Florida racetracks recently appealed an administrative law judge’s ruling that designated-player games like Ultimate Texas Hold ‘em and three-card poker are illegal, because of a ban on house-banked games at non-tribal gambling halls. Racetrack officials countered that the games are legal and will continue to be offered at the tracks. The games involve a house-approved player sitting at the corner of the table and acting as the game’s bank. Traditional poker and other non-banked games are legal at the racinos.
Track officials noted the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering approved the games in 2012. But the Seminole Tribe’s now-expired compact gave the tribe exclusive rights to offer house-banked table games.
The judge wrote, “Given the strict statutory prohibition against gambling, the intricate regulatory scheme imposed and the narrow carve-out for cardrooms, the games cannot be allowed to continue to operate in the current manner. The basic tenet of the cardroom statute is that authorized games are not casino gaming because the participants ‘play against each other.’ As currently operated, the designated player is a player in name only. The existing operation of the games does no more than establish a bank against which participants play.”
Aside from this litigation, the Seminoles and the state are still trying to work out the terms of a new compact, which would retain revenue sharing but at a higher rate, and grant the tribe some exclusivity.
