Delay on NY poker bill vote

The New York State Assembly decided to leave the online poker bill resolution for June’s legislative session and eliminate it from the budget.

US.- The New York State Assembly announced yesterday that legislators are not debating the online poker bill until June 2017. The Assembly also determined that the project will not appear in this year’s budget as State’s congressmen have not decided yet whether to consider poker activities as a game of skill rather than chance.

The online poker bill was included in the New York budget proposal last week but it was dismissed yesterday by the Assembly. “It won’t be in the final budget, I don’t believe, because there are people opposed to it who are higher than me and don’t want it in the budget,” expressed Assemblyman Gary Pretlow.

Meanwhile, the debate on the online gaming regulation could be delayed to the end of the current legislative session, in June 21. The poker bill A5250, introduced by Senator John Bonacic, aims at legalising the sector by labelling it as a game of skill.

“Here’s the problem and why people in my house are opposed to calling it a game of skill,” added the Assemblyman. “When you question a poker player, one of the skill factors is defining tells in your opponent. There are no tells in online poker. You can’t read a facial expression. There is no interaction between players. To read the movement of an opponent — how they fumble chips — none of that is available in online poker.”