New York State Moves One Step Closer to Legalized Online Casino Gambling, But It Won’t Be Happening This Year
NY online casino gambling was excluded from this year’s state budget. However, Senator Joseph Addabbo, a high-profile supporter of online betting in the state, said he would work hard to achieve its inclusion in next year’s budget.
If the State of New York is to become the next jurisdiction to permit online casino gambling in the USA, it won’t be happening in 2022. Representatives in the nation’s fourth most populous state scheduled a meeting to discuss online casino betting. They have a view to potentially regulating and legalising online casino gaming. The discussion was about the specifics of a new bill introduced by Representative J. Gary Pretlow. The bill would permit online poker rooms and game tables, as well as digital slot machines in the state.
A Developing Situation in NY Online Gambling
Online casino betting providers across the USA and beyond will be watching this issue unfold very carefully. This is because New York represents a huge opportunity for providers who are seeking to outpace their rivals. New York is the top four most populated states in the USA. It is also one of the cultural epicenters, welcoming huge numbers of domestic and international tourists each year.
In 2021, New York was also the eighth-ranked state in the union in terms of disposable income. This could make regulated and sustainable gambling a huge success in the state. For online casino gambling providers, New York could be a very lucrative market indeed.
Resistance to the Bill
Despite this optimism, online gambling in the state still has some way to go before authorities regulate and legalise it. This is partly because of the special taxation terms put forward by Rep. Pretlow as part of his proposal. While physical, in-person gambling in the Empire State is responsible for paying tax at 51%, the representative suggested a preferential tax rate of 25% on online casino gambling in a bid to encourage increased participation and take-up among providers. As predicted, this led to uncertainty among legislators and may have contributed to the delay in the bill’s inclusion.
There are other potential avenues for advocates of online casino gambling this year — they could introduce a standalone bill, for example, at a later date in 2022. However, many thinks that it is unlikely. Instead, online casino betting customers in New York will need to wait until 2023 to enjoy legal and regulated products in their home state.
New York’s legislators may want to cast their eyes across the border to New Jersey. The Garden State, a physical and cultural neighbour of New York, has a long history of benefiting from gambling revenues and was one of the first American states to permit online casino gambling almost a decade ago. If New York chooses to follow New Jersey’s lead, this would not be the first time the Empire State has looked to its neighbour for guidance on such an issue.
Until that time, you can go ahead and place bets in legal and secure online casinos in the United States as it is not illegal to gamble in offshore online casinos from the USA.
