The Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, part of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, has filed exceptions to Judge Suzanne Van Wyk‘s August 1 order. The 54-page order recommended dismissing part of the case in which the state claimed third-party company workers had to possess occupational licenses. The department can modify the order.
Van Wyk said Jacksonville Kennel Club, aka the bestbet Jacksonville poker room, conducted “unauthorized card games” and should pay a $4,500 penalty. She noted the games were too similar to blackjack, which only is allowed at Seminole Tribe of Florida casinos.
Regulators said cardrooms offering designated-player games skirted state law by letting third-party companies buy their way into the games, using a worker to act as a virtual bank. Each designated player is “required to bring a minimum of $30,000 to each table, and takes no active role in the game. Mysteriously, the same number of designated players walk through the door each morning as the designated-player tables at Jacksonville open,” Van Wyk noted.
She said the arrangement amount to a sham, and that the “games cannot be allowed to continue to operate in the current manner.” However, she ruled against the state’s claim that the paid designated players needed to have occupational licenses.
Regulators agreed the paid designated players “essentially did nothing other than occupy a seat,” according to their filing. But they added even if the “work” performed was negligible, they still needed to be licensed.
