Online poker in New York is turning into the legislative version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s literary masterpiece, the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

After a couple of close calls in each of the last two years, Albany lawmakers don’t seem to know if they’re coming or going in 2018. And depending on who you ask, online poker efforts have either taken a step forward or a step backward in 2018.

On the one hand you have first-term Assemblyman Clyde Vanel, who appears to be spearheading the current online poker effort in the Assembly.

“The budget effort didn’t work, but that happens with negotiations,” Vanel told Online Poker Report in April. “What the exercise did is make us see that there’s more support for online poker than we previously thought.”

Vanel has been ginning up support for a pro-online poker letter, but fell short of the 60-70 he was shooting for. The letter, sent from the office of Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, the sponsor of the online poker bill, was sent to Speaker Carl Heastie with 52 names.

On the other hand is the enigmatic Pretlow.

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