A key senator in New York said that a daily fantasy sports bill trails online poker legislation in its chances of becoming law before a looming deadline. Sen. John Bonacic, the chair of the Racing, Gaming, and Wagering committee, did an interview with Time Warner Cable News on Monday. In it, he spoke at length about two different gaming bills in front of the legislature. When asked whether a bill regulating online poker or a bill regulating DFS — both authored by him — had a better shot at becoming law, he said “online poker” without hesitation. You can see…

On Thursday morning, the New York Senate Finance Committee quickly passed Senator John Bonacic’s online poker legalization bill, S5302. The bill will now head to the Senate floor for future consideration. Momentum of any kind is certainly welcome. But based on the comments of a key figure in the New York Assembly, as well as the lack of public hearings on the topic, online poker legalization in the Empire State appears to be a long shot. In a column at LegalSportsReport.com, Dustin Gouker reported Assemblyman Gary Pretlow was “pessimistic” when it comes to online poker this session. And Pretlow would…

Former Full Tilt Poker executive Howard Lederer issued an apology for the events that led to the poker site failing to have funds on hand to pay all its players in the wake of 2011’s Black Friday. Lederer, in part, said “I take full responsibility for Full Tilt’s failure to protect player deposits leading up to Black Friday.” In the wake of its domain being seized by the U.S. Department of Justice in April of 2011, Full Tilt was not able to refund all account balances because of a failure to segregate operational and player funds. PokerStars went on to…

At the Friday May 13 meeting of the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee, Governor Brian Sandoval said that he was willing to sign an interstate compact to share online poker liquidity with New Jersey immediately. “I’m ready to go,” said the governor, adding, “It’s a win-win for both states.” The governor was immediately backed by A.G. Burnett, the chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Burnett said that he was “ready, willing and able” to sign an interstate agreement with New Jersey. The Policy Committee was clearly unsure as to why New Jersey was not equally enthusiastic. The committee told the…

The final days for Full Tilt poker are officially upon us. After announcing back in February that Full Tilt would be “pooled together” with fellow Amaya Gaming online brand PokerStars.com into one product, the company announced last week that May 17 will be the official date. The Full Tilt communications team stated that Full Tilt players would be e-mailed directly regarding personal information on how the merge will affect them specifically, “which depends on a variety of factors, including their jurisdiction and the status of their PokerStars account (if any).” The statement went on to say that, “in many cases,…

The California horse racing industry has come out in official support of online poker bill AB 2863 in advance of next week’s hearing in the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee. PokerNews.com has obtained a copy of the letter that nine industry leaders sent to Assemblyman Adam Gray, chair of the committee and co-lead sponsor of the bill. In the letter, the industry expressed support for the bill with a few reasonable caveats: The $60 million annual payment to horse racing is not changed. Assemblyman Gray told PokerNews last month that the figure was not up for negotiation. Tax rate and licensing…