|
 Starting this week Seminole Casinos will be offering exclusive Las Vegas-style High Stakes, No Limit, 24 hour poker action thanks to a recent agreement between the Florida Legislature and Seminole Tribal Council. The new "all in, all the time" offerings will be available at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos in Hollywood and Tampa as well as at the Seminole Casinos in Coconut Creek, Hollywood, Brighton and Immokalee.
"This is our emancipation," says Richard Oliver of Hollywood, who usually avoids local card rooms in favor of Las Vegas or higher-stakes home games
Smelling the money to be had, many poker pros have already stated that they plan on visiting the Sunshine State, in order to take advantage of those who don't know how to play higher stakes. Mike "The Mouth" Matusow recently mentioned that he may start playing in Florida now that they offer "real poker." And Seattle pro Rick Fuller says many are talking about setting up at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood.
"There's a lot of money in South Florida and a lot of people who just want to play big and don't really care if they win or lose," says Fuller, who's already begun searching for a one-month rental.
The Hard Rock's public relations manager, Ryan Rogers, says that their poker room has gotten "a ton" of calls from pros and high-rollers but while poker players are thrilled with the new no-limit law, the average person may not see much difference.
"We haven't seen the needle move on tourism related to gambling to this point," said Nicki Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Since South Florida is not widely considered a "gambling destination," Grossman and others do not expect to see any economic impact for business outside of the casinos.
"It's not big enough to create negative issues," she said speaking out against worries some may have in the community about having the games accessible at all hours of the night.
Slots, horse and lottery players have been able to bet all they want for quite some time but poker has faced some pretty strict limits since 1997. Up until now poker players have been limited to 25 cents a bet and a $100 buy-in into tournaments but come Thursday that could all change. While many casinos will be treading carefully for fear of running off their regulars they will begin offering games and tournaments at a much higher cost.
Poker room managers estimate that they could see a 10 to 15 percent increase in revenue, from the expanded hours. Up until now card rooms have been limited to 12 hours a day but now, as part of the new rules, they will be allowed to remain open 18 hours on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends.
"We have 90 percent of the people who want to play already here," Palm Beach Kennel Club card room manager Noah Carbone said. "But if there are, say, three more tables added, they'll all be pretty big games."
Card rooms will officially begin offering uncapped poker at 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning. Those who want to take advantage of the new offerings should contact their local casino or poker room for more information.
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed