Could the State of New York regulate online poker before it passes Daily Fantasy Sports legislation? State Senator John Bonacic seems to think so, according to an interview he gave to Capital Tonight this week. The Senator is one of the main backers of an online poker bill which advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee recently and has now advanced to consideration by the full Senate.
Senator Bonacic said that, in the eyes of Empire State lawmakers, the idea of online poker is “more settled”. He also noted that “all of the gaming interests” wanted online poker to become a reality in New York. “All the potential casinos, all the nine racinos, have sent us letters of support for the online poker bill,” he said.
Bonacic said that there is a lot of money in the state from online poker.
The idea of the bill, said the Senator, is that online poker would be taxed at a rate of 15%. In addition, the state would further benefit from the $10 million that each licensed operator would need to pay. Bonacic predicts that online poker could bring in 10 times more revenue than Daily Fantasy Sports each year.
Bonacic’s S5302C moved from the Senate Finance Committee with a 20-8 vote to push it to the Senate floor. If the bill passes the State Senate, it will be presented to the Assembly and if it passes without any amendments, it will be up to Governor Andrew Cuomo to either give his blessing to the bill or use his powers to veto it. Cuomo will have ten days to make his decision.
There is only a small window of time that the bill can move forward before the end of this current legislative session. As such, the Poker Players Alliance has been encouraging its members to bombard the lawmakers with messages of support for the legislation’s passage.
Support for the bill’s success in the Finance Committee came from MGM Resorts International which has much to gain if online gambling becomes a reality. In a statement, MGM said: “We applaud the Senate Finance Committee’s vote to create a safe, legal environment for online poker through legislation that will generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue for taxpayers, and create open and fair opportunities for all providers of online poker.”
MGM said that the legislation recognizes that millions of New Yorkers play online poker on “unregulated and unprotected off-shore poker websites that operate with no oversight, fraud controls, or age restrictions.”
