A bill to allow Jake’s 58 Hotel & Casino, an off-track betting (OTB) facility on Long Island, to add 1,000 VLT machines, has passed in both the New York state senate and assembly prior to the end of post-budget session.
That would increase the venue’s offerings to 2,000 total, Assemb. Gary Pretlow confirmed to PlayNY.
Bill S7685B/A2210C passed in the senate late Wednesday night and the assembly late Thursday night, and is expected to go through via Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Looking into Assembly bill to increase VLTs at Jake’s 58
The VLT increase was earlier reported by Politico, which noted that Jake’s 58 has been highly profitable for NY, with the state taking more than $700 per machine on average per day.
As per the bill language:
Authorizes Suffolk regional off-track betting corporations to host up to 2000 video lottery gaming devices; provides that in the Nassau region such facility shall not exceed one thousand video lottery gaming devices.
As a compromise of sorts with nearby competitor Resorts World NYC, Jake’s 58 isn’t expected to pursue a full-scale downstate New York casino license. Resorts World, a VLT facility in Queens, appears as one of the frontrunners for a full-scale casino license. But it still will need to win one of the three downstate NY licenses in an open competitive bidding process.
And Resorts World NYC could still face competition down the road should Mets’ owner Steve Cohen’s Citi Field casino location also be selected as a winner. Hard Rock is a potential casino partner for Cohen, as PlayNY reported.
Post-budget legislative session winds down in New York
As for other outstanding gaming issues, Pretlow noted that “everything is fluid. … (But) the bulk of the stuff is done.”
Sen. Joe Addabbo had been hoping to get fixed-odds horse racing on all the NY online sportsbook apps. But Addabbo, in recent weeks, became less optimistic that it could occur before the post-budget session ends.
“This is Albany, so anything can happen,” Addabbo said. “But the bottom line is there’s still a lot of work to do with regards to fixed-odds, kiosks, incorporating NASCAR, the NFL draft, there’s still things we have to iron out.
“Our work is really never done when we talk about expanding in a safe, regulated way for gaming in New York.”
