Florida Finally Gets Reasonable Poker Reform

Finally is the word that poker players all across the state of Florida have been saying in response to the passage by both the Florida Senate and Florida House of new legislation that will reform the game of poker in the state. Once the compact is signed by the governor and the U.S. Department of the interior approves the legislation, Florida poker players will finally be able to play uncapped poker.

Florida has, for all intents and purposes, been the butt of many jokes when it comes to poker in the United States. Laws and restrictions with regard to poker have been a carnival of the absurd in Florida with laws such as $100 max buy-ins at all cash games regardless of limit levels. This resulted in absurd games being played at casinos like $5-$10 no-limit Texas Hold’em games where the maximum buy-in was 10 big blinds. Thanks to the new legislation, however, things are about to be more normalized.
The Florida House of representatives recently voted 74-39 to approve of new legislation that would expand gambling in the state and reform some of the more bizarre restrictions. This happened just days after the Florida senate approved the same measure with a vote of 29-9.

The new law allows the Seminole tripe exclusive rights to operate Las Vegas style slot machines and run blackjack games among other various table games at five of its casinos. It also lowers taxes for pari-mutuels and extends the hours that poker rooms can operate throughout the state while getting rid of the $100 max buy-in restriction that has plagued poker in the state. The new law is expected to raise over $1 billion for the state and Seminole tribe over the course of the next five years.
“This is a big contribution and a big commitment,” said Rep. Bill Galvano (R-Bradenton), one of the biggest proponents of the legislation in the Florida House. “It’s not estimated, it’s not, ‘Well, we might be able to achieve this.’ This is a guarantee.”

The U.S. Department of the Interior oversees all agreements made between states and native American tribes has not yet approved the compact and, until they do, the changes in poker in the Florida will not be official. It appears likely, however, that Florida will finally be able to run many table games including poker without the heavy-handed restrictions that have been in place for years. Poker players in Florida have been waiting for many years for these long-awaited changes which will revitalize the game in one of the largest States in the U.S.
Florida legalized “penny-ante” poker games in 1989 and stopped cracking down on home games and small games taking place in community centers around the stake provided that the pots did not exceed ten dollars. Not surprisingly, these extremely restrictive limits left much to be desired for a large player base that desired higher stakes games.

In order to increase traffic to state-licensed pari-mutuel gaming operations, the Florida legislature passed a law allowing Jai-Alai frontons, kennel clubsm and horse tracks to allow spread poker during the races. This did not supersede the 1989 penny-ante law and games were still restricted to the $10 limits for pot size. Players chose to play 5-card stud and 7-card stud and would pay a $2 ante with the rest of the hand being dealt face up.
Over the course of seven years, players and card rooms alike petitioned the state to increase the betting limits but they continually ran into opposition and all attempts to raise the betting limits failed. After extensive negotiations on both sides of the debate, in 2003 agreed on new rules with its own set of restrictions and Governor Jeb Bush signed the bill into law. This allowed poker in Florida to grow slightly but heavy restrictions were still in place.

The 2003 law stated that pots were no longer held hostage to the $10 cap but that no actions taken at the table could exceed two dollars. This meant that no-limit and pot-limit games were essentially impossible except at extremely low states and the only real games that could be played were games like $1-$2 limit Omaha, Texas Hold’em, or stud varieties.
In the face of many legal drawbacks and restrictions on the game, the popularity of poker increased drastically. When Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker Main Event, this showed the world that amateurs could compete on a level and get a piece of the millions of dollars that were to be won on the professional poker circuit. Card rooms all over the state saw a massive influx of players as a result of the increased popularity and attention that poker was getting. Many card rooms grew in size and the industry exploded throughout the state so that players from any area of the state could get in on the action. The restrictions on how much any action could be worth, however, remained in place and made the most popular poker format, No Limit Texas Hold’em, nothing more than a pipe dream.

The state finally relented after years of demands from players and card rooms alike to allow for no-limit games to take place and allowed the game to become where it has been for the past few years. Players flocked to the no-limit tables despite the limitations of only being able to buy-in at 50 big blinds in $1-$2 games and even fewer in higher stakes games. Despite the half-victory, players still felt extremely limited and the buy-in restrictions prevented them from being able to utilize fully the element of skill and kept luck as a too-large part of the game. With the legislation that was just passed, however, poker players in Florida should finally be able to play the game as it was meant to be played without arbitrary restrictions.

Posted by Joel on May 26 2010. Filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry