On Thursday morning, the New York Senate Finance Committee quickly passed Senator John Bonacic’s online poker legalization bill, S5302. The bill will now head to the Senate floor for future consideration.

Momentum of any kind is certainly welcome. But based on the comments of a key figure in the New York Assembly, as well as the lack of public hearings on the topic, online poker legalization in the Empire State appears to be a long shot.

In a column at LegalSportsReport.com, Dustin Gouker reported Assemblyman Gary Pretlow was “pessimistic” when it comes to online poker this session. And Pretlow would be the best measuring stick of the bill’s support, considering he’s the sponsor of the assembly’s online poker bill.

In April, Pretlow spoke at the iGaming North America conference and said online poker’s chances were about 1 in 100 to even get to the floor for a vote. Moments later he said it was 1 in 1,000.

And Pretlow doesn’t appear to be a pessimist by nature. At iGNA he listed DFS’s chances at 50/50, and more recently said his DFS bill should have “smooth sailing.”

More at Online Poker Report