When New York’s online and mobile sports betting market launched in early January, it was, in no small part, due to the efforts by a key lawmaker in the state Senate, who had been working on the issue for more than two years.
Fast forward to today and that same key lawmaker — Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach), Chairman of the Committee on Racing, Gaming, and Wagering — is hopeful that lightning will strike twice and that his colleagues will also allow online poker and casino gaming to launch in NY.
The chances for passage of S8412 remain unclear. Some lawmakers have reportedly bristled at the thought of a further expansion of gaming in the state, while others are open to the idea, but would prefer to wait and see how sports betting in NY plays out over time — perhaps for the rest of 2022. There is also opposition to building a casino in Manhattan, which could derail the proposed legislation.
Nevertheless, Addabbo introduced S8412 on February 24. The bill, which calls for authorizing online interactive gaming in the Empire State, has since been referred to the Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee that Addabbo chairs. S8412 specifically calls for amending the state’s Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering, and Breeding Law by adding an Article 15 for interactive gaming.
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What’s in the NY iGaming Bill?
S8412 would allow casinos to have up to two online skins for casino gaming. The legislative intent section of the bill specifically mentions that interactive gaming is currently only allowed in-person at four upstate commercial casinos, as well as eight Class III (aka Vegas-style) tribal facilities.It is a different approach [than] Michigan, which specifically cites poker and actually creates a sublicense category for companies that want to offer poker
That means the bill, in its current form, would empower the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) to issue 24 licenses to online gaming operators — providing an opportunity for both large and small operators to dive into the Empire State.
The licenses would have an initial term of 10 years. Casinos would pay a one-time fee of $2 million for licensure while platform providers would pay a fee of $10 million. A tax rate of 25% would be levied on online casino gaming — a far cry from the 51% rate that lawmakers enacted on sports wagers.
Albany would also commit $11 million annually for problem gambling education and treatment purposes.
John Pappas, founder and CEO of Corridor Consulting, told US Gaming Review that S8412 would allow online poker in New York — long an elusive target for poker enthusiasts in the Empire State. He said the language in the bill “would permit peer-to-peer games such as poker to be included in the broader definition of iGaming and Casino.”
Pappas added that it appeared Addabbo had taken a different approach to trying to get poker authorized in New York than lawmakers in Michigan, which launched online poker, sports betting, and casino gaming in January 2021.
“It is a different approach [than] Michigan, which specifically cites poker and actually creates a sublicense category for companies that want to offer poker independent from other casino games and/or sports betting,” Pappas said.
Nearly A Decade of Futile Attempts to Bring Online Poker to NY
Last fall, Addabbo boldly predicted that New York would eclipse neighboring New Jersey in terms of tax revenue generated from sports betting “in a year or so.”
Whether the vertical plays out that way remains to be seen, but S8412 acknowledges that the proliferation of online casino and poker verticals in neighboring states is cause for concern — namely, that potential tax revenue from New Yorkers is going elsewhere. Online casino gaming is currently legal in seven US states, including three neighboring ones — Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. All three also have online poker, although Connecticut currently does not have any providers.
New York lawmakers, including Addabbo, have been trying to legalize online poker for nearly a decade.
Records from both houses of the state legislature show that since the 2013-2014 legislative session, 10 bills calling for legalization have failed to pass. All but one of them died in committee. The lone exception, S5302, passed the Senate by a 53-5 vote in June 2016 but ultimately met the same fate as the others. Eight of the 10 bills, including S5302, were companion bills introduced in each chamber with similar verbiage.
Addabbo sponsored two bills that never made it out of committee. He did not return messages seeking comment.
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Where Online Casino and Poker Could Launch
The four aforementioned upstate commercial casinos are Resorts World Catskills in Monticello, Tioga Downs Casino Resort in Nichols, Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady, and the del Lago Resort & Casino in Waterloo.
Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) announced last month that it had purchased the del Lago as part of a $2.5 billion deal to acquire Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E). Rush Street Interactive (RSI) currently runs a BetRivers-branded retail sportsbook at the Schenectady facility, which is owned by Rush Street Gaming, an RSI affiliate.
Meanwhile, the website 500 Nations lists eight Class III tribal casinos in New York:
- Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort, in Hogansburg
- Point Place Casino, in Bridgeport
- Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino, in Salamanca
- Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino, in Buffalo
- Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino, in Niagara Falls
- Turning Stone Resort Casino, in Verona
- The Inn at Turning Stone Resort Casino, in Verona
- Yellow Brick Road (YBR) Casino & Sports Book, in Chittenango
Caesars operates retail sportsbooks at Point Place, Turning Stone, and YBR, all facilities owned and operated by the Oneida Indian Nation. The Inn at Turning Stone, another Oneida facility, closed shortly after the pandemic began, but is scheduled to reopen on March 15.
