TampaBay.com – As a Florida House committee voted Wednesday to create a new state agency to regulate gambling, Gov. Rick Scott asked the Senate to put the brakes on its proposal to bring two resort casinos to South Florida so that the legislation would not interfere with his gambling negotiations with the Seminole Tribe. As a result, Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Garrett Richter abruptly canceled a scheduled meeting Monday to take up the Senate’s gambling bills. “The governor’s office called me and asked if we would slow down the process until we know what the terms of a potential deal…

Sun-Sentinel – Palm Beach County inched closer toward becoming slot-friendly on Monday. Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, told fellow members of the Senate Committee on Gaming that she is amending a sweeping bill that would add two casino resorts to South Florida. She wants the six counties that have recently passed nonbinding referendums for slots to be allowed to join Broward and Miami-Dade counties in offering them at dog tracks, horse tracks and jai-alai frontons. “I’ve been doing some serious thinking, and I bet on this great state of Florida,” she said. “And I’m very proud to represent counties that…

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…