iGaming Business – The Florida Senate Gaming Committee has left online poker out of an expansive gaming reform bill despite calls to introduce a regulated market in the US state.
According to the Onlinepokerreport.com website, the Senate Proposed Bill 7052 was released on February 24 in an attempt to reform and update the state’s gaming industry.
Potential changes in the bill include the creation of a gaming control board, as well as increased authority, control and enforcement over gaming by the regulatory body.
The bill also proposed authorising the governor to renegotiate the gaming compact with the Seminoles Native American people, in addition to consolidating all forms of gambling other than the lottery into a single statutory chapter, and reducing requirements for operating a poker room.
Although online poker was not specifically mentioned, the bill did propose changes criminal laws related to online wagering.
Language was added to existing criminal gambling sections of the law to prohibit the operating of an online gambling business and to prohibit electronic transmissions of information for the purpose of wagering.
Despite the new bill not including references to online poker, the bill remains in a “proposed” form and is subject to change from the Gaming Committee.
A number of senators in the state’s Gaming Committee have previously discussed online poker during public hearings and were responsible for previous attempts to legalise online poker in Florida.
