Renewing hopes for legalised online poker in the populous state of New York this week, the chairman of the state Assembly Committee on Racing and Wagering, Gary Pretlow, said that there is still a chance to get Assembly bill A 5250 passed before the current legislative session ends.
Pro-legalisation lawmakers have been trying to get New York poker on the map for the past two years without success, usually due to proposals stalling in the Assembly after passing the Senate, where bill S 3898 has repeatedly been approved.
Pretlow told local media that getting the bill onto the Assembly floor for a vote was in the hands of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, whom he had urged to act. Pretlow also wrote to fellow lawmakers earlier this year asking them to help in getting the legalisation bill to the floor for a vote (see previous InfoPowa reports).
Industry observers have said there is a better chance for legalisation this year because state legislators are looking for new revenue streams to stem financial budget deficits totalling $4 billion. The decision earlier this week by the US Supreme Court to discard the Professional and Amateur ports Protection Act is also seen as a positive influence.
With a population in excess of 20 million people, if New York joins Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada in legalising online poker it will be a major move for the industry that may influence other US states to follow suit…and along with Pennsylvania it could mean a massive boost for the shared online poker playing pools of Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey.