A key New York state politician has signaled he’s willing to throw his support behind legalizing online poker, significantly boosting the chances of legislative success in 2017.

In an interview with FIOS1News’ Andrew Whitman (watch part one here, part two here), Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow (pictured), who chairs the Assembly’s Committee on Racing and Wagering, said that “if New Yorkers are going to participate with online poker, I want to make sure that it’s the fairest it can possibly be.”

Pretlow introduced an online poker bill earlier this month that seeks to define poker as a game of skill, which would sidestep the state constitution’s restrictions on authorizing gambling games based on chance. Similar legislation was filed in the state Senate in January by Sen. John Bonacic.

Pretlow’s unwillingness to bring an online poker bill up for a floor vote in the Assembly effectively killed the state’s chances of approving the activity last year. Pretlow claimed at the time that there was insufficient support in the Assembly for online poker passage but now says “I don’t really see there’s going to be much opposition to moving [online poker legislation] along.”