Home / Poker News May 2009 / Limits on NL Poker removed in Florida
Limits on NL Poker removed in Florida
Posted by: James Carter. - Sun, 2009-05-10 11:28
State legislation that had limits imposed on NL Poker buy-ins and maximum bets per round has been revoked in Florida. The bill meant to bring about the change has been passed by the House, with 88 votes for and 35 against, while the Senate voted 31-9 to push SB 788 through. The vote had been preceded by a week of negotiations between the house and senate until a consensus version was ironed out.
Before it can become a law though, SB 788 needs the approval of the Seminole Nation, which will be the main beneficiary of the provisions of the bill. As a direct consequence of the revenue flow made possible by SB 788, the Seminoles are estimated to generate $150 million per year in tax for the state.
Governor Charlie Crist will have to negotiate a compact with the Seminoles till the end of August and the compact needs to be approved by the Florida legislature for the bill to become law. The governor had negotiated a compact with the Seminole Nation in 2007, but it has been invalidated by the Florida Supreme court as Crist failed to secure the approval of the legislature.
According to the recently approved legislation, cardrooms will be allowed to stay open 18 hours on weekdays and a full 24 on weekends. Dog-track and horse-track cardrooms will also be allowed to offer unlimited NL action. Seminole casinos will only accept players over 21 from now on.
The $1,000 limit previously imposed on tournament buy-ins has also been lifted. This fact, coupled with the state’s importance as a tourist destination will almost certainly make Florida the scene of quite a few world-class live poker events.
The newly abolished limits had been imposed on NL Holdem in 2007 when the game was first introduced in the state. The cumbersome nature of the regulation made it quite impossible for Florida-based venues to host poker events of any significance. The limits on cash games have led to the distortion of basic gameplay mechanics. At one time, pots bigger than $10 were not allowed, so players would simply feed the pot to $10 and then take their chances at the showdown, effectively transforming the game into a lottery–like merry-go-round.
