Poker Scratch off! New York lottery winning ticket!
Subscribe to the New York Lottery Best Games to Play Report and you'll be able to immediately access this weeks report as soon as your order is processed. The New York Lottery Best Games to Play reports are published once a week and will be in your member area on Fridays by 10 AM EST. Annual subscribers will also get their report emailed to them by 5 pm EST. 3 month subscriptions are $9.99 1. The New York State Gaming Commission authorized a study of online gambling in August 2019. The research focuses on the feasibility and potential tax revenues of online poker and online casinos. The study is sweeping, including a report on existing land-based casinos and the inclusion of three more New York City-area land-based casinos. Reviews of casinos available to New York residents can be found on our sister sites. Poker is incredibly popular in New York, and with the end of the offshore poker industry in 2011 and the legalization of online poker in New Jersey in 2013, residents of New York are starved for games.
Resorts World Catskillsopened its doors a month ago. That is not going to stop it from celebrating another grand opening though.
On March 5, the New York commercial casino opened its live poker room. The room features 19 tables and 171 seats.
Resorts World poker room features many modern amenities
In addition to the tables, Resorts World Catskills hopes to lure players with a long list of amenities.
Some of the amenities available to players include:
- An in-room cashier
- Food and beverage service to the table
- USB charging stations at each seat
- 13 55″ TVs spread throughout the room
The room offers Hold'em, Omaha, and Stud (upon request). No word yet if there will be any daily tournaments. Right now, the plan appears to be only cash games.
The minimum buy-in for the room is $30. The maximum varies depending on what game a player sits in.
President and CEO of Resorts World Catskills Ryan Eller has high hopes for the new room, per a Resorts World press release:
'We are committed to providing our guests with the region's most extensive, exciting luxury experiences and our new poker room is best in its class and a perfect example of this commitment. We are confident that this poker room, paired with our property's vast array of other offerings and amenities, will solidify Resorts World Catskills as the region's premier casino resort destination.'
Resorts World will have to compete with Rivers Schenectady, Turning Stone
If the Catskills casino wants to compete as a poker destination, it will need to provide the same customer experience as Turning Stone and Rivers Schenectady. These two properties are the current leaders in poker. Turning Stone is the nostalgic stomping ground of some of the biggest successes in the game. Just the other day, reigning WSOP Main Event champion Scott Blumstein Tweeted fondly about his days at the property:
I know its cliche but I really wish I could take a trip back to when I first fell in love with poker. I used to live for the 5 hour trip up to Turning Stone just so I could get to play 1/2 in a casino. A young fan boy who loved the game and the characters it created. #nostalgia
— Scott Blumstein (@SBlum2711) February 22, 2018
Turning Stone's big advantage is the 18 and up age limit. Back in the day, online players would cut their teeth at the tribal casino, as they were too young to play in commercial venues.
However, in the past year, Rivers Schenectady quickly established itself as a major poker contender. The property went big early, with a big-guarantee Memorial Day event. Since then, the casino also leveraged another arm of its parent company, Rush Street, by hosting the TV show Poker Night in America.
Slow start for Catskills casino
Hopefully, the poker room will generate more interest in the new casino. Granted, the property opened a month early with not every detail of the property finished and operational.
Nonetheless, the early revenue numbers are not exactly impressive, per NY Upstate. Compared to Rivers and del Lago, Resorts World had the smallest take for opening two weeks with $8.7 million, compared to $10.3 million and $9.3 million, respectively.
Moreover, in February, the casino lagged behind other properties in a direct revenue comparison:
- Resorts World Catkills: $5.3 million
- Rivers: $6.5 million
- Del Lago: $6.8 million
The hope is once everything is up and running, Resorts World revenue will continue to climb. However, looking at how the other commercial casinos fared in 2017, that hope may be a longshot.
- »Can You Play Legal Online Poker in the USA?
2021 Update: Can I Play Online Poker in New York?
New York is a big, poker-loving state, but they've yet to regulate online poker. There has been a lot of efforts though. There have been almost yearly bills trying to legalize online poker dating back to 2014. They all failed for one reason or another and the current bill, S.18 .
This is a bipartisan bill sponsored by State Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr (D) and co-sponsored by State Sen. Rich Funke (R). The bill would reclassify 'interactive poker games' as games of skill and regulate online poker. The state would license, tax and guarantee minimum standards for sites. The bill was introduced early last year and is still making its rounds in the New York legislature.
Addabbo has also pushed for online sports betting. Sports betting is already allowed in physical casinos in upstate New York, but Addabbo is hoping mobile sports betting could help bring in up to $200 million for the state. This is especially important, Addabbo says, since the coronavirus pandemic has also devastated the state's budget. It doesn't look like there will be action on either of these fronts this year though. It seems unlikely that the state legislature will return before the session is over.
Poker and Gambling Laws in New York
New York has a lot of gambling options for its residents. It depends on where they live though. There aren't a lot of legal options in New York City, but upstate New York has several tribal casinos that have incredibly popular poker rooms. Turning Stone Resorts Casino and Resorts World Catskill are pretty popular poker rooms among players. But aside from tribal casinos, gambling in the rest of the state is regulated by the New York State Constitution.
In Section 225.00(2), the state defines gambling as:
'Staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under person's control, upon an agreement that he/she will receive something of value, given a certain event.'
This is a very broad definition. We see that gambling isn't necessarily limited to wagering money like it is in many states. The inclusion of 'something of value' is broad and includes any type of wagering. The other keyword here is 'chance', which is a common word in gambling definitions. New York goes a bit further to include 'a future contingent not under a person's control'. This broad definition is what makes poker, and several other games, fall under the New York gambling umbrella.
Can I Play Poker on PokerStars in New York?
Nope, but if you're in New York City, you can hop over the bridge and play PokerStars in New Jersey. PokerStars is slowly coming back to the United States. Because of the legal trouble it got into after 2011, some states have been excluding it after regulating online poker. It's a state-by-state decision though and both New Jersey and Pennsylvania agreed to license PokerStars.
Since there's no online poker regulation in New York, there's no PokerStars either. Another thing about PokerStars in the US, is that the player pools are small. So far, New Jersey players can only play with other New Jersey players and the same goes for Pennsylvania. Luckily, there are sites that accept players from all 50 states, including New York.
Sites like Bovada and Ignition Poker have large player pools, sweet bonuses and great tournaments. They're a great PokerStars alternative for poker players in New York. If you want to read more about these sites –and others– check out or reviews and top recommendations below:
Legal Gambling in New York
As we mentioned before New York has a few legal gaming options for residents and some incredibly popular ones too. The state has some of the most popular card rooms in the country and pretty much everything else. The only form of gaming allowed in the United States that's not currently available in New York is online gaming.
New York has popular horse tracks like Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack and Yonkers Raceway. Pari-mutuel betting has been legal in New York since 1939. The New York Lottery has been going on since 1967 and is one of the biggest in the US. In 2019 they had a revenue of $10.3 billion with $3.5 billion going to the Lottery Aid to Education. The state also allows charitable gaming.
New York also has a plethora of casinos. It has racinos, tribal casinos and commercial casinos. In total, the state has about 25 different casinos. They have table games, slots, sports betting and more. Nearly half of those casinos are Native American casinos while the rest are spilt between racinos and commercial casinos. Commercial casinos popped up after 2013 when voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing casinos in the state.
If the Catskills casino wants to compete as a poker destination, it will need to provide the same customer experience as Turning Stone and Rivers Schenectady. These two properties are the current leaders in poker. Turning Stone is the nostalgic stomping ground of some of the biggest successes in the game. Just the other day, reigning WSOP Main Event champion Scott Blumstein Tweeted fondly about his days at the property:
I know its cliche but I really wish I could take a trip back to when I first fell in love with poker. I used to live for the 5 hour trip up to Turning Stone just so I could get to play 1/2 in a casino. A young fan boy who loved the game and the characters it created. #nostalgia
— Scott Blumstein (@SBlum2711) February 22, 2018
Turning Stone's big advantage is the 18 and up age limit. Back in the day, online players would cut their teeth at the tribal casino, as they were too young to play in commercial venues.
However, in the past year, Rivers Schenectady quickly established itself as a major poker contender. The property went big early, with a big-guarantee Memorial Day event. Since then, the casino also leveraged another arm of its parent company, Rush Street, by hosting the TV show Poker Night in America.
Slow start for Catskills casino
Hopefully, the poker room will generate more interest in the new casino. Granted, the property opened a month early with not every detail of the property finished and operational.
Nonetheless, the early revenue numbers are not exactly impressive, per NY Upstate. Compared to Rivers and del Lago, Resorts World had the smallest take for opening two weeks with $8.7 million, compared to $10.3 million and $9.3 million, respectively.
Moreover, in February, the casino lagged behind other properties in a direct revenue comparison:
- Resorts World Catkills: $5.3 million
- Rivers: $6.5 million
- Del Lago: $6.8 million
The hope is once everything is up and running, Resorts World revenue will continue to climb. However, looking at how the other commercial casinos fared in 2017, that hope may be a longshot.
- »Can You Play Legal Online Poker in the USA?
2021 Update: Can I Play Online Poker in New York?
New York is a big, poker-loving state, but they've yet to regulate online poker. There has been a lot of efforts though. There have been almost yearly bills trying to legalize online poker dating back to 2014. They all failed for one reason or another and the current bill, S.18 .
This is a bipartisan bill sponsored by State Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr (D) and co-sponsored by State Sen. Rich Funke (R). The bill would reclassify 'interactive poker games' as games of skill and regulate online poker. The state would license, tax and guarantee minimum standards for sites. The bill was introduced early last year and is still making its rounds in the New York legislature.
Addabbo has also pushed for online sports betting. Sports betting is already allowed in physical casinos in upstate New York, but Addabbo is hoping mobile sports betting could help bring in up to $200 million for the state. This is especially important, Addabbo says, since the coronavirus pandemic has also devastated the state's budget. It doesn't look like there will be action on either of these fronts this year though. It seems unlikely that the state legislature will return before the session is over.
Poker and Gambling Laws in New York
New York has a lot of gambling options for its residents. It depends on where they live though. There aren't a lot of legal options in New York City, but upstate New York has several tribal casinos that have incredibly popular poker rooms. Turning Stone Resorts Casino and Resorts World Catskill are pretty popular poker rooms among players. But aside from tribal casinos, gambling in the rest of the state is regulated by the New York State Constitution.
In Section 225.00(2), the state defines gambling as:
'Staking or risking something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under person's control, upon an agreement that he/she will receive something of value, given a certain event.'
This is a very broad definition. We see that gambling isn't necessarily limited to wagering money like it is in many states. The inclusion of 'something of value' is broad and includes any type of wagering. The other keyword here is 'chance', which is a common word in gambling definitions. New York goes a bit further to include 'a future contingent not under a person's control'. This broad definition is what makes poker, and several other games, fall under the New York gambling umbrella.
Can I Play Poker on PokerStars in New York?
Nope, but if you're in New York City, you can hop over the bridge and play PokerStars in New Jersey. PokerStars is slowly coming back to the United States. Because of the legal trouble it got into after 2011, some states have been excluding it after regulating online poker. It's a state-by-state decision though and both New Jersey and Pennsylvania agreed to license PokerStars.
Since there's no online poker regulation in New York, there's no PokerStars either. Another thing about PokerStars in the US, is that the player pools are small. So far, New Jersey players can only play with other New Jersey players and the same goes for Pennsylvania. Luckily, there are sites that accept players from all 50 states, including New York.
Sites like Bovada and Ignition Poker have large player pools, sweet bonuses and great tournaments. They're a great PokerStars alternative for poker players in New York. If you want to read more about these sites –and others– check out or reviews and top recommendations below:
Legal Gambling in New York
As we mentioned before New York has a few legal gaming options for residents and some incredibly popular ones too. The state has some of the most popular card rooms in the country and pretty much everything else. The only form of gaming allowed in the United States that's not currently available in New York is online gaming.
New York has popular horse tracks like Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack and Yonkers Raceway. Pari-mutuel betting has been legal in New York since 1939. The New York Lottery has been going on since 1967 and is one of the biggest in the US. In 2019 they had a revenue of $10.3 billion with $3.5 billion going to the Lottery Aid to Education. The state also allows charitable gaming.
New York also has a plethora of casinos. It has racinos, tribal casinos and commercial casinos. In total, the state has about 25 different casinos. They have table games, slots, sports betting and more. Nearly half of those casinos are Native American casinos while the rest are spilt between racinos and commercial casinos. Commercial casinos popped up after 2013 when voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing casinos in the state.
Other States
Hold Em Poker Game
Alabama – Alaska – Arizona – Arkansas – California – Colorado – Connecticut – Florida – Georgia – Hawaii – Idaho – Illinois – Indiana – Iowa – Kansas – Kentucky – Louisiana – Maine – Maryland – Massachusetts – Michigan – Minnesota – Mississippi – Missouri – Montana – Nebraska – New Hampshire – New Mexico – New York – North Carolina – North Dakota – Ohio – Oklahoma – Oregon – Pennsylvania – Rhode Island – South Carolina – Tennessee – Texas – Utah – Vermont – Virginia – Washington – West Virginia – Wisconsin – Wyoming