New York Senator Joseph Addabbo has refined his legislative agenda to exclusively target online poker with his new bill, SB9226, leaving behind a more expansive online gaming proposal that failed to secure broad support last year.
SB9226: A Focused Approach to Online Poker Legislation
The bill, filed with the Senate Gaming, Wagering, and Racing Committee, specifically aims to establish a framework for online poker, which Senator Addabbo believes has significant potential to generate revenue without the complexities of a full iGaming rollout. This decision follows the unsuccessful attempt with SB8185 in 2024, which included a broader array of online gaming options and proposed a hefty 30% tax rate aimed at alleviating the state’s budget deficit.
SB9226 narrows down the scope to online poker only, offering up to ten licenses at a cost of $10 million each, with a reduced tax rate of 15%. This leaner approach is designed to foster easier passage through legislative processes while tapping into the popularity of poker.
The Popularity of Poker as a Legislative Catalyst
Senator Addabbo expressed confidence in the potential of online poker, citing its popularity and the success of other online betting initiatives in New York. He emphasized the timely nature of this initiative, stating, “The timing for iGaming is perfect… but poker is very popular, so why miss out on that segment?” This statement underscores his belief that focusing on poker could serve as a critical entry point for broader online gaming legislation in the future.
Legislative and Political Roadblocks
However, the bill’s future is uncertain. It parallels Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow’s efforts, which have previously faced significant challenges in the Assembly. The lack of online gaming revenue projections in the state’s 2024 budget and Governor Kathy Hochul’s non-committal stance during the budget announcement further complicates the bill’s trajectory.
Industry Perspective on Online Poker Legislation
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins has spoken about the evolving landscape of the online casino industry, particularly after the financial impacts of COVID-19. He suggests a pressing need for new tax revenue sources, indicating that initiatives like online poker could play a crucial role in the state’s economic recovery.
The Uncertain Road Ahead
As SB9226 moves through the legislative process, its success will depend on the ability to navigate the complex interplay of interests and challenges within New York’s political framework. The focused nature of the bill may ease some of these difficulties, but as with all legislative efforts, the outcome is far from guaranteed.
In conclusion, Senator Addabbo’s pivot to a poker-centric legislative strategy reflects a calculated attempt to overcome previous obstacles while setting the stage for potential future expansions in online gaming. Whether this approach will result in legislative success remains to be seen as the bill progresses through the corridors of New York’s state government.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) and GGPoker joined forces to introduce a special WSOP Paradise Parlay offer. The special promotion was launched just before the WSOP could run its inaugural WSOP Paradise tournament in the Bahamas.
WSOP Paradise Parlay Offer
The WSOP had a great response to its first ever WSOP Paradise tournament as many of the top poker pros in the world made their way to the Bahamas to take part in the tournament. Now GGPoker has confirmed that it will pay out over $400,000 in prize money via the WSOP Paradise Parlay Offer.
GGPoker decided to give away $400,000 via three avenues. Ten players who registered a minimum of 10 cashes across the 2023 WSOP in Las Vegas and WSOP Paradise will get $5,000 each. Three players who made the final table in both tournaments combined will get $25,000 each and 2 players who won bracelets via the two tournaments will get $100,000 each.
Some of the players who won the $25k bonus include big names like Joshua Arieh, Erik Seidel, Daniel Shak and Isaac Haxton. Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu were among the players who claimed the $5,000 bonus.
4Poker is one of the smaller online poker rooms in the market but is making news as we close out 2023. The online poker room which was co-founded by Bryn Kenney scheduled 2 Mystery Bounty events with huge guarantees.
The first Mystery Bounty event offered a $22 buy-in and a prize pool guarantee of $100,000 while the second Mystery Bounty event offered a $270 buy-in and a prize pool guarantee of $1 million. 4Poker has already started running Day1s with the final part of the Mystery Bounty events taking place on Jan 15.
Lukewarm Response To 4Poker MB Events
Bryn Kenney sits at the top of the Hendon’s Mob All Time Money list with over $65 million in career winnings but not everyone know that he is a co-founder at 4Poker. The response for both Mystery Bounty events has been lukewarm so far as the $100,000 event has got 372 registrations out of the 5,000 registrations they need to hit the guaranteed prize pool.
The $1 million event is also struggling as only 219 registrations have come in out of the 4,000 registrations needed to hit the guaranteed prize pool. The way things are going, 4Poker could be facing one of the biggest overlays in 2024.
Online poker lobbyists in the United States have not had as much success as they would have liked in getting online poker legalized in 2023. There are currently only 7 states in the country that have regulated online poker markets.
New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Michigan, West Virginia and Connecticut have legalized online poker and there was talk that New York and Maryland would be next in line but nothing materialized in 2023 for them.
Maryland Could Be Next In Line?
Maryland, New York and Illinois are likely to be the three states once again making a strong push to legalize online poker in 2024. New York seems the least likely of the three states to launch online poker as their legalized betting market went live only in Jan 2022 whereas Illinois sports betting market went live in June 2020.
Maryland currently seems the state most likely to legalize online poker as their a voter poll showed that close to 70 percent of voters were in favour of legalizing online poker. Legislators will need to put that before voters in November 2024 and if voters back online poker legalization, then Maryland could have a legalized online poker market up and running in 2025.
The official dates for the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) are finally out. The festival will run at Paris Las Vegas and Horseshoe on the Las Vegas Strip from May 28 to July 17, 2024, officials have confirmed.
2024 WSOP Main Event Scheduled for July 3 – 17
The official schedule of the 55th WSOP is still being finalized but organizers have confirmed that the $10,000 Main Event, the main highlight of the series, will take place from July 3-17. The tournament will feature four starting flights which are likely to run from July3-6.
The 2023 Main Event created a new record after attracting a mammoth field of 10,043 entries and generating over $93 million in total prize pool. The tournament, which is now the biggest Main Event in the history of the WSOP, was won by Daniel Weinman for $12.1 million.
Breaking Records
Announcing the initial dates of the 2024 WSOP after the successful conclusion of WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas, Ty Stewart, SVP and Executive Director of the WSOP, said they’re once again aiming to shatter records next year and make the 2024 festival the biggest and best poker event in history.