New York State Senator John Bonacic (R-42) has introduced a bill that would bring regulated online poker to the Empire State. Full text of the bill (S 5302) is available here. You can track the bill’s progress here. This marks the second consecutive year that Bonacic has introduced online poker legislation. HIs attempt in 2014 – matched by companion legislation in the Assembly –  failed to move beyond committee. The bill is largely similar to the one introduced by Bonacic in 2014. One key difference: this version lacks a so-called “bad actor clause” that would preclude companies, individuals or assets involved in…

Star Gazette – That hopeful moment in a bingo game when you are just one number away from winning is called the waiting. Rosa Pipher, of Endicott, was waiting on G-50. The number glowed on the video monitor at the Endicott Elks Lodge 1977 weekly Monday night game. She was just three syllables away from calling out bingo and collecting her winnings. “Bingo!” a woman’s voice calls out behind Pipher, apparently winning on the number before G-50. Pipher is not the only one to groan among the dozens of players, their bingo cards taped together for maximum ink-stamping efficiency. “Bingo…

Biz Journals – The latest ruling in the ongoing battle of the legality of a casino in downtown Buffalo was made but resolution of the eight-year-old case doesn’t seem any closer. A motion made by the National Indian Gaming Commission to intervene and be a party to the lawsuit by Citizens Against Casino Gambling in Erie County was denied May 28 by the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. The commission, however, was granted the ability to file amicus curiae brief, which can be presented by an entity interested in influencing the outcome of a lawsuit but who is not…

One of the most recognizable names in horse racing is joining the field in New York’s sprint into big-time gambling. The company that owns Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, is teaming up with a track to pursue a full-fledged casino just outside the state capital. The project is one of nearly two dozen coming into focus as the state moves to issue up to four casino licenses. Final bids are due on June 30, with a decision on locations expected in the fall. On Monday, a state gambling panel assigned to choose casino locations said that bidders in…

Poker News – Another online poker bill has been introduced in New York. Five weeks after Republican State Sen. John Bonacic introduced S 6913, a bill that would allow certain interactive poker games, to the New York Senate, State Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow (D-Mt. Vernon) has introduced A09509 in the state assembly. The purpose of the bill, which is strikingly similar to its Senate counterpart, is “to authorize the New York State Gaming Commission to license certain entities to offer for play to the public certain variants of internet poker which require a significant degree of skill, specifically ‘Omaha Hold’em’…

Gaming Intelligence – A New York art gallery owner has been sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $6.4m in connection with his leadership role in the operation of a high stakes illegal online sports gambling business. Two other men were also sentenced yesterday to five years in prison for participating in a racketeering conspiracy related to the same case. Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said that Hillel Nahmad was sentenced yesterday by District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan federal court to one year and one day in…