We've seen a lot of action on the iPoker regulation front in Calfornia, New York and Pennsylvania in the last couple of weeks.

New York was able to actually push online poker through the state Senate but time ran out on the legislative calendar to get it through the Assembly.

Meanwhile, online poker was attached to a Daily Fantasy Sports bill in Pennsylvania to create an omnibus bill that appears to have a good shot at passing.

California of course saw its bill, AB 2863, pass its Assembly vote but still faces the same obstacles we discussed last week.

New York iPoker Passes Senate But Time Runs Out on Assembly Side

On June 14th, the NY Senate overwhelmingly passed S5302 by a vote of 53-5. It was the first time an online gambling bill has passed a legislative chamber since 2013.

New York was a surprise player on the online poker regulation front in 2016 and we don't believe there was anyone that gave the state a chance of even getting the bill to a vote.

Unfortunately, the vote came so late that there simply wasn't enough time to pass it in the NY Assembly.

The legislative session in New York ended on June 16 and both chambers of the legislature was focused more on Daily Fantasy Sports than online poker and iGaming.

In addition, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow actually came out saying that online poker didn't pass because it is not a game of skill.

A DFS bill was passed by the legislature on the last day of the session, a game that has been touted as a skill game but others argue is merely gambling.

Pretlow took the opposite view and told PokerNews that, "In poker, you're betting and you're changing the bet by raising. That's gambling. In my legislative finding, I found DFS is not gambling. I can't find that poker is not gambling."

Even after making this statement, Pretlow believes that online poker will pass in 2017. He told PokerNews that "This will get done. I just have to find a way to do it."

Knowing that the Senate overwhelmingly supports iGaming, it seems that Pretlow will now be properly motivated to "find a way" next year.

Pennsylvania Poised to Pass iGaming as Part of Omnibus Bill

Online poker and iGaming received a new path to regulation on Wednesday as the Pennsylvania House of Representatives HB 2150, a Daily Fantasy Sports regulation bill, to include online gambling.

Amendment 8734 was authored by Rep. Rosita Youngblood and the measure passed by a vote of 115-80.

The bill now moves to the House Appropriations Committee and then if they pass it, the House can then vote on the full bill.

One major reason that this amendment was successfully added is that it did not include video gaming terminals (VGTs). VGTs have been a controversial and unpopular matter with legislators.

In fact, multiple attempts to pass amendments that included VGTs failed.

At this point, there seems to be little that will stop online gambling from becoming regulated in the state.

Granted, the bill still needs to emerge from committee and successfully pass in both the House and Senate.

However, seeing that iGaming and DFS are both looked as ways to help close the budget gap in the Pennsylvania, lawmakers may be willing to push the bill through.

We can confidently say that the odds of Pennsylvania passing iGaming this year have gone to 75% or greater

The iPoker market in the United States is about to change forever and it appears that all roads are going to go through Pennsylvania - at least for now.