Sunday, November 2, 2014

School Essay: Gambling Laws for the State of New York



Leslie Penny
Module 2-Research Assignment 2
Gambling Laws for the State of New York
               The following essay covers information found in a research assignment regarding a particular state and its laws for gambling.  That particular state is New York and the following questions will be answered: if the state permits lotteries, horse racing, casino gambling, online wagering, are the state's policies cohesive, and should gambling contracts be enforceable.  Upon thorough research, the answers to the aforementioned questions are explained below.
            New York state does permit lotteries.  However, there are rules and regulations governing sale, use and winnings of all lotteries sponsored by the state.  According to New York Codes, Rules and Regulations Title 21 Chapter XLIV, New York State division of the lottery, the New York lottery is commonly known and cited as the "New York State Lottery for Education Law"  (http://nylottery.ny.gov/wps/wcm/connect/ff6d4b8044bf34748ebb8e3b1ada7a32/RulesRegsMasterTrad+1.17.12.pdf?MOD=AJPERES), and all rules and regulations fall under article 34 of the Tax Law.  The provisions listed on the cited website are too many to list in this essay and very extensive ranging from lottery sale agents to the many different lotteries New York allows. 
            New York does allow horse racing which includes guidelines for licensing, thoroughbred racing, off-track betting and harness racing.  All rules are incorporated by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board which "consists of three members" who are "appointed by the Governor with the consent of the New York State Senate, for six year terms" (http://www.racing.ny.gov/about.php).  The mission for the Racing and Wagering board are to make certain "that New York State's legalized pari-mutuel operations, charitable gaming activities and class III Indian Gaming facilities operate with integrity, and are in full compliance with New York's statutes, the Board's rules, and the tribal-State class III gaming compacts" (http://www.racing.ny.gov/mission.php). 
            The above mission statement leads me into the next topic of Casino gambling.  This is legal in the state of New York solely for Casino's that are on Indian land and are not under State law unless a federal law places it under State law (http://www.racing.ny.gov/indianFAQ.php).  However, I came across this article dated for last year basically stating that Las Vegas-style casinos could very well be approved for the state of New York therefore making those casinos legal that of which are not on Indian land (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/top_pols_ok_boosts_odds_for_ny_casinos_pM7a8ZucfHoW7l0HFn1qBN).  Time will tell on this matter. 
            Lastly, is online wagering permissible in the state of New York?  This article supplied somewhat of an answer to that question, (http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/01/justice_department_ruling_allo.html).  The article states that New York state law allows the state lottery to sell tickets online but whether it allows instant online games is unclear.  From the information this writer gleaned from the article, online wagering is not legal....yet.  It seems some politicians would like to see other states legalize online gambling first and see how that unfolds before they will make that step.  With that being said, this one was a tough question to answer.  Many of the articles were contradictory saying its legal as long as the site host has a gambling license but online gambling license weren't being given out to any of the states while other articles said differently.  However, this website (http://www.legalgamblingusa.com/states/new-york-online-gambling.html) listed several online wagering sites who are in business in the state of the New York.  The site also mentions that there are "no laws written specifically to ban online gambling, but there is also no law that has been written to establish a framework for online gambling".  Sounds like too many gray areas for this writer! 
            Which brings us to the next topic.  Are New York state's policies cohesive?  When it comes to lotteries and horse racing everything looks in good order and flows easily making them cohesive.  Gambling casino's seem to be in a different world than lotteries and horse racing since they are only legal on Indian land so this writer don't see the cohesiveness with that until other casino's become legalized.  And as mentioned above, online gambling is all over the place with no cohesiveness what's so ever. 
            To conclude, this writer believes that gambling contracts should be enforced.  These rules and regulations are put into place for, presumably, good reasons.  However, the ones that benefit are the state in reference to the taxes taken from lotteries and casino's as an example.  This writer doesn't necessarily believe that the good people of New York are benefiting from these types of tax revenue services because some tend to draw in the elderly and poor in hopes they spend their pitiful wages and social security checks on their establishments.  However, everyone has choices and no one is forced to gamble their savings away.  With that being said, this writer is also unclear as to where all those taxes go to in reference to the state so that opinion comes solely from the materials read as part of this assignment. 

 


           
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