U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle recently rejected a petition filed by Gretna Racing in Gadsden County, Florida, which had requested that Hinkle reconsider his decision allowing the Seminole Tribe to continue offering blackjack and other banked card games at five of its seven casinos. Gretna said the judge’s decision “puts the small facility and its operators at risk.”
Hinkle ruled Gretna, which is operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, had no standing to intervene in the case. “And even if Gretna could have qualified for permissive intervention on a timely application — not an obvious proposition — I would exercise my discretion to deny intervention at this late date as both untimely and otherwise inadvisable,” Hinkle wrote in the two-page order. However, Hinkle noted, “The judgment in this case has no binding effect on Gretna, and the order explaining the judgment will have a practical effect only to the extent a future tribunal finds the reasoning persuasive. If, as Gretna seems to believe, it has additional evidence that will persuade a judge to reach a different result, Gretna will be free to present the evidence if ever its own interests become the subject of a judicial or administrative proceeding.”
The Seminoles had claimed the state violated a provision of the 2010 compact that gave the tribe exclusive rights to operate banked card games in exchange for $1 billion in payments to the state. When that provision expired in 2015, the state sued the tribe to stop the games. The tribe countersued, claiming the state violated the compact when it allowed parimutuel casinos to offer games similar to blackjack. In November, Hinkle ruled Florida gambling regulators indeed violated the compact by allowing the parimutuels—including Gretna–to offer the games, which now are more popular than traditional poker. The judge stated the Seminoles could continue to offer blackjack until 2030.
Prior to Hinkle’s ruling barring Gretna’s intervention, Seminole attorney Barry Richard filed a memorandum in opposition to the racetrack’s motion. Gretna attorneys, David Romanik and Marc Dunbar, who also are part owners of the venue, also had asked Hinkle to remove the part of his ruling that, they said, could make it a crime for the track to continue offering certain card games.
Gretna also is a plaintiff in a case pending before the state Supreme Court, regarding the expansion of slot machines in the state. At issue is whether slots can be allowed, without legislative approval, in counties where voters have passed local referendums allowing them. Gadsden County, where Gretna is located, and seven other counties have passed such referendums. The court’s decision will impact the entire state.
