It has been three years since Black Friday forced the three largest poker sites out of the U.S. market. It has only been a two months since Full Tilt Poker players got paid thanks to a PokerStars bailout. Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet players will likely never get paid. While it is no consolation to players that lost money, Black Friday had to happen to get regulated online poker to the U.S.
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U.S. gaming companies became interested in the market. There was a major roadblock. The existing sites were certain to retain a significant portion of the U.S.-facing business. There would be little motivation for players to leave the tens of thousands of tables at offshore sites at any given to play at an intrastate one. The fact that players in regulated states still choose offshore sites that are 10 percent the size of PokerStars over licensed sites demonstrates this.
Gaming companies were less inclined to invest in a product that was saturated by dominant market performers. That is not an issue now. These licensed companies are now creating jobs in the U.S. and paying state and federal taxes.
Two of the three companies that were involved in Black Friday were grossly underfunded. Black Friday exposed the lack of liquidity at these sites that was unlikely to improve. The indictments brought those issues to the surface faster than they would have on their own. Had Black Friday never happened, Full Tilt may have imploded without PokerStars coming to the rescue. That would have been even more devastating to the industry.
Something Had to Give
Most players were satisfied with the status quo of online poker before Black Friday. As long as the two largest poker sites in the world were available, nothing else mattered. The problem was that moving massive amounts of cash was becoming problematic for Full Tilt. The entire processing environment was becoming difficult. Processing fees for U.S. payments were running as high as 35 percent, according to an interview with Absolute Poker’s Brent Beckley. That was an unsustainable level.
Blue Monday occurred six weeks after Black Friday and was unrelated. That bust included UseMyWallet, an ewallet used by Full Tilt and Absolute Poker and may have created the same situation Black Friday did in terms of liquidity. The threat of seizures by the federal government was also a potential problem long before the sites were indicted.
The fact is that the cat and mouse game of U.S. payment processing was not going to end well. The cost of doing business with American online poker players, at least at that volume, was becoming prohibitive. The only way to resolve this was to regulate it. The industry could not move forward without going backwards first.
Regulated Market May Have Looked Different
There were two partnerships that were agreed to in the months prior to Black Friday. Wynn/PokerStars and Fertitta Interactive (owner of Ultimate Gaming)/Full Tilt Poker announced partnerships should online poker become legal in the U.S. Both of these deals were made public in the weeks prior to Black Friday. These deals show how different the attitude towards offshore online poker sites was before the indictments were unsealed.
These partnerships would have created a much different U.S. market, assuming PokerStars and Full Tilt were deemed suitable by regulators. The sites would likely have been be ring-fenced, much like the regulated ones are today, but the brands were powerhouses in the market and continue to be to this day, three years after being forced to leave.
An Overview Of The Gambling Laws In New York State
New York is often thought of as a strictly anti-gambling State. They drove the internet gambling crack-down known as ‘Black Friday’ in 2011 and were instrumental in clarifying the scope of the Wire Act. Nowadays, things are swinging towards the progressive side, with an act to authorize commercial casinos in addition to the tribal ones, and more liberal horse racing betting laws than many States. This article takes you through all you need to know about the gambling laws in New York State.
First of all below, we go back in time and begin a quick-fire history of gambling laws in New York State that takes us right up to the present day. After that I have gone through the different types of gambling one-by-one, explaining the legality of each. Next things go to the more detailed level, with excerpts from the current laws and a legal timeline too. At the end of this page you will find a summary and a look at possible future scenarios.
New York State Gambling Laws – A Brief History
This State are pioneers in the world of gambling – unfortunately not in a positive way, as they were the first to constitutionally ban it! After the 1821 ban there were further bans in 1864 and 1894, which heralded the start of the prohibition era that lasted until the end of the 1930s. Gambling still took place on a massive scale during this era, controlled in underground casinos by the ‘families’ who made up the Mob.
The first legal gambling in New York State was horse racing. In line with many other States this was based on pari-mutuel (or pooled) betting systems, and only permitted on the track. Since then the racing tracks have been allowed to use Simulcast systems (which show races from other tracks around the US) and have gaming machines for their customers – making them into ‘racinos’. These are now popular entertainment venues.
Things developed slowly from here, with Bingo games going legal in 1957, a lottery in 1966 and then charity gaming following in 1970.
The breakthrough for casino and poker fans came much later, when casinos on tribal lands were allowed to operate the top-tier ‘class 3’ games which include slots and table games. This led to a boom in casino building by the Indian tribes, and gives New Yorkers the wide choice of casino and poker rooms they know today. The tribal casinos will soon be joined by commercial ones. In 2013, legislation based on Economic development for the upstate area was passed that will enable several new casinos to open.
One interesting aspect of New York State’s gambling laws is that players in any form of game are not the target for criminal sanctions. While this State is very hard on organizers of illegal gambling, players – including in poker home-games – are not the targets.
What Forms Of Gambling Are Currently Legal?
Casino Gambling: Yes, you can enjoy casino games at several Tribal casinos in this State. More recently a bill for licensing commercial casinos in upstate New York was passed, with the first licenses expected during 2014.
Online Casinos: No, there is nothing explicit on the statues concerning internet gambling, however New York drove the 2011 Black Friday clampdown of online gambling sites through their courts. This is a clear indication that this State believes that internet gambling is illegal based on their existing laws and the Federal codes.
Live Poker: Yes, you can enjoy live poker games in Tribal casinos. Social poker games have an explicit carve-out too under State law. As long as nobody is making a profit from the game, and it is played on equal terms, then it is expressly not considered illegal.
Online Poker: No, as with online casinos it is considered illegal to operate online poker games. Note that this State does not criminalize players of gambling games – so there is nothing to stop you from participating.
Sports Betting: Yes, Pari-Mutuel betting is allowed in this State, including remotely, you can also enjoy Simulcasts of races. Racetracks are allowed certain types of lottery / bingo like gaming machines – making them into ‘racinos’.
Lottery Betting: Yes, New York has a lottery and offers the inter-State games too.
Bingo Games: Yes, Bingo and raffle type games fall under the Charity Gaming carve out (though games need to be individually approved). There are no provisions for charity poker games.
New York State Gambling Laws – Timeline Of Key Statutes
Other than tribal casinos and limited gambling opportunities at racetracks, New York has not historically been a gambling-friendly place. Add to this their involvement in ‘Black Friday’ (the internet gambling crackdown) and you might get the impression that a trip to a neighboring State could be required. However, there are some signs of progress, especially a new bill for licensing State casinos in the underdeveloped up-State areas – which shows things are moving in the direction of liberalization rather than prohibition here.
The statute books have broad definitions of both gambling and games of chance – designed to catch all of the forms of gambling in one sweeping catch-all definition. For poker fans, the game of skill argument is not going to help you in this State. One silver lining is that simply playing in a game is exempted from criminal sanctions here, New York prefer to go after the profiteers, organizers and promoters of gambling games.
Here are the key passages, firstly the contest of chance rules:
“1. “Contest of chance” means any contest, game, gaming scheme or gaming device in which the outcome depends in a material degree upon an element of chance, notwithstanding that skill of the contestants may also be a factor therein. “ (From: Sec 225.00 Gambling offenses; definitions of terms)And the broader ‘Gambling’ definition: “2. “Gambling” A person engages in gambling when he stakes or risks something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under his control or influence, upon an agreement or understanding that he will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome. “
Here are the key dates in the New York gambling legislation timeline:
1821: An amendment to the 2nd constitution of New York contains its first recorded ban on gambling.
1864: Lotteries that were prevalent at this time were banned (these were more like the raffles we know today). 30 years later, in 1894, all other forms of gambling were also banned in line with many other States this was the start of the puritanical ‘prohibition era’.
1939: Pari-Mutuel betting was legalized for the first time.
1957: Bingo games for charity were legalized.
1966: New York’s State lottery was legalized.
1973: Oversight board for horse racing was created, called the ‘State Racing And Wagering Board’.
1993: Indian Reservation Casinos legalized, with the Oneida Tribe opening their doors that same year. This followed the 1988 Federal ‘Indian Gaming Regulation Act’. Many more casinos would open their doors over the next 20 years.
2011: The courts in the Southern District of New York launched a clamp-down on online gambling sites which is known as ‘Black Friday’. This cited Federal Laws (the UIGEA) rather than State ones. However, if residents of this State were in any doubt about their government’s stance on online gambling, this clarified things.
2013: Amendment passed to license Non-tribal (commercial) casinos, this is part of a development plan for up-State New York.
New York State Gambling Laws – Summary + Look To The Future
As long as you are not the organizer of a for-profit unlicensed gambling operation in New York State, you are not breaking the law. There are plenty of licensed tribal casinos and racinos to choose from, and opportunities to enjoy bingo and charity gaming too. The recent legalization of commercial casinos is an encouraging sign for New York residents – that the old laws in this area are starting be replaced with progressive new legislation.
Whether New York will enter any regulated online gambling markets is difficult to say. On one hand they have made their gambling laws more liberal recently. On the other hand they did lead the crack-down against what they perceived as illegal online gambling in 2011.
Useful Resources:
Gambling Laws US
Statutes
Online Poker After Black Friday Deals
History
After Black Friday Sales
Gambling Expansion Approved