Florida Hopes to Remove Live Racing Requirement to Run a Poker Room
3 Min read
Some Florida lawmakers want to change the state’s gambling laws to allow poker rooms and slot parlors to operate without being tied to live racing.
Gulfstream Park is among the facilities fighting a bill that would allow Florida facilities to offer poker and slots without also offering live racing or jai-alai. (Image: OG News)
Seeing flagging interest in racing while poker and other casino-type games boom, the Florida Senate advanced SPB 7080 through the Senate Regulated Industries Committee on Monday. The legislation will get a hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee today.
Gambling bills start moving in Florida Legislature amid talks
By Dara Kam article
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Murmurs, and at times shouts, of a renewed gambling deal between the state and the Seminole Tribe of Florida have bubbled during legislative sessions stretching back nearly a decade.
But, as legislative leaders and governors come and go, finalizing an agreement - repeatedly likened to a three-dimensional game of chess - has proven to be just out of reach year after year after year.
The House, the Senate, the governor, and the Seminoles are the central figures in trying to reach a deal, known as a compact. But the talks also include the state’s pari-mutuel operators and global casino giants willing to drop big bucks on even the possibility of planting roots in Florida, a vacation destination with a growing population that’s also home to some of the nation’s most affluent citizens.
Florida Senate advances gambling bill to add new commission, reduce live racing
The bill allows casinos and card rooms to operate without running harness or quarter-horse races or jai-alai matches, a concept known as decoupling.
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Updated 3 hours ago
TALLAHASSEE â The Florida Senate moved a step closer to consolidating and updating the stateâs gambling regulation Monday as a committee advanced bills to create the Florida Gaming Control Commission and another to end live racing as a condition of operating slot machines and card rooms.
But within minutes of presenting the proposal before the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, SPB 7080 ran into the same hurdles that similar attempts have faced year after year: The owners of a race track warned that the change will devastate their business and lead to the loss of jobs.
6 hours ago by The Associated Press (AP)
Photo: Helena Lopes
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Florida’s jai alai frontons and quarter horse and harness horse racing tracks could choose not to conduct live events and still be able to operate poker and slot machine rooms under a bill unanimously approved by the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.
Thoroughbred horse tracks would still have to conduct live racing under the bill that was approved Monday, and while greyhound racing is now illegal in Florida, permit holders could still run card rooms and slots.
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