Bill A00591 will focus on evaluating the effects of gambling over New York residents.

Democrat Linda Rosenthal led the launch of the bill despite the fact that New Yorkers rank outside the top 33 percentile of states that face a gambling addiction. The Bill was pre-filed on January 9 which prompted it to be forwarded to the Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

The result of the vote was a unanimous 13-0 result which then saw the Bill forwarded to the Ways and Means committee to discuss the next step that they are going to take for the bill to become a law.

What Happens When the Bill Becomes a Law?

When A00591 becomes a law, the New York State Gaming Commission would delve deeper into the gambling industry. This would mean that the poker, horse-racing, lottery and casinos industries will be studied carefully to find the impact that gambling could have on the state of New York.

The study would then generate its findings and come up with statistics that detail the profile of various gamblers such as their age, race, education, sex, and their reported average income. From there, lawmakers would then be able to identify an accurate percentage of how many New Yorkers love to gamble, and how much money they will spend and likely lose on a monthly/yearly basis.

The evaluation will have to be finished by December 1, 2023, which roughly four years from today.

Online Poker Legalization Looks Bleak

Sen. Joseph Addabbo earlier introduced the Online Poker Bill to help regulate online poker in New York. The bill required casinos to pay a 10-million-dollar upfront fee to obtain a license to operate online poker games and cause the state to impose a 15 percent tax rate.

One key provision of the bill was allowing New York to participate with other states in a shared liquidity program order to increase player pools. However, with the recent move by the Department of Justice to block all interstate liquidity and the introduction of Bill A00591, it looks like online poker legalization isn’t going to happy any time soon in New York.

Who’s Really Responsible for A00591?

Online gambling campaigners are not happy with A00591 and think something fishy is happening, especially because the process takes so long to complete. There are some who believe that Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson and his Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling is behind the new push.

If there is one topic that really gets Natalie excited it has to be the mathematics of gambling, having worked for a major gaming company in the audit department she loves nothing more than revealing all manner of facts and figures. Many of her news stories relate to both online and bricks and mortar gaming and are always worth...

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