The New York Senate has included revenue from online poker and online sports wagering in their proposed April 1 budget, and the unnamed winner of the $560 million New Hampshire Powerball lottery has won her right to anonymity.
I get shit for not voting, but it’s not something that’s at the forefront of my mind. Our parents create our worldview, and my education on politics involved sitting around the TV while my parents sucked on cancer sticks hoping the man holding the battered red briefcase was going to reduce prices on cigarettes and alcohol.
I don’t smoke.
I don’t drink.
My only concept of a ‘budget’ is a personal one where I try everything in my power to stop my wife from buying shit we don’t need. Poppyseeds? Wtf? Like a wounded blackbird trying to fight an eagle, I fail every time.
All of which means, I’m not an expert on budgetary or political issues, so I am going to lean heavily on the smarts of OnlinePokerReport (OPR) on this one.
Both the New York Assembly and the Senate have created competing proposed budgets, in addition to the $168 billion spending plan that Governor Andrew Cuomo released in January.
According to OPR scribe Dustin Gouker, the Senate version of the budget contains revenue from a fully regulated and legal online poker and online sportsbook market. Before you start pulling the legs off centipedes in excitement, it’s worth pointing out that this is the third successive year the Senate has included a little punt in the proposed budget, and you know where we stand.
To leave you with more bones than steak in this one, neither the Assembly nor Cuomo’s earlier effort mentions online poker or sports wagering as a potential way of earning a few bucks from New York’s angry-sounding citizens.
On a brighter note, it is the first time that the Senate has included sports wagering in a proposed budget so who knows, maybe first time the charm and all of that nonsense?
Another muzzle preventing a more powerful bite from online poker in the Senate budget is the fact that nothing in the legislation seems to have changed since the previous arrangement of words crashed into a brick wall and died back in 2017. The sports betting wordage is the paperwork that passed Tuesday’s committee vote.
The deadline for the final budget is April 1.
I wonder if the price of cigarettes and alcohol will rise?
See, old habits die hard.
Anonymity Prevails in $560 Million Powerball Case
Talking about taxes, do you know how much tax you would pay if you won $560 million in the lottery?
$264 million.
My car is on fire!
Holy fuck balls!
That’s a lot of money.
If that were to happen to me, I would have to tell everyone, but there are some who prefer to remain schtum for obvious reasons.
An unnamed female lottery player from New Hampshire won the $560 million Powerball Jackpot in early January and immediately hired lawyers to defend her right to be anonymous.
Lottery officials pointed to rules insisting the winners become public figures of interest because it shows that people of flesh and bone play and win these vast sums of dosh.
What a load of bollocks.
Judge Charles Temple believes so.
Temple agreed that with the potential for harassment, solicitation and other unwanted communications very real, the unnamed lady could remain unnamed. There was a caveat. The hometown of the winner must be revealed, so I bet she feels pretty stupid after installing gold-plate double glazing.
