Recently new venues have been granted the rights to have No-limit poker games legally. This is due to a new bill that has been passed by the Florida State Legislature called the sb-788 No-Limit poker gaming bill. One of the biggest places to gamble in the state is race tracks, which have now been authorized to hold No-Limit poker games. Previously the limit bets per round were set at $5, the maximum buy-ins for poker games $100, and poker tournaments set to $1,000.

Furthermore, one of the biggest changes the sb-788 bill has brought is the hours at which a card room can be open. The new bill has allows card rooms to be open 18 hours a day Monday-Friday, and twenty-four hours a day on the weekends. It has also raised the legal age limit in which a player can play from eighteen to 21 in Seminole nation casinos keeping it in line with the rest of the state. Finally, Hialeah park in Miami-Dade County has been also authorized for poker games.

The sb-788 bill was a widely debated topic before passing by a huge margin. The votes of 82-35 and 31-9 the bill seemed as if it was destined to pass all along even after some believed it was going to be very close. This was largely seen as a facade, because of the estimated $150 million a year in revenue for the state generated by gambling taxes. The billed seemed in good shape as well with Florida State Governor Charlie Christ endorsing the bill.

The Florida SB 788 No-Limit Poker Gaming Bill is just to most recent in a string of legal victories for poker gambling in Florida. As recently as 1996, only low-limit poker gambling was allowed (with a maximum bet of $10 per pot), and even then it was only allowed people’s homes or in community centers. In 1997, when public pari-mutuel betting facilities (including poker card rooms) were allowed to open legally, the $10 per pot limit remained in effect.

In 2003, the $10 pot limit was removed. It was replaced instead by a $2 per round maximum bet, with a limit of only three raises allowed per betting round. In 2007, no-limit poker was legalized in Florida. The new law, however, mandated a maximum buy-in limit of $100. This effectively meant that the highest-stakes poker game in Florida was only a $5/10 NL game.

Also in 2007, Florida Governor negotiated an agreement with the Seminole Nation. This agreement allowed card games (including poker) and slot machines in the seven different casinos the Seminoles owned throughout Florida. Shortly after the 2007 buy-in limit law passed, however, the Seminole casino “Hard Rock in Hollywood” chose to follow a unique interpretation of the law limiting buy-ins to $100. They allowed players to make multiple buy-ins of $100, quickly building bets into thousands of dollars.

The State of Florida, disagreeing with the Seminole’s novel interpretation of the buy-in law, pressured them to abiding by the one-time-only $100 maximum buy-in that most other casinos in the state had adopted. In 2008, the Florida Supreme Court also declared the Governor’s previous agreement with the Seminole nation to be invalid.

Due to the Seminoles disagreeing with the use of the buy-in law, in which they were pressured to abide by the Florida Governor to use, the Florida Supreme Court declared the agreement between the two to be invalid. By not getting the approval of the Florida State Legislature, a court later ruled that the governor had overstepped his authority. In the end, the sb-788 bill passed and there were a lot of smiles shining around Florida.

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