The state dealt a new hand to licensed poker rooms in July and it has meant full houses for many of them.

Revenue at Florida’s 18 state-regulated card rooms shot up almost 60
percent from June to July, hitting what is thought to be an all-time
high of $7.7 million, according to preliminary state figures. Fueling
the explosive growth are laws that took effect July 1 increasing the
betting limits and letting the rooms stay open seven days a week.

Poker receipts at both of Broward County’s horse tracks doubled in a
month, while the Palm Beach Kennel Club in West Palm Beach is close to
becoming the first licensed poker room to generate $1 million in a
single month.

“[The laws] changed the game entirely,” said Seth Feder, a poker dealer
at The Isle Casino & Racing at Pompano Park. “Before it was for
fun. Now you’ll see about 50-60 percent of it on a more professional
level. They’ll come out, and this is what they do for a living.”

The new laws increased the betting limits in certain games from $2 to
$5 and allowed no-limit Texas Hold ‘em games with a maximum $100
buy-in. In addition, the pari-mutuels no longer have to shut down their
poker rooms on days when they have no live races or jai-alai
performances.

With the state taxing card room revenue at 10 percent, the new poker
laws could generate up to an extra $3 million for Florida if receipts
stay at their current level.

While poker’s surge in popularity has helped pari-mutuels statewide,
the receipts at Broward’s three racetrack casinos are a small
percentage of their business when compared with slot machines. Slots
generated $18.5 million in revenue in July with half that money going
to public education.

The higher stakes spurred a noticeable migration of online poker
players from their homes to the card rooms, said Frank Greentree, who
locally hosts the radio show Poker Talk America. The allure was fleeting for some online players who since have returned to their computers to play, he said.

The Palm Beach Kennel Club added 20 poker tables in July to accommodate
demand, giving it the largest card room on the East Coast outside of
Atlantic City, said Noah Carbone, the card room’s director. The room
can hold up to 600 players, which it did the day the law took effect.

“The bump comes from the part of the public we weren’t reaching before
because of the [low] limits before,” Carbone said. “We believe they
were playing home games, cruise ships and on the Internet.”

Poker revenue at Broward’s four card rooms skyrocketed from $776,000 in
June to $1.33 million in July. Leading the way were The Isle Casino
& Racing at Pompano Park and Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in
Hallandale Beach. Both saw their poker revenue more than double with
The Isle’s numbers jumping from $280,300 to $635,000, while
Gulfstream’s revenue went up from $124,400 to $294,100.

The two horse tracks previously had been limited to operating only on
racing days, which meant no more than four days a week. Both debuted
new, more spacious poker rooms earlier this year.

Gulfstream Park’s 20-table room is in the space formerly devoted to a
nightclub and track officials are considering adding more tables, said
Mike Mullaney, the track’s spokesman.

The Isle’s new room sits in the center of the second story of its $160
million casino building. Poker revenue is more than four times higher
than last year when the track’s poker room was in its aging grandstand.

“On the weekends we have all 34 tables going at one time,” said Doug
Shipley, The Isle’s general manager. “We’ve had to triple our payroll
for poker.”

Even on Wednesday afternoon, The Isle had more than 200 players around
tables – some joking around, others focused on their cards with blank
expressions and the losers waiting to get back in the game.

Larry Davis, 57, of Boca Raton, left the tables at the Seminole casinos
once the stakes went up at The Isle. He now plays poker at The Isle
three or four times a week.

“I never came here before July 1,” he said.

One Broward card room has been struggling with the new law though.
Dania Jai-Alai’s room generated $171,900 in July compared with $240,700
in July 2006. Dania Jai-Alai used to have an advantage over the horse
tracks because its poker room would close only one day a week.

“All of the sudden everyone was running seven days a week offering the
same thing,” said John Knox, Dania Jai-Alai’s general manager.
“Competitively it spread the poker players all over the place.”

Mardi Gras Racetrack & Gaming Center in Hallandale Beach had a jump
in poker receipts from $200,200 in June to $228,700 in July. Mardi Gras
hopes to debut a new poker room in October, increasing its number of
tables from 30 to 42, said Dan Adkins, the track’s chief gambling
executive.

Shipley said he’s optimistic that poker will continue to take off.

“We’re just starting to see the fruits of our labor now,” he said.

Recovered from the Poker Players Alliance archive index. This is the archived item as preserved.