Real Poker in the State of Florida (updated)

This is a new thread updating my old post which you can find here (Real poker is coming to the state of Florida.) If you are interested.

As a florida resident and semi-professional live player down here I have been following this issue very closely. Currently (April 8th, 2010) in the state of Florida they are able to run $100 BI 1/2, 2/5, and 5/10 NL games as well as limit games with no bet larger than $5. As has been discussed in the past year or so this structure looks like it will be changing very soon (tonight).

The previous year's bill HB788 has been re-writen and the new bill HB7001 is being thrown around in the state government session and is expected to be signed into law some time today.

I wanted to let everyone know that it looks like (95%) Florida will finally be able to run real games. This may happen as soon as next week. I will post some more information below and update this post later tonight when I hear what happend today.

The point for card players is that if you have nothing to do in the next few weeks these are going to be some of the juiciest games in the world. The animals down here play a $100 5/10 with a 5 ante regularly. When the buy in changes they are going to try to play the same games. Its going to be action action action.

"
Uncapped Poker in Florida in 2010 - HB7001
Finally, there is a new Florida legislature bill number for legalizing uncapped poker at the Florida pari-mutuel cardrooms, so I am starting a new thread.

HB7001 - An Act Relating to Pari-Mutuel Permitholders

The new bill is House Bill 7001. It is a one-page bill. All it does is remove the paragraph from Florida statutes which made the changes to pari-mutuel statutes that were passed into law in 2009 contingent on the ratification of a Seminole compact and instead make those changes go into effect on July 1, 2010.

Here is what the main part of HB7001 says:
Quote:
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

Section 1. Section 26 of chapter 2009-170, Laws of Florida, is amended to read:

Section 26. Sections 1 through 3 of this act and this section shall take effect upon becoming law. Sections 4 through 25 shall take effect July 1, 2010.

[urlnded part in bold]
Links:
Follow the progress of the bill.
Read the current version of the full text of the bill (pdf).
Read the full text of SB788 (pdf).

What HB7100 Will Do

The provisions of the Florida statutes that will go into effect on July 1st, if HB7001 is passed and signed into law, include removing all caps from the buy-ins, stakes and limits of poker at Florida cardrooms and changing the hours of operation for the cardrooms to 18 hours/day M-F, 24 hours/day S-S & holidays. The age limit at the cardrooms will remain 18 years of age.

How HB7100 Will Become Law

It is expected, at this point, that HB7001 will easily pass a floor vote in both the Florida House and Senate in the spring legislative session. The session is scheduled to begin on March 2nd and end on April 30th. After the bill passes a floor vote in both the House and the Senate, it will be officially submitted to the Governor's office within a few weeks. The Governor will then have 15 days (7 days if it is submitted at least a week before the end of the legislative session) to either sign it or veto it. If the Governor does neither, it will automatically pass into law.

Regardless of the actual dates of these procedures, the bill will be implemented on July 1st (if passed into law).

(There is a chance that the bill will get combined with some other gaming bill before it makes it to a floor vote, but I think it is a very, very small chance of that happening.)

What Will Happen After HB7001 Becomes Law

The Florida cardrooms will be able to lay whatever games, stakes and limits they wish for any game of poker (except house-banked games) starting on July 1. It is a possibility that the Department of Pari-Mutuel Wagering will delay the actual start date while it develops and issues new related regulations for the cardrooms, but I think this is unlikely. I think it is likely that the Seminole casinos will immediately start laying uncapped poker once HB7001 passes into law, rather than waiting for July 1. This will probably be sometime in June, giving them a few weeks jump on the pari-mutuels.

There will be no state restrictions on which games can be played. The cardrooms will be able to offer limit, spread limit, pot limit and no limit for any poker game, including mixed games (as long as the display plaque at the table always shows the current stakes and limits for the game being dealt).

As each cardroom will be able to decide for itself what to lay, it is hard to predict exactly what will be offered. Certainly the same NLHE games that are available now (1/2, 2/5, 5/10) will continue to be offered, but with higher buy-in limits. There will no doubt be some games offered with unlimited buy-in. Games offered other than Holdem will probably vary based on player demand at each cardroom.

I expect Florida to quickly become one of the biggest poker destinations in the country, if not the world. No doubt the large tournament tours will add Florida to their circuit. (Although the WSOP circuit events play only at Harrah's properties, I can't imagine that they won't find a way to bring the WSOP to Florida. Perhaps they will buy a pari-mutuel or two in South Florida.) Within 5 years, we'll see a number of pros buying houses in Florida.

Go Florida!

This bill will be great for poker players. It will also be good for Florida in general as it will bring a lot more tourism and a lot more jobs.

Here are some related links:
Florida gaming legislation news.
The Florida House committee that deals with gaming bills.
Florida cardroom regulations.
Florida gambling laws.
Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.
List of Florida Cardrooms.
My web page about Florida poker issues.

Links to the Florida legislators with phone numbers and email adresses:
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sectio...entatives.aspx
http://www.flsenate.gov/legislators/

Local media that usually publishes related news:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com
http://www.miamiherald.com
http://www.sun-sentinel.com
http://www2.tbo.com
http://anteupmagazine.com
http://www.naplesnews.com
http://blogs.trb.com
http://news-press.com

Publication that gives the other side of the fight, but also usually includes useful inside information in their related articles:
http://www.floridabaptistwitness.com

The Indian Gambling Regulatory Act.
Seminole Tribe site promoting compact.
Last edited by PokerXanadu; 01-20-2010 at 08:32 AM."

Taken from 2+2. (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/57...8/index54.html)

Thanks again PX

According to my understanding, Step 1 of 3 just happened.

House passed the Bill!!!


"After passage on the floors of the House and the Senate, the bill will be forwarded to the Governor's office for signature into law, which will immediately make uncapped poker legal at Florida cardrooms. Implementation of the new law may take some time, which has yet to be determined. The Seminole tribe does not have to wait to start uncapped poker, but they may decide to to keep all the politicos happy."


After being down here for so long, and hearing the rumors for so long. I can't fully believe that this might actually happen. Its unreal. Lots of excitement.

Awesome! I hope this will help bring the WSOP Circuit down to Florida in the near future.

Nice!!

I am in Pensacola and they just opened a cardroom here at the dogtrack a couple of months ago. I havent been out there yet but I plan too.

I want to think i heard they only had Limit hold em but would be adding NL soon. Maybe this law was why?

Ditto! I assume you mean more down in South Florida which would be nice but I am in the NW and they already have circuit events in New Orleans which is only like 3 hours from me.

Yeah.. down here a bit more south, haha.

I moved from Kansas City last summer.. where they had circuits in Omaha (3 hours away) and just added one in St. Louis this year (4 hours away) :-/.... but none here in Florida.. bah!

Orlando or Miami aren't that far from me (both 2 hours).. I'd go to either.. maybe even Jacksonville, which is about 5 hours from me.

Another update, (not great news)

Following the vote in the house, there was an amendment to part of the bill. It still looks like it will get passed in the very near future, but the amendment requires that the changes won't take effect till July 1st.

"July 1st will be the implementation date for both the paris (parimutuals) and the Seminole casinos (unless it changes again, but that is unlikely). Even if the compact gets published in the Federal Register before July 1, the Seminoles don't get uncapped poker until the paris get it.

So, back to Plan A. Uncapped poker for everyone on July 1.

Still needs:

1. Passage of bill in full House vote.
2. Passage of bill in full Senate vote.
3. Governor's signature.

Looks like it will be next week to complete this. Once these three steps are done, nothing can stop it short of a court challenge (which ain't going to happen). The disposition of the Seminole compact after these three steps are completed will not have any affect on the legality or implementation of uncapped poker."




More on those three steps. (All my opinion)

The house is going to pass the amended bill, they just passed the pre-amended bill this morning and the changes only delay what they already passed. The senate made the changes so they will pass it when it gets back to them, and the governor has publicly said that he will sign it when it gets to him. Betting on a July 1st start is +EV.

So it look like we won't be playing uncapped poker next weekend, but the sky ahead is looking pretty clear.

Thats awesome news...although I already have a solid place to play. Its good to know there will be more soon though. I play a lot at a Dog track near Destin,FL its great!

Yea, the buy-in restrictions keep me from driving from Columbus, GA to FL. I'd much rather go to Biloxi, but with the recent changes the only pros for driving to Biloxi are free drinks... Like that's not going to heavily influence my decisions.

FL is getting close though.

lol, I laughed so hard when my casino in FL said that the buy in limit was $100..

I don't see how a $100 limit was suppose to controle gambling issues, at 5 NL you saw A LOT of action and A LOT of all ins and A LOT of rebuys for $100. Think about it, a 3bet is already 15% of your stack, and in live people usually 6bet as a standard preflop raise (that or the whole table limps lol), so really 30% of your stack for a preflop raise, then 3 more rounds of betting and your already all in lol.

Funny shit. Stayed away from those crazy tables lol.

There is a dog track near Destin?

Wish I had known that before our dogtrack here in Pensacola opened a poker room.

Yea this is some pretty warped thinking IMO.

Yeah man its about 35mins away... www.goebro.com

Looking forward to this. The $100 buyin maximum is ridiculous for anything about .5/.1.

Final Update *Good News*

As expected the new bill was passed by the house, senate and gov. Uncapped poker will begin July 1st 2010 in the state of Florida.


This is going to be a big deal for us local grinders and residents. Expect a very crazy first month or two, this summer should be really interesting.


Personally, this has been rumored since the card rooms opened down here. I remember years ago when the Hollywood Hardrock began a time rake on the 2/5 and 5/10 game to get ready for the change that didn't come. It has finally arrived and I am really looking forward to see how the poker community changes. Florida will be a new poker destination. WSOP Circuit events, WPT, NAPT will all have stops down here. Great weather, Beautiful locatoins, and most importantly deep pockets.

Woot! Hopefully they'll throw a WSOP circuit down here in 2010-2011.

Where do you play at? I heard about the good news a week ago when I went to play poker at HardRock in Tampa.

I live in Miami and really only play at the Hollywood HR. I'm a teacher so I get a lot of time to play, its pretty much a second job/hobby and the timing of the July start is perfect for me. I'm gonna put in a ton of hours.

I have heard a lot about the Tampa one and am sure I will get up there eventually. It sounds like both places will be the big hubs in the state and should attract a lot of attention. I'm really interested to see how the regulars decide what game to play. I think the first month any of the stakes 2/5 and up are going to be particularly juicy. There are a lot of people playing those stakes now that shouldn't be. The $100 buy in saves them a lot of decision making, and having to play deep stack poker is not part of most of their games.

I have heard rumors of managers saying they are going to offer the same games that they have had with $100 buy ins for the guys that aren't ready to change yet. Either way its going to be very busy at the start.

If I'm still in town in July.. we may have to play a couple of games together. I'm about 1 1/2 hours north of Hollywood, FL.

Sounds like a plan.

I played in those FL poker rooms a good bit. The $100 buyin was ridiculous, but there were ways of building a playable stack. Bring on the uncapped games. The players are so crazy down there that we should be able to cash in before they make the adjustment!

+1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah. Just to give another update, (based mostly on my talks with the poker room managers and dealers).

July 1st is gonna be a big day for Florida poker. Most card rooms are all going to be running similar games.

Limit Games
2/4
3/6
4/8
5/10
10/20
20/40
Higher games as per player requests.

NL games
1/2 - 50-100 buy in.
1/2 or 1/3 with a 100 - 300 buy in. (The Hollywood HR says they will run both of these 1/2s.
2/4 or 2/5, 200-500 with the options for a 1000 buy in on some tables (per players requests)
5/10 500-1000
The Hardrock management has said they will probly regularly run a higher nl game such as 10/25 based on player request.

PLO will be set at
1/3
2/5
and 5/10

(not sure on buy ins, wasn't paying attention)

They will be able to run lots of stud games including razz.

Mixed games are also possible.

Some places are going to have lock boxes for players. Better comps are going to get going. New chips. Fixed table management (no more initial buy ins at the table or fills every half hour). It seems like the first month or so there will be a lot of flexibility in what the house can and will run. They want to keep the players happy and will run games that the players want.

I'm real interested in how the comps will work. The competition between the places will help us players get the most for our time and money spent at these places.

I'm pretty excited about this... I go to FL a lot. I lived there for years and the card rooms are always busy. Plenty of action for sure!

very nice I loving it , FLA is my #1 state to live in and add this to it and it can't be beat thanks for the 411 sir

one question for everyone playing live in FLA now .
all these games are totally live with dealers and chips and cards lol ?

we got live poker at the horse track but it's all electronic , live only in the sense that we have real players at the table

They are live with dealers and chips and cards.... unless you go to one of the few places with the PokerPro machines. I have played a lot of the FL poker rooms and haven't had to play any of those machines.

too cool thought those machines were gonna take over poker and then the world

We are still on track for the July change. There is a ton of talk at every card room I go to about whats going to happen and what its going to be like. Most of the dealers are quiet, I'm sure they have been told not to talk about what they are being told from management.

The Hollywood HR has been training their dealers in some of the odder games and limits. I have heard a dealer say they are going to have A,B,and C dealers, with each class having a different string.

Also starting June 18th the new chips will be in play. (A dealer told me this yesterday). Currently the chips used on the table games inside are not the same as the ones used in the poker room. They are switching the poker chips to the ones used in the other games (probably because there are larger denominations already in circulation).

I haven't heard yet, but I bet that there will be some kind of opening ceremy at Tampa and Hollywood on the first weekend of July (maybe a big tourny with lots guaranteed or something to that effect). I asked about it and was told by two different dealers that they can't say anything.

The next month should be interesting, I will keep updating as it gets closer and closer.

Ah man, I just moved from Florida to NYC not too long ago and never really got a chance to enjoy the casinos in Florida since I started playing poker young. One more reason in the very short list of why I miss Florida.

Some of the official games are being released. Most of these are South Florida location because thats what I am familiar with. If anyone wants to post their local rooms it might help.

From the Hollywood Hard Rock:
http://www.seminolehardrockhollywood...ker_limits.php

Tampa doesn't have any.

The Isle at Pompano:
http://pompano-park.isleofcapricasin...ino-poker.aspx
(notice the 5/10 uncapped nl game)

Mardis Gras:
http://www.playbigeasypoker.com/bigeasynewgames.pdf

is there still the casino on the boats that go out....so far out...seven miles or so...then they open the casino?

man i wish i lived in florida

....oh wait

I DO. score!

Been wait for this ....

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news...day-in-florida


Today is the day. After more than two decades since the Florida government first legalized live poker games, but instituted a buy-in cap that would torture serious players, poker rooms will now finally be able to offer uncapped, no-limit games throughout the state.

“It’s very exciting,” said Kevin Schaffel, a lifelong Floridian who made the final table of the main event last year. “Now, if I’m having a tough day at the tables, I can go home. I’ve got my gym, I’ve got my golf course, I’ve got my regular life. I can eat better. It’s just going to be a pleasure.”
Schaffel, like most other serious poker players in the state, previously had to travel to places like California, Nevada, or New Jersey to play some serious cash games. But now, they will be able to play just minutes from their home.

In April, the two chambers of the Florida government voted to alter the gambling laws in the state, which included scrapping the $100 max buy-in for cash games and the $1,000 max buy-in for tournaments.

The move, which goes into effect today, is expected to propel Florida into one of the premiere poker destinations in the country.

“Florida becomes another Atlantic City, Tunica or Vegas,” said Russ Christianson, the vice president of gaming operations at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “Why would you want to go to Atlantic City in January when you can come to Florida?”

Under the new law, poker rooms across the state will be able to offer poker around the clock on the weekends and for up 18 hours at a time during the week. Poker rooms in Seminole casinos are allowed to offer poker all week long.

“I was born and raised in Florida. To think that I don’t have to travel to California and Vegas now just to play cash games for a week or two at a time is just really, really exciting. People don’t understand how hard it is to travel and play poker,” said Schaffel. “I know a lot of people are going to be coming down there and I’ll end up playing against a lot of people that I played against in California and Vegas, but at least I’ll know who they are.”

While Florida legislators legalized penny ante poker in 1989, they capped all pots at $10. While the laws would loosen up a little over the years, it never went as far as most serious poker players would’ve liked.

In 1996, state-licensed pari-mutuel facilities were allowed to begin spreading poker games with the $10 cap. In 2003, a new law passed that scrapped the $10 cap, but still forced the max bet in any action to be only $2. In 2007, no-limit hold’em was finally introduced, but with the $100 max buy-in.

Starting today, Florida joins states like Nevada, Oklahoma, California, and New Jersey as locations with the best live poker laws in the country.