Odds Against New york Online Poker

Saturday March 23,2013 : ODDS AGAINST ONLINE POKER LEGALISATION IN NEW YORK FOR NOW (Update)
 
Rumours that legalization clause has not been included in final budget agenda
 
When New York state legislators vote on a final budget agreement this weekend it is unlikely they will debate the inclusion of New York online poker as proposed last week by two influential members of the Legislature .
 
The New York Daily News reported Friday that the proposals were not included in the final agenda agreed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and leaders of the Legislature.
 
The proposal to include online poker legalization in the budget debate was put forward by Senate co-leaders Jeff Klein and Dean Skelos, who suggested that getting into the online poker market may be another channel for creating tax revenue.
 
The Poker Players Alliance, which supported the idea, says that raising the issue has at least laid the groundwork for further progress on legalization in the state.
 
PPA executive director John Pappas observed: “It's a meaningful accomplishment that we actually had the senate include the language as it did in the outset. We have a lot more work to do on the Assembly side. We plan to be heading up to Albany in the next couple months to get ready for the discussion [on internet poker legalization] in May.”
 
Pappas said that the Alliance hopes to persuade Assemblyman Gary Pretlow to include the legalization of online poker in a bill he is pushing that seeks to authorise brick-and-mortar gambling games such as poker, blackjack, craps, roulette and slot machines.