Florida’s gambling regulatory authorities have filed complaints against two pari-mutuel cardrooms in the state.
The allegations of the local regulators have been placed with the authorities claiming that the establishments did not comply with the rules concerning so-called designated player games after an agreement between the state and the Seminole Tribe was reached earlier in 2017.
An administrative complaint against the Sarasota Kennel Club was filed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation at the end of the previous week. About a week before that, the gambling regulator filed a similar complaint against Pensacola Greyhound Racing.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation alleged the two pari-mutuel cardrooms that they are operating a casino-type game, in which players do not play against each other, but play against a bank instead. A meeting between a legal representative of the Seminole Tribe and the Department officials was held last week in order for the two parties discuss a possible settlement agreement.
Barry Richard, the lawyer who represented the Seminole Tribe, confirmed of the meeting in a telephone interview for a local media. He also shared his hopes that the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation was aimed to comply with the settlement that the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe agreed upon earlier this summer.
What is interesting, is the fact that the recent complaints filed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation do not provide specific details on how the pari-mutuel games provided by the above-mentioned cardrooms were illegal. Pensacola Greyhound Racing and Sarasota Kennel Club may not be the only two cardrooms that are to be legally attacked by the state’s regulatory authorities. If the Department is to follow a more aggressive enforcement strategy, it may issue similar complaints against other cardrooms in the region.
Pari-Mutuels as Part of Florida Gambling Landscape
The pari-mutuel games have been one of the most controversial issues at the time when the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe have been negotiating over a potential agreement. The disagreement originated from the contradictory nature of pari-mutuel games, which are currently extremely popular among the local players and which have been considered to have been violating the exclusive rights of Florida tribal casinos to offer banked card games to their customers.
As reported by Casino Guardian earlier this summer, Governor Rick Scott and the Seminole Tribe reached an agreement at the beginning of July, after a District Court judge ruled in favour of the tribe in the legal battle. The agreement was focused on a certain part of the compact which the Tribe had with the state and which expired back in 2015.
The compact, signed in 2010, gave the exclusive permission for the Tribe to offer the so-called banked card games for a period of five years in return to a $1-billion payment. However, they continued to do so even after their compact had already expired.
Under the agreement reached in July, the state of Florida dropped its appeal of the Federal Court ruling. The state also agreed to follow an aggressive enforcement strategy towards the pari-mutuels that fail to come in line with the state law in terms of conducting designated-player games. For the time being, state law requires players to compete against each other, as opposed to laying against the house.
After the local Seminole Tribe officially got back its right to offer blackjack tables across the state for a 14-year exclusivity period, the state was guaranteed to receive part of its revenues. In addition, a $220-million payment was agreed to be received immediately by the State.
- Author
Daniel Williams
