Hoping to ride on momentum from Pennsylvania’s recent legalization of online poker, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is encouraging players in New York State to help push for the same in the Empire State.
Rich Muny, the vice president of the PPA, penned an op-ed at ppa.org asking for your help in convincing lawmakers to pass through an internet poker bill in New York in the coming months.
Fight for Your Right to Gamble
When Pennsylvania became the fourth state to legalize internet gambling, the focus turned to New York, which has been considering its own piece of legislation, although the Assembly has yet to vote on the measure.
As Muny writes, a bill to legalize online poker in New York passed the state Senate by a 54-8 vote in June. But the Assembly didn’t even bother to hold a vote on the matter during the 2017 legislative calendar.
But that doesn’t mean the PPA is going to give up and stop fighting for the cause.
“Please be sure to participate in the Poker Daily Action Plan to ensure these lawmakers hear from all of us,” Muny wrote. “And, if you reside in the Empire State, be sure your lawmakers hear from you on this important issue.”
The Poker Daily Action Plan is a plan the PPA posts on social media asking New York State residents to contact two state lawmakers to let them know they support online poker.
“There remains much to do to convince the Assembly that authorizing poker websites will be good for consumers,” Muny stated.
No Love for Poker
Muny believes New York will be “back in play” for online poker players next month when the 2018 legislative season kicks off. But it’s unclear, at this point, if enough Assembly members will consider this an important enough issue to address.
The Empire State did pass a bill to legalize daily fantasy sports in 2017. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman fought against DFS, but lost that battle.
Not enough lawmakers in New York have been convinced poker is a game of skill or that internet gambling is beneficial to the third most-populous state in the country. Many have argued DFS and poker are both games of skill, but convincing those who don’t play poker of that fact can be quite a challenge.
It’s an uphill battle to convince politicians to vote in favor of a pro-online poker bill. But Rich Muny, like Tom Petty, won’t back down.
