Florida Poker Laws
- Florida poker players are no longer restricted to a maximum $100 buy-in.poker - a pair of aces with poker chips 5 image by Andrew Brown from Fotolia.com
Florida enacted a new poker law on July 1, 2010. The law raised the maximum buy-in at a table and at tournaments and removed restrictions on the types of poker games that card rooms can offer. The poker tables can remain open for business for extended hours under the new law. The Florida legislation has caused some concern for players who are not used to games with higher buy-ins, but it has also drawn the interest of tournament poker players because the state now allows the larger buy-ins associated with major tournaments such as those promoted by the World Series of Poker. - The new law abolishes the $100 maximum buy-in for no-limit hold 'em cash games. The old maximum essentially outlawed deep-stack poker, making the game largely one of chance in the Seminole State. "Now, we can have real poker," said Randy Kasper, founder of Poker Players International, to Poker News Daily. Florida no longer has a $5 maximum bet for limit games, and tournament buy-ins are no longer capped at $800. Regardless of the amount, cash is not allowed at the tables. Players can only play with chips.
- Florida now allows all non-banked card games, which are games played against other players rather than the house (an example of the latter being blackjack). This sets the stage for more unusual games such as Badugi, and makes it legal to run multigame tournaments such as H.O.R.S.E. (hold 'em, Omaha high-low, razz, 7-card stud and 7-card stud high-low).
- Card rooms can be open 18 hours on weekdays and 24 hours on weekends and state-declared holidays. The weekend is defined to begin at 12:01 a.m. on Friday morning, meaning that card rooms can run continually from Thursday morning through the weekend, extending into Monday morning at their discretion.
- Some poker room managers have expressed to Ante Up magazine their concern that players might lose their bankrolls quickly in the new deep-stack environment. On the other hand, the new law is expected to draw some major tournaments to Florida, such as the World Series of Poker, notes Poker Room Review. Days before the law took effect, some poker room managers anticipated a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in revenue, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
