New York has seven racinos and five commercial casinos, four of which are upstate. The bill authorizes the New York State Gaming Commission ( NYSGC) to issue up to 11 licenses for online poker. Entities with either a Class III casino license or that are authorized to operate video lottery gaming would be eligible for a license. Under A1380, real money online poker in NY would be taxed at 15%, and an operator would pay $10 million for an interactive gaming license with a ten-year term. Since the legislature meets biennially, lawmakers could revisit the bill anytime they are in session through June 2023 and then again between January and June 2024. It should be noted that while A1380 wasn’t included in the budget, it’s still a viable piece of legislation. It was introduced in the state Assembly on January 17, but in mid-March, it was excluded from the state budget. What the Latest Online Poker Bill ProposesĪlthough a new bill is currently in the works, the most recent online poker bill submitted in the Empire State was A1380. With 19.7 million residents, the Empire State is bigger than states currently with legal online poker, including Pennsylvania (13 million residents) and Michigan (10 million). New York would be a huge state for online poker. None of the bills, including one from the current 2023-2024 session, made it out of committee. Since the 2013-2014 legislative session, there have been 11 bills submitted that called for the legalization of online poker.

The New York State Legislature meets biennially. It’s very possible that online poker could be legalized once the dust settles with the siting of the three downstate casinos and after opponents realize that online poker will complement, not impact, the state’s land-based facilities. None of those obstacles are deemed insurmountable. Others worry that existing commercial casinos, including a powerful hotel and casino workers’ labor union, could also be affected. Some lawmakers fret that online poker (and casino) could affect three future land-based casinos likely coming to NYC. To be clear, there is opposition in some quarters to expanding igaming in the Empire State. Eleven bills have been submitted in the last decade, but a new bill is expected in 2024. Sports betting came to the Empire State in January 2022, but efforts to legalize online poker have fallen short since 2013. No, real money online poker is not currently legal in New York, but it could be soon.

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