Poker In Florida

[vox]

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When I spoke to him he did not go into great detail but he said that the Seminole Tribe offered the state of florida a deal they could not refuse.
I am hoping like hell he is right. I would love to see mid-high stakes poker come in, it would be insane here with all the tourists. As it is the poker room is packed day and night.

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Imagine the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood hosting a WPT event - they would do it there, as it is the flagship property, and Tampa often looks and feels like an afterthought in comparison. That would be bananas.

However, if the Seminoles (who, BTW, started the Native American gaming movement) got class III games, the poker room would not be nearly as packed - everyone would be out on blackjack and craps.

Awesome news. Thanks slacker!

[vox]

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But, here's what I don't understand. How are the tournaments legal under Florida's laws allowing low-limit poker and no other card games?

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Not sure how they do that. Maybe they got some sort of amendment pushed through or something, but these things started down here just within the past year.

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Not that this thread isn't dead, but this article ran in the St. Pete Times today. According to the article, "The state went even further last year and allowed the parimutuel venues to host poker tournaments, where the payouts can reach into the thousands." So apparantly, there's no legal gray area, like I had thought.

[jakethebake]

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The hardrock Hollwood has sick poker tourney action.

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You been playing over there instead of the Old Seminole?

[StevieG]

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Not that this thread isn't dead, but this article ran in the St. Pete Times today. According to the article, "The state went even further last year and allowed the parimutuel venues to host poker tournaments, where the payouts can reach into the thousands." So apparantly, there's no legal gray area, like I had thought.

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Thanks for the link, vox. I wished that the article had a little more information. The number about state collections increasing gives you the clear idea that poker revenue has grown, but there is nothing to compare it to in order to verify that there is not just an overall increase in gambling. How does that number compare to the money collected from dog-racing and jai-alia frontons over the same period?

[vox]

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Not that this thread isn't dead, but this article ran in the St. Pete Times today. According to the article, "The state went even further last year and allowed the parimutuel venues to host poker tournaments, where the payouts can reach into the thousands." So apparantly, there's no legal gray area, like I had thought.

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Thanks for the link, vox. I wished that the article had a little more information. The number about state collections increasing gives you the clear idea that poker revenue has grown, but there is nothing to compare it to in order to verify that there is not just an overall increase in gambling. How does that number compare to the money collected from dog-racing and jai-alia frontons over the same period?

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You're welcome. I think the Times could have done a much better job with this piece, but I imagine the writer has only so many column inches to work with, and so couldn't tell the whole truth about poker in Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater. Instead of just focusing on Derby Lane, the author should have talked about the failings of the various casino ships out of Pinellas ports and the Vegas-class facility at the Seminole reservation (and the very un-Vegas lines for poker). But I guess that wasn't the assignment.

BTW, I just played Derby Lane for the first time, as I don't get across the Bay much. The 1920s-era building and enforcement of the Florida Indoor Clean Air Act (which the Seminoles refuse to observe) were neat, but the chips, cards, and players were old and dirty. (I lost, too, so that sort of clouds my judgment.) While it was the best dog track I've played poker in, all in all, I prefer Hard Rock.

[StevieG]

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BTW, I just played Derby Lane for the first time, as I don't get across the Bay much. The 1920s-era building and enforcement of the Florida Indoor Clean Air Act (which the Seminoles refuse to observe) were neat, but the chips, cards, and players were old and dirty. (I lost, too, so that sort of clouds my judgment.) While it was the best dog track I've played poker in, all in all, I prefer Hard Rock.

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How was drink service? Dealers? Floor?

I've only played in Florida at the Dania Jai-Alai fronton in Ft. Lauderdale. The poker game structure with high rake and 1/2 or 2/2 structure was bad, of course, but the players were friendly enough, dealers decent, and the floor seemed competent.

Betting Jai Alai was fun, too, and the food in the club was good for the price.

All in all, as a tourist experience it was not bad. If I were local, though, I doubt I would be there very often.

[Atomic]

The dealers are for the most part competent but with 45 tables going there are bound to be mistakes now and then.

The floor is okay for the most part. They have a lot to look after with 45 tables in two rooms and constant tournaments going on.

Drink service is rapid. Cokes, water and coffee are free and everything else is priced okay. They have happy hours daily and Sunday's happy hour is noon to 8pm. Free peanuts too.

Plenty of TV's around to keep some of the players distracted with their betting on dogs, horses, and jai alai. They also show NFL, MLB and most other sports. One of the best things about playing at the track is that half the table is reading the DRF or a puppy picker choosing their next exacta instead of getting a read on the table.

The Derby is now also spreading Double Flop Hold'em.
Derby Lane poker

[vox]

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BTW, I just played Derby Lane... all in all, I prefer Hard Rock.

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How was drink service? Dealers? Floor?

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Best in a dog track I've seen. Free soda and snack mixes; highly awesome.
Dealers were competent, but nothing to write home about. Brushes were good about buttons - thankfully I never had to deal with the floor.

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I've only played in Florida at the Dania Jai-Alai fronton in Ft. Lauderdale. The poker game structure with high rake and 1/2 or 2/2 structure was bad, of course, but the players were friendly enough, dealers decent, and the floor seemed competent.

Betting Jai Alai was fun, too, and the food in the club was good for the price.

All in all, as a tourist experience it was not bad. If I were local, though, I doubt I would be there very often.

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I've never played cards down there except at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, which has it together floor-wise. PokerPro computer tables, dicussed supra, disappoint me, however.

The Hard Rock in Tampa has a dismal floor/brush staff. Takes forever to get a new player off the very long lists, nevermind the line to get enqueued in the first place, ofter 10-20 minutes. But, hey, only game in town and all that.

Just back from there - it's a fight night in Tampa, so it was extra crazy tonight. And extra profitable. Saw Tarver, or so I was told - I don't know how eager I would be to gamble if I had just gotten punched in the face for half an hour. Everyone was buzzing about Michael Jordan and celebs of that caliber playing and staying there.

[RollaJ]

St. Tropez out of Miami area (cruise) had a really nice 10-20 limit game last time I was there. Def. worth looking into if you live around there

do thye have anything lower then 10-20? maybe 5/10? 3/6?