Not long ago, the Rational Group was dealt another crushing defeat in America, when New Jersey decided to suspend review of their online gaming application for two more years. The stated reason why is that they don’t like Isai Scheinberg’s involvement with Rational, or his unresolved case with the US Department of Justice. The real reason why is because Atlantic City casinos don’t want to compete against Rational’s crown jewel, PokerStars, in the online poker market.

So is Rational sitting around crying with their head in their hands? No, they’re already hot on the trail of getting licensed in another American state: New York.

Now, if you know your legal internet gaming in the United States, you realize that only Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada offer regulated online markets. But after a state vote created a seven-casino project, PokerStars feels that Governor Andrew Cuomo and the entire state of New York have gambling fever.

They’ve since sent lobbyists to the Empire State in hopes of working on Cuomo and other New York politicians. According to Casino.org, these lobbying efforts have already produced results. Here is a look at one key excerpt that Casino.org wrote about the matter:

It looks like at least Cuomo’s legal team is on Rational’s side; New York law firm Cozen O’Connor‘s rep Stuart Shorenstein had the ear of Bennet Liebman, who is acting as the Governor’s chief advisor on all things gambling these days. According to Shorenstein, it’s now “a good time for an open architecture”; in other words, since you’re opening all these brick-and-mortar casinos, why not add the Internet to the pot? According to a Cuomo spokesman, the governor has taken no official stance on this proposition at this time.

Seeing as how New York’s state government hasn’t even opened serious discussion on the matter of online gaming, there’s no telling when or if it will become a reality. Even still, it’s obvious that PokerStars is on the forefront of the internet gaming movement in New York.