New York Online Poker Legal
- The act of playing online poker in the state of New York is legal at the federal level. On the state level, it is not considered legal or illegal but rather something that falls into a gray-area. You can argue for, or against online poker all you want but unless you've got some evidence, everything is hypothetical.
- If online poker were to become legal, the New York State Gaming Commission would be the governing body drafting regulations, issuing licenses and overseeing the integrity of online poker in New York. What are sweepstakes poker sites?
New York To Join The Poker Party. January 14, 2018 — The game of online poker in the United States hangs in the balance in certain ways based on what New York State decides to do. People in the United States have been playing online poker legal or oth. Online poker in New York carries no penalties or risks of legal persecution for individual players. New York has had a very long and tenuous relationship with online poker. There is one simple rule to live by when it comes to online poker and the law in New York: It’s that in the absence of legislation making it legal to operate an online poker site, online poker is against the law. However, most agree that legislation is as close to passing New York online poker as it has ever been.
- »Is Online Poker Legal in the USA?
2020 Update: Can I Play Online Poker in New York?
New York is a big, poker-loving state, but they’ve yet to regulate online poker. There has been a lot of efforts though. There have been almost yearly bills trying to legalize online poker dating back to 2014. They all failed for one reason or another and the current bill, S.18 .
This is a bipartisan bill sponsored by State Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr (D) and co-sponsored by State Sen. Rich Funke (R). The bill would reclassify “interactive poker games” as games of skill and regulate online poker. The state would license, tax and guarantee minimum standards for sites. The bill was introduced early last year and is still making its rounds in the New York legislature.
Addabbo has also pushed for online sports betting. Sports betting is already allowed in physical casinos in upstate New York, but Addabbo is hoping mobile sports betting could help bring in up to $200 million for the state. This is especially important, Addabbo says, since the coronavirus pandemic has also devastated the state’s budget. It doesn’t look like there will be action on either of these fronts this year though. It seems unlikely that the state legislature will return before the session is over.
Poker and Gambling Laws in New York
New York has a lot of gambling options for its residents. It depends on where they live though. There aren’t a lot of legal options in New York City, but upstate New York has several tribal casinos that have incredibly popular poker rooms. Turning Stone Resorts Casino and Resorts World Catskill are pretty popular poker rooms among players. But aside from tribal casinos, gambling in the rest of the state is regulated by the New York State Constitution.
In Section 225.00(2), the state defines gambling as:
“Staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under person’s control, upon an agreement that he/she will receive something of value, given a certain event.”
This is a very broad definition. We see that gambling isn’t necessarily limited to wagering money like it is in many states. The inclusion of “something of value” is broad and includes any type of wagering. The other keyword here is “chance”, which is a common word in gambling definitions. New York goes a bit further to include “a future contingent not under a person’s control”. This broad definition is what makes poker, and several other games, fall under the New York gambling umbrella.
Can I Play Poker on PokerStars in New York?
Nope, but if you’re in New York City, you can hop over the bridge and play PokerStars in New Jersey. PokerStars is slowly coming back to the United States. Because of the legal trouble it got into after 2011, some states have been excluding it after regulating online poker. It’s a state-by-state decision though and both New Jersey and Pennsylvania agreed to license PokerStars.
Since there’s no online poker regulation in New York, there’s no PokerStars either. Another thing about PokerStars in the US, is that the player pools are small. So far, New Jersey players can only play with other New Jersey players and the same goes for Pennsylvania. Luckily, there are sites that accept players from all 50 states, including New York.
Sites like Bovada and Ignition Poker have large player pools, sweet bonuses and great tournaments. They’re a great PokerStars alternative for poker players in New York. If you want to read more about these sites –and others– check out or reviews and top recommendations below:
Legal Gambling in New York
As we mentioned before New York has a few legal gaming options for residents and some incredibly popular ones too. The state has some of the most popular card rooms in the country and pretty much everything else. The only form of gaming allowed in the United States that’s not currently available in New York is online gaming.
New York has popular horse tracks like Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack and Yonkers Raceway. Pari-mutuel betting has been legal in New York since 1939. The New York Lottery has been going on since 1967 and is one of the biggest in the US. In 2019 they had a revenue of $10.3 billion with $3.5 billion going to the Lottery Aid to Education. The state also allows charitable gaming.
New York also has a plethora of casinos. It has racinos, tribal casinos and commercial casinos. In total, the state has about 25 different casinos. They have table games, slots, sports betting and more. Nearly half of those casinos are Native American casinos while the rest are spilt between racinos and commercial casinos. Commercial casinos popped up after 2013 when voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing casinos in the state.
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[toc]Online poker in New York sits in the same legal limbo it does in most states. There are those that will tell you the act of playing poker online isn’t against the law. However, these same people will have to admit operating an online poker site inside the state’s borders is a crime.
In fact, there aren’t many willing to test local law enforcement’s resolve on this point right now. Of course, they will also tell you federal law prevents financial institutions and payment processors from helping you get money on and off the many offshore online gambling operations. However, nobody is currently being prosecuted for playing the game.
Download these online poker apps in NY and bet in NJ
Legal gambling in New York
Others will tell you gambling of any kind is illegal in New York. That is, unless you’re doing it at a licensed and regulated operation. Those are Native American casinos,racetracks authorized to host slot-machine style video lottery gaming machines, or one of four new commercial casinos recently licensed to do business across the state.
Some think poker is a skill game, and the law should not apply. However, New York gambling laws include a clause that expressly states games of chance where skill may also be a factor are still illegal.
There is one simple rule to live by when it comes to online poker and the law in New York:
It’s that in the absence of legislation making it legal to operate an online poker site, online poker is against the law.
However, most agree that legislation is as close to passingNew York online poker as it has ever been.
The current legal situation for online poker in New York
Section 225.00 of the New York Penal Code clearly states a person engages in gambling when that person stakes or risks something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance. It says any contest, game, gaming scheme or device in which the outcome depends on chance, even if the skill of the player may also be a factor, should be considered a game of chance.
Ultimately, it also says any activity similar to this is illegal. The exception is if you’re playing the the state lottery or gambling at a licensed facility. Those include horse racing and pari-mutual wagering operations, Class III Indian Gaming facilities, authorized video lottery terminal operators, or any operator licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission. It also now includes one of four licensed commercial casino operations Upstate.
You can still play poker in New York
Poker is a popular game in New York. A number of Native American casinos host live poker rooms. Moreover, three of four new commercial casinos that recently opened in the state offer poker. In fact, these poker rooms have already proven to be the among the busiest aspects of these new casinos, like Rivers Schenectady.
When it comes to online poker, a large percentage of the population lives within a couple hours drive from New Jersey. There it is legal to play, even for visitors.
Plus, there are any number of offshore online poker sites willing to accept players from the US. Of course, it is difficult to get money on and off these sites. However, it is not impossible. In fact, these operations are regularly filled with players from New York state.
Lawmakers in the state have been considering legalizing and regulating online poker in New York over the past couple of years. In part, they say, to protect New Yorkers from the offshore websites operating with no regulation, fraud controls, or age restrictions.
Online poker’s chances in NY?
Online poker legislation ends up on the floor of the legislature every year since 2014. At first, this legislation was just a discussion starter. However, in 2016 a bill passed through the Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee. It marked the first time online poker legislation pushed past the introduction stage.
Online Poker Legal In New York
The NY Senate passed the bill by a vote of 53-5. It was the first time any chamber of the New York legislature passed an online poker bill. However, the 2016 legislative session ended in June without any action from the State Assembly.
New York Online Poker Legislation
The Senate passed similar legislation by a vote of 54-8 in June 2017. From there, online poker legislation looked like a good bet to go beyond where it had gone a year earlier. However, it died in the Assembly’s Racing, Wagering and Gaming Committee. Regardless, there is renewed hope for 2018
In fact, New York adopted a carry-over policy for bills in a legislative term. Thatmeans the online poker legislation will not have to start from the beginning again. For the Assembly, this means the bill will start the year in the Codes Committee, with hopes it can pass through there to Ways and Means, and then Rules, before going to the Assembly floor. The Senate will have to vote on and pass the bill again, but at least it will not have to go through the committee stage.
New York Online Gambling Laws
Ultimately, this means New York lawmakers could get an early start on online poker legislation in 2018, increasing the chances it passes.