New York State was close to passing a bill to legalize online poker in 2016. We're on to 2017 and we need to do what we can to get the bill to pass this year. It starts with a hearing next week January 17th. Mark it on your calendar and contact your local representatives to tell them you want legal online poker.

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?sh=he

https://www.cardschat.com/news/new-y...ind-push-37735

Which state will be next to legalize online poker? PA or NY???

If either of the two states regulate online poker this year (and it is still in doubt whether either of them will), it will likely be PA.

There is a legal challenge going on to the legislation passed last year in NY to regulate DFS. Opponents claim it is an expansion of gambling that can only be approved by a statewide ballot.

DFS legislators (including Pretlow) circumnavigated the constitutional requirement for a ballot by classifying DFS as being "predominantly" skill-based - the same language being used in the poker regulation proposals.

My opinion is that lawmakers in NY will wait until the conclusion of the court case to move forward with similar legislation for online poker. If I am wrong - and NY passes legislation regulating online poker - some operators may be apprehensive about ponying up $10 million if the legislation might be repealed.

Source of info - http://www.legalsportsreport.com/117...k-dfs-lawsuit/

What kind of odds would the PPA and others on here give NY for 2017?

Emailed my NY assemblyman and thinking of exercising my 1st amendment right via politely visiting his local office too. "Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness" we should all carve out the time for.

ONE TIME, ONE TIME!!

The NY Racing and Gaming Committee voted on Bonacic's online poker bill today and was unanimously passed. Now it's on to the Finance Department.

Looking back to last year, this happened on February 2nd 2016 and wasn't held for a vote at the Senate until June. Hopefully things will moved more quickly this time around since it seems everyone in the Senate is on board. It's the Assembly that needs convincing. Overall chances looks good for this bill to pass.

I sent my message again through the form on the NY assembly site too. Prior, I sent it only through my email. Also, I still plan on paying a visit (polite and respectful of course) in the very near future to his local district office too.

Is this a priority for the PPA?

Take Action here: http://www.playny.com/new-york-online-poker/

Where is the PPA in this thread? Isn't this, along with CA, the most important thing they can be involved in right now?

The PPA has been, and will continue, to do everything it can to help advance the NY poker bill. As you can see, things are looking pretty favorable right now. It is also, however, early in the legislative year.

As for the PPA in this thread, Rich and I have moved a lot of our efforts into other social media and accordingly are not spending as much time on 2+2 as we used to. But Rich still posts the daily action plan here every day. If you have ever a direct question for one of us, feel free to PM.

Otherwise you can be sure that PPA will keep you updated on this bill. It is quite possible that poker bills may pass in both NY and PA this year. Michigan is also a good bet. California is important too, but at this point there is nothing to suggest that anything has changed with regard to the historical stalemate in CA, so there is less reason to be hopeful there.

If the bills pass in NY and PA, that will generate a lot of interest nationwide. And smaller states and pooling of players will become important issues. So long as we can hold off a Federal effort to stop us, I am quite optimistic for the prospects of expanded online poker this year!

Skallagrim

Thanks a lot for the reply. I hope you can understand my confusion not seeing the PPA all over this on 2+2 but I do realize that 2+2's traffic, especially the legislative forum, has likely plummeted these last few years.

2+2 is where both Rich and I started our advocacy for Poker. in fact it was through our contacts and advocacy on this forum that we were able to move our efforts to the PPA. We will always be on 2+2, especially as Mason is a great ally. But we see that these days we also need to be on twitter and facebook and countless other social media outlets to really keep the message out there. 2+2 will always be part of the foundation of our communication efforts, however. We just might not be as fast with the replies as we used to be since we are now covering a lot more ground.

Skallagrim

PPA Take Action Page: https://theppa.org/take-action/?vvsr...0299%2frespond