New York’s effort for the legalization of online poker has taken an unpleasant but not completely unexpected turn just a fortnight before the end of the state’s 2017 legislative session.
The New York State Senate amended an online poker bill that was introduced back in January so as to include the so-called “bad actor” language. Under the amendment, operators that had offered illegal online poker services to US customers in the post-UIGEA era would not be eligible for a license from New York’s gambling regulator – the New York State Gaming Commission.
S 3898 was introduced in the Senate earlier this year by Sen. John Bonacic. The online poker push was later on joined by Assemblyman Gary Pretlow and an identical Assembly bill, A 5250. Here it is important to note that gambling expansion is prohibited by New York’s constitution. However, both bills call for the legalization of online poker as a game of skill.
It all showed at first that the legislative effort might succeed this year. Sen. Bonacic has been leading New York’s online poker for several years now. However, previous bills on the matter did not gain the necessary support in the Legislature. A legislative piece was approved in the Senate last year, but was not brought up for discussion in the Assembly.
It is yet to be seen how work on this year’s bill will develop in the remaining days of the legislative session. The New York State Legislature is set to adjourn on June 21. According to industry experts, the “bad actor” amendment would not do good to the online poker push.
It can be said that the newly added provision targets, although indirectly, online poker room PokerStars. The operator was one of the several to have been banished from the US after being found that it had targeted local players illegally after the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
Here it is also important to note that the “bad actor” provision has also been among the biggest stumbling blocks before California’s online poker effort for years now. Industry stakeholders and California tribes have been split on whether PokerStars and its likes should be allowed to enter the local market when and if it is legalized.
The announcement about the addition of the contentious provision to New York’s online poker bill comes shortly after reports emerged that former Amaya CEO David Baazov had contributed illegally $25,000 to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s re-election campaign. Amaya is known to be the owner of PokerStars’ parent company, The Rational Group. In 2014, Mr. Baazov made the headlines for striking an unprecedented for the industry acquisition deal of $4.9 billion for the purchase of the Isle of Man-based online poker operator and its PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker brands.
