The current federal law which roots back in 1992 is considered unconstitutional by many.

Republican State Senator John Bonacic introduced a new measure that would allow the four non-tribal casinos of the state, to offer sport betting both online and live.
The proposal would legalize many forms of sports betting, with the likes of single-game bets, over-under bets, exchange wagering, parlays, teaser bets, in-game wagering, in-play bets and proposition bets.

Apparently, regulating sports betting is a higher priority than online poker, in New York. The key players in the industry have been urging the authorities for several years now, to hurry up the process.

“New York State has historically been behind the curve in dealing with developments in the gaming world, and it has been to our detriment,” – said Boncacic, pointing out that the U.S Supreme Court is currently relying on a 1992 federal law, which banned sports betting in all states, except for – you guessed it – Nevada. Many of the critics believe this is unconstitutional.

Americans bet an estimated $150 billion each year, mainly through illegal channels, which also indicates the urgency of changing the regulations.
Another good motive for the state would be the growth of tax incomes, as Bonicic would suggest an extra 8.5% for the operators to pay.

“If allowed, sports betting will be a revenue enhancer for education in New York,” – stated the Senator. “We have the chance to ensure our sports betting statute is fully developed and addresses the needs of the state and all stakeholders so we can hit the ground running if and when we can authorize and regulate sports betting.”

Other parts of the world are much more free than the Land of Freedom when it comes to online sports betting. The revenues of the industry have been rising in the past 10 years, reaching more than $90 billion last year.

There are many people, who make their living as professional sports bettors and countless sites, where players with less experience can follow the experts, such as Logibet.com, which introduced a unique index (the Logibet-index) which makes it easier for the beginners to pick a Tipster or Topsters.com which ranks the pro Tipsters across the biggest sites.

Neighboring state, New Jersey was the first one to legalize online poker and they’re expected to act quicker in the case of sports betting also.

We can only hope that the positive moves towards a legalizes online sports betting the market would affect the current state of online poker as well.