State Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. was the driving force behind mobile sports betting legislation in the Empire State and he is now the sponsor of S9226, which would legalize and tax up to 10 online poker sites.
Addabbo is All-In
Mobile sports betting has been an unmitigated success in New York. It is currently the nation’s most active and lucrative digital sports betting market. Although online casino gaming was not adopted in this most recent session, Senator Joe Addabbo Jr. has another gaming revenue stream up his sleeve in the form of online poker.
Addabbo’s most recent attempt to legalize, regulate, and tax online poker comes in the form of the bill he authored, S9226, which would demand a $10 million license fee that would last 10 years and tax operators’ adjusted gross revenues at 15% while tasking the New York State Gaming Commission with regulating the online poker market.
There is no other gaming attached to this bill so those who may have been opposed to iGaming, or online casino gambling, could vote for online poker with a clear conscience. This is the third online gaming bill Addabbo has sponsored this session and earlier this year he spoke about online poker being another viable revenue stream for the state.
“What we’re seeing is that mobile sports betting in New York is being perceived as the No. 1 product in the country. We should build upon that. The timing for iGaming is perfect in the sense that we’re showing that New Yorkers have the propensity and the desire to game with a device, as well as going through a brick-and-mortar site, but poker is very popular, so why miss out on that segment? I think it’s something that you have to consider.”
Companion Bill
While Addabbo’s poker bill resides in the Senate Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee, of which Addabbo is the chairman, another piece of poker legislation, A1380, sits in the state Assembly’s Standing Committee on Racing and Wagering.
That bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Gary Pretlow and it would amend New York’s racing, pari-mutuel wagering, and breeding law by introducing a new section that would change the classification of poker from games of chance to games of skill. This would then allow online poker to be legal in the state which would pave the way for Pretlow’s bill to be discussed.
Everyone Wins
Both Addabbo and Pretlow have been vocal proponents of gaming due to the revenue it generates. Should one of these bills pass parliamentarian muster and ultimately be signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, the next logical step would be joining the Multistate Internet Gaming Agreement (MSIGA).
This would allow New Yorkers to play with poker players from other states that are part of the MISIGA, which means the games would have more participants and the cash prizes would naturally be larger. Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan, and West Virginia have all joined the MISIGA.
Michigan joined the MISIGA in 2022 which came about because of the efforts of Senator Curtis Hertel, who said, “Michigan poker players will enjoy more options and will likely play for bigger money when they can compete against players from other states. I am glad we were able to make this possible for Michigan poker players.”
