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Is Florida Getting Poker?
 
October 28, 2009

The state of Florida is still trying to decide whether or not poker is going to happen. It all started when the Seminole Indian tribe attempted to bring slot machines into the state. The tribe was continuously turned down by Florida's various governors. As long as the state did not have slot machines you were able to keep them out. However Broward County and Miami-Dade County then voted slot sheens to legalize options within the state which opened the door for the tribe to bring in theirs.
 
The tribe could now legally bring in slot machines and didn't have to give the state of Florida anything. So Gov. Charlie Crist decided to offer them card games like blackjack in order to get a piece of the revenue. This seemed to work for them until Florida's State Legislature said no. They said that the governor didn't have the right to make that call, held up the passing of the bill, and finally wrote a bill pretty much just like it.
 
However now Florida's licensed card rooms are upset because the state has just given the tribe a monopoly on casino gambling for the next 20 years. So to make the card rooms happy they are getting now the right to offer no limit poker games. This means that all of these card rooms across the state are now able to offer poker to residents, making poker players across the state extremely happy.
 
The compact that is being signed with the tribe includes the poker provision, but there is still all kinds of problems with the law. If it passes poker will be legal but if it doesn't they are back to the drawing board again.