Online gambling

Online gambling

New York state is looking at ways to make it easier for New Yorkers to wager their hard-earned money with online gambling.

The state is among several taking advantage of a Justice Department ruling that frees them from restraints they believed had barred online gambling under the federal telecommunications law. In response to a request from New York and Illinois for clarification about the sale of online lottery tickets, the department last month said the law prohibited only sports betting over state and federal lines. That has opened the door to online gambling and selling lottery tickets on the Web to local residents.

Washington, D.C., and Nevada have legalized Internet poker with other states expected to follow as cash-strapped states collectively facing a $32 billion budget gap in the next fiscal year look for revenue. For now the Lottery is proceeding slowly by building on existing online offerings, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports.

The state already allows online subscription sales of Lotto and Mega Millions tickets, so the next step will be to let New Yorkers use their computer or smartphone app to buy Sweet Million and Powerball tickets online. But that may be just an incremental step toward making unlimited gambling more acceptable.


Poker and the popular Quick Draw games would need legislative approval to go online. The Lottery hasn’t ruled out the possibility, and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has proposed legalizing casino gambling, now limited to Indian reservations, which would require a constitutional amendment.

The expansion of online gambling and lottery sales may draw objections from lottery outlets deprived of their share of the sales, not to mention revenue that bars and restaurants will lose from food and alcohol sales when patrons stay at home betting from the convenience of their living rooms.

There will be those who argue that gambling is here, so the state should take advantage of it. But gambling has social consequences with addiction, financial ruin and broken families. The greatest impact is on the poor. While gambling has a presence in New York, the state doesn’t have to encourage or profit from socially disruptive behavior.