A New York State Senate bill that would ban all forms of sweeps-based online gambling, including online poker, has passed its first committee bill on a unanimous vote. Senate Bill 5935 (S5935) was approved on a 6-0 tally by the Senate's Racing, Gaming, and Wagering Committee on Wednesday. A seventh committee member also voted 'aye' but 'with reservation', thus continuing the bill's unanimous approval.
S5935, which has long-time online gambling and online poker supporter Sen. Joseph Addabbo as its primary sponsor, now returns to the full State Senate floor for further consideration and a possible vote.
The New York Assembly's companion measure, Assembly Bill 6745 (A6745), has yet to receive a similar vote. That bill is sponsored by State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner. Both bills were introduced in early March.
New York joins anti-sweeps legislative parade
The twin bills' introduction and S5935's early passage cement New York among a growing list of US states taking legislative or prosecutorial steps to combat the growing presence of the sweepstakes-based online gambling sites. These sites employ a dual-currency system of play-money and prize-exchangable 'sweeps' coins to operate, in an attempt to skirt around the consideration, meaning something of value, aspect of the traditional three-pronged definition of gambling as found throughout the US for centuries.
Many sweeps-based online sites are provided by offshore operators, and their legality has yet to be fully tested in an American court case. Instead, numerous sweeps operators have pulled their services from individual states under threat of prosecution. Some US states, such as New York, Florida, and New Jersey, have also introduced sweeps-banning bills to remove any ambiguity in the laws' intent.
The new New York anti-sweeps measure bares its teeth through the promise of hefty financial penalties, beginning at $10,000 and potentially up to $100,000 per offense, which could also be construed as applying to each customer in New York as a separate and fineable instance. The bill also bars supporting software and hardware providers from assisting sweeps-based online sites from providing their services to New York residents.
Regarding online poker, S5935, if passed, would strike directly at Global Poker, which is owned and operated by Australia-based Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW). A legislative ban in New York would also likely impact the WPT's new sweeps-based offering, ClubWPT Gold.
