Florida’s Laws Regarding Gambling are Changing Quickly
Saturday, May 29th, 2010After numerous years of fighting the states placed obstacles and buy-in restrictions, new poker laws will be coming in to place in Florida. The state, like most others has been battling the question of legalized gambling for the purpose of bringing in much-needed billions of dollars to the budget. Without gambling, there are few other options that can generate as much revenue needed desperately by state officials to balance the budgets. As a result, the changes in gambling will change the poker world considerably as 2010 continues. The governor is expected to sign the new bills regarding poker and that should cause the US Department of the Interior to approve gambling within the state.
For some time now Florida has been running behind the times with regards to gambling. For example, a lot of the casinos in the state have restrictions on the $100 maximum buy-in big blinds. The state’s casinos were also running five to ten dollar no-limit hold’em plays with a maximum buy-in of 10 big blinds. The House voted 74-39 to approve a new bill that would increase gambling law in the state. The biggest change will be directly with the Seminole Tribe of Indians who will from here on out be able to exclusively run Las Vegas-styled slot machines and have blackjack tables, along with other table games in five of the tribe’s seven running casinos in the state. The hours of operation will be increased and the $100 restriction will be a think of the past. The main reason for the changes is that estimators are projecting that the changes will bring $1 billion into the state over the next five year period of time.
Although the exact changes are not yet known, it is sure that the face of gambling within the state of Florida is about to change. The state is just one of the many that are going through revamping due to the changing world of gambling. The state is hoping that the funds will allow it to recover from the aftermath of the recession. The budget and various programs are in danger of permanent cuts without some form of money-generation. Legisators are hoping gambling is the sure-fire answer to their budget woes.

