From Sun Sentinel – As I sat at a poker table the other day, playing a free tournament for a chance to win a spot in the $10 million Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open later this month, I couldn’t help but chuckle — and marvel — at how much the Florida gambling landscape has changed over the past 15 years.
When card rooms were approved by the state in 1997, the maximum bet was 25 cents and each pot was capped by law at $10. You couldn’t even really call it poker, since there was no bluffing and the betting action usually had to stop before all the cards were dealt.
As gambling propositions go, it was ridiculous.
But now the pendulum has swung to the other extreme, with no more limits in poker and a rapidly expanding menu of wagering options statewide.
Yet we still don’t have any semblance of consistency to our gambling scene, leading to confusion for locals and visitors alike. Tribal casinos have one set of rules. Parimutuel racinos have another.
