Florida Makes Big Changes to Poker Laws
June 28th, 2010
This isn’t the design of a Florida casino poker chip – yet.
Thursday marks the start of a new fiscal year in Florida and that means that a slew of new laws goes into effect. Of the 237 new pieces of legislation taking effect, few are getting as much attention as SB 622, which makes a number of big changes to the state’s poker laws.
No-limit poker is now legal at all 23 of Florida’s licensed poker rooms, removing the old betting limit of $5 and the maximum $100 buy-in for cash games. Another change will see poker rooms operated by the Seminole tribe stay open 24 hours a day, a move that affects more than 130 poker tables at the six Seminole casinos in Hollywood, Tampa, Coconut Creek, Brighton and Immokalee. Meanwhile other poker rooms throughout Florida will be allowed to stay open for 18 hours daily during the week and 24 hours on weekends and some holidays.
Also affected by the new law changes are poker tournaments. Previously held to buy-ins of $1,000 or less, tournaments will now have the sky as their limit. This change in particular is hoped to draw professional poker players and hopeful amateurs to the Sunshine State, perhaps via a new tournament on the North American Poker Tour or another similar tournament circuit.
The new changes are expected to be a boon to poker in Florida. A number of top-flight poker pros, including brothers Robert and Michael Mizrachi and Jason Mercier, already call the state home, as do numerous other grinders and amateur poker players. With so many options close to home, more of them might start keeping their action within the state. And if the tournament circuits react to the new laws the way the government is hoping, the rest of the world could soon help to make Florida one of the biggest markets in American poker.
