With Sen. John Bonacic’s online poker legalisation bill making progress in the New York state Legislature’s committee stages (see previous reports), the US land gambling giant MGM Resorts International has come out in support.
The Nevada-based group commented Thursday that the Bonacic measure recognises that millions of New Yorkers play online poker on unregulated and unprotected off-shore poker websites that operate with no oversight, fraud controls, or age restrictions.
In the statement, MGM general counsel John McManus said:
“We applaud the Senate Finance Committee’s vote to create a safe, legal environment for online poker through legislation that will generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue for taxpayers, and create open and fair opportunities for all providers of online poker.”
McManus went on to cite a poll that showed that more than 70 percent of New York residents “agree that safe, regulated online poker should be legal.”
The legal executive is on record in previous hearings and conferences as having asserted that Internet poker can be effectively regulated.
Earlier this week MGM announced that it has acquired Boyd Gaming’s 50 percent stake in Borgata, which operates New Jersey’s largest and most successful online casino.