Poker Tournaments Shutdown at Florida Pari-mutuels

Poker tournaments were indefinitely folded last week at Florida pari-mutuel establishments because of a possible violation of state law. Increasingly popular because of the poker boom, these tournaments have been a valuable source of income for pari-mutuels as they try to compete with Native American casinos and gambling boats. Unfortunately for the pari-mutuels and their customers, however, now the only poker options will be cash games.

Not only have people enjoyed the tournaments because of growing television coverage of major poker events, but many are also attracted to the winner-take-all nature of the competitions, as well as the idea that they can enter for a low buy-in and walk away with hundreds or thousands of dollars.

In 2004, Calder Race Course and Dania Jai-Alai fought for poker tournaments in court, as state rules had previously restricted them at pari-mutuels through limits on wagering and entry fees. A lower court agreed that there was nothing in the law that said tournaments could not be allowed. This month, the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee upheld that decision.

Thus, the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering removed all rules regarding wagering limits from the books. Unfortunately, some pari-mutuels took advantage of this and offered tournaments with no wagering limits (how there can be a poker tournament with no wagering limits is not quite clear based on reports). This is a violation of state law.

In turn, the pari-mutuel division outlawed all poker tournaments, saying they were “…an immediate danger to the public health, safety and welfare.”

David J. Roberts, Director of the pari-mutuel division, said that while some establishments hope the restrictions will be removed soon, he does not think it is in the cards. According to him, it will probably take a change in state law to bring back tournaments, and that won’t happen until 2006 at the earliest.

Originally published November 15, 2005