After receiving feedback from industry members and regulatory organizations, a New York State Senator is looking to revise some segments of his online poker legislation.
New York State Senator John Bonacic, who is the driving force behind online poker legislation in the Empire State (he has filed some sort of bill in support of online gaming and/or poker in both 2014 and 2015), held a hearing in Albany last week that gathered together the major players in the gaming industry to discuss online poker. Representatives of Caesars Entertainment, Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts, offered their thoughts on the subject (they believe that online poker with compacts with other states is necessary if not full online casino gaming) and the Poker Players Alliance and its leader pushed for the consumer protections that regulated online gaming would provide. New York Gaming Association (NYGA) officials, however, looked to slow the process by asking to see how the new “brick and mortar” casinos under construction perform first before opening up the online game.
With the new information in mind from the experts, Bonacic has stated that he will be amending his online poker legislation after further discussions with government officials, other lawmakers and potentially representatives from Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office. In an interview with Gambling Compliance’s Sara Friedman, Bonacic says he will be discussing with these officials “license fee and whether or not licenses will be required to partner with an in-state ‘brick-and-mortar’ operator.”
In his interview with Friedman, Bonacic also responded on some of the testimony from last week’s hearing. In regards to the concerns of the NYGA, Bonacic stated to Friedman, “I appreciate (their) concerns, but those must be weighed against the existing lack of consumer protections for those who wish to play poker online, as well as the revenue being lost by the state every day,”
Bonacic’s licensing fees were targeted by the NYGA as being too pricey for the smaller “racinos” (casinos with a horse racing track). The $10 million initial licensing fee set by Bonacic is in line with other states that have passed online gaming and/or poker and it actually has support in New York. “The high license fee…makes sure that applicants are serious about” getting in the potential New York online gaming/poker market, the managing partner of Klein, Moynihan and Turco’s David Klein told Friedman. Klein also opined that Bonacic should examine the potential of full casino gaming rather than just an online poker bill.
Another expert believes that New York doesn’t need a full online casino industry. Joseph Kelly, a professor at SUNY Buffalo, told Friedman that New York is large enough that, going alone, it would build a large enough clientele with just online poker. Kelly also notes that Bonacic’s current legislation allows for New York to compact with other states, which would enable New York to join forces with other East Coast online gaming/poker markets such as New Jersey, Delaware and potentially Pennsylvania.
Although Bonacic is continuing to work on his online poker legislation, there is absolutely no hope of its passage in 2015. The bill itself is similar to Bonacic’s 2014 bill, which he said was simply a “bookmark” to have something on the books for other legislators to look at. Bonacic’s 2015 efforts were an attempt to move the discussion along, something that he achieved with the hearing earlier this month.
For those looking to see passage of Bonacic’s bill in 2016, they might want to temper their expectations. The Poker Players Alliance’s Executive Director John Pappas has stated that New York needs to actually build a comprehensive framework, according to Friedman, and would also need to garner support beyond just Bonacic himself. “Right now, this bill is just the senator’s initial thoughts,” Pappas stated to Friedman. With a little more effort out of Bonacic and the legislature, a full bill has a slim shot at being introduced in 2016, but it also would have difficulties in passing.
