I'm leery of Scott's allegiance to the Republican Party under Adelson's influence. For the most part, Florida gaming legislation is determined by the influence of the Florida gaming interests. However, should online poker authorization be included in a Florida bill, it may be met with a threat of veto by Scott, due to Adelson's anti-gambling jihad, until the online poker provision is expunged. Or worse, any gaming legislation - and the Seminole compact - could end up with a clear ban on internet gambling (including poker) for the same reason.

That's not to say that Crist is absolutely a better choice in these matters, but he did include accommodation for online poker in the 2010 Seminole compact (not Scott, it was Crist - white_lytning misspoke^^). And, as a Democratic Party member (at least at the moment - he was a Republican at the time the 2010 compact was negotiated), Crist won't be beholden to Adelson.

There is no clear-cut choice that would advocate for online poker from the Florida Governor's office. But my sense is that Scott would do more to block online poker authorization from arriving at his desk as part of a Florida gambling overhaul bill than Crist would. FWIW.

I sent Crist a message on FB. I don't really expect a response, but we may be more likely to get one if several people engage him on the issue: https://www.facebook.com/charliecrist

I will email him too: charlie@charliecrist.com

Saw this article today. It has some info about the Gov race that you might want to read.

http://www.southflorida.com/gambling...0,584182.story

I only moved to FL a few years ago so I don't remember Crist as a Republican governor. Was he more center leaning? I've always guessed that Democrats as a whole support online poker more than Republicans, even though here it isn't as clear because he's obviously running as a Dem just so he can run against Scott.

Poker support feels more like a Libertarian thing anyway, and Libertarian views are mixed pretty well among Dems and GOPs alike.

Despite being the party of "less government intrusion", a ban on online gambling (including poker) has been part of the national Republican platform for many years. From the 2012 platform:
With Adelson doling out millions to Republicans to forward online gambling prohibition on both the federal and state level, I think it is a bad bet to choose any Republican leader over a Democrat of other party member for a position of control over Internet poker legislation.

I wouldn't count on Libertarian support either. They would oppose legislation to license and regulate Internet poker on their free-market philosophy, in opposition to any but minimal government regulation of any market. While a free, unregulated market might fling the doors open to ipoker in the U.S., the current political reality is that bringing ipoker to the U.S. requires votes for poker licensing legislation. Libertarians would vote against it, just as they would vote against a prohibition bill.

While Crist is no gem, and could easily flip-flop again with changing winds, at least he is currently not aligned with the Republican party philosophy, nor beholden to Adelson, and would unlikely veto a bill that includes ipoker licensing in Florida. It's not a deal-breaker under Crist, but also not a campaign issue. He'll pretty much ride the wave of vested interest money and political clout, which in Florida means no gambling expansion, except for whatever money can buy and can be disguised under the umbrella of preserving regulated access.

I have no faith in either Gov candidate.

I'm still holding on to hope that something positive will come from a compact re-negotiation. I know its a long shot with the Indians, but I don't think ipoker has any chance of being included in the bill that we are all expecting to transform Florida gaming. I think the best shot at online poker comes from the Seminoles and we will hopefully hear something solid regarding the compact after the election but before session starts. January or February is my guess.

Agreed. And the recent agreement between PokerStars and the Seminole Tribe (to allow players to buy-in to the Seminole Hollywood $10M Guarantee Main Event online with their PokerStars account) is an indication that the tribe is thinking about it. Makes me fantasize about the possibility that the tribe will get an exclusive for online poker in FL in the next compact, using PokerStars as their service provider.

OMG, that would be amazing!

Any suggestions for who to contact in the Seminole Tribe to ask for this?

I'd finally buy a condo in FL if that happens. Hell, the entire american playing community would converge onto florida almost immediately. It would change the landscape of online poker in the US overnight. So I don't see it happening without a huge fight.

No, I don't know anyone specifically.

Documents show Fla. Gov. Scott willing to give added gambling concessions to Seminole tribe

Confusing article. I guess no poker in Miami in the foreseeable future.

"New Senate head puts tribal gaming into question" headline from The Tampa Tribune yesterday.

http://tbo.com/news/politics/new-sta...tion-20141115/


"Failure to renew the compact means no more card games for the Seminoles — and no more guaranteed money to state coffers.

“In the event that the authorization to offer card games is terminated, the Tribe shall have ninety (90) days to close such games,” says the 54-page compact signed by then-Gov. Charlie Crist and tribal Chairman Mitchell Cyprus in April 2010."

Maybe this will make way for the Caesars, MGM, etc . . . ?

Sounds like what they may be wanting to do. Interesting that their argument is, let's step back and take a look at this issue.

"Andy Gardiner, the Orlando Republican set to take over this week as Senate president, says the state government shouldn't necessarily rush into another deal with the tribe over the money it makes on gambling.

Gov. Rick Scott will lead the negotiations, Gardiner said in a prepared statement, “but I think we need to take a step back and not assume that this has to be done.”

This is almost the exact wording Adelson's group first used when seeking to ban online gaming, i.e. we're not asking for a ban, we want to step back and take the time to examine this issue.

As Adelson wants a casino in FL and donated heavily to Gov. Scott, I'm sure he supports shutting the tribes down to open the doors for his casino. This reeks of Adelson to me.

Not necessarily. Gardiner is from Orlando, home of Mickey & Friends. He is part of that anti-gambling juggernaut.

As for Gov. Scott, the apparent messages seem to be mixed. He did get a lot of money from Adelson, which seems to foretell a bent towards authorizing So. Florida destination casinos. OTOH, Scott did try to push through a new Seminole compact this last spring, which would have tabled destination casinos for the next seven years. And he got some campaign contributions this year from the Seminoles as well.

Given the opposition to destination casinos from the Seminoles, Disney, the pari-mutuels and the anti-gambling expansion conservatives, I don't think they will get authorized in Florida anytime soon, despite the casino-sourced campaign contributions and the lure of increased state revenues. On the other hand, I can't see the legislature not accepting a renewed Seminole compact.

My predictions for the 2015 session:

A new Seminole compact, with increased revenues for the state and authorization of craps & roulette at some of the tribal casinos.
Some form of partial de-coupling of poker operations from racing, at licensed pari-mutuel facilities.
No slots expansion.
No destination casinos.
No new gambling commission/division.
No online poker, although the new compact might have a clause that authorizes it for the Seminoles should it become authorized to anyone else sometime during the duration of the compact.
Closing loopholes in pari-mutuel laws to prevent any further expansion.
Clarification of the anti-Internet-cafe-gambling statute.

One thing to keep in mind: a new Seminole compact does not close the door on destination casinos for the term of the compact. The state legislature in theory could change gears anytime, authorizing destination casinos. That would simply negate the terms of the Seminole compact, allowing the tribe to run all Class III gaming without revenue sharing with the state. The Florida gambling study did determine that under this scenario, the state would earn more revenues overall.

FYP

Thank you for the response, PX. I always love hearing your opinion and your clarification on these issues. The article was reading to me that Adelson was shooting to shut down card operations for the Seminole tribe in exchange for getting approval for outside entities to come in and build. I thought Adelson's involvement in FL with the medical marijuana and Gov. Scott's re-election was only with an end-game of getting his casino built.

That's absolutely correct in regards to Adelson. I just think it won't happen regardless.

I agree with you on everything except for the commission. I think that will happen. Both the House and Senate bills included a commission last year. There was an attempt at a commission a few years before that. The legislature is sick of dealing with this every year and I think they would rather go back to some form of commission than have to deal with these same issues every year.

I also think you will see something done about player-banked games like 3-card poker in the cardrooms. Right now it seems like a grey area. I don't know if they will be prohibited or the opposite.

That article that was in the Tamp Bay Tribune quoted above shouldn't be taken too seriously either. There is going to be a new compact finalized soon. They were very close before the election and probably decided to hold off on finalizing anything until after. There is going to be some type of gaming reform as soon as they have direction from the compact negotiations. That was the hold up last year.

PX -- I'd like to update the OP when it gets closer to session, should I just PM you?

Yes.

I took the elimination of the legislature's gambling committee by the new Senate President, pushing gambling issues back to the Regulated Industries Committee, as a hint that gambling regulation would stay under the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. And without a bill to establish destination casinos, I thought there would be less call for a gambling commission. Just guessing, though.

Editorial: Lawmakers should respect the Seminole gaming pact

State Senator Margolis has introduced a bill (again - same as last session) to authorize the Florida lottery to sell Florida lottery tickets on the Internet. Nothing to do with online poker or other online gambling, but shows that the Internet is on the Florida lawmakers radar for gambling issues.

Supreme Court sides with dog tracks on satellite card rooms

Firstly, I apologize for derailing this thread a little. I'm not familiar with other Florida specific threads in the legal forum.

I'm simply looking for a Florida tax attorney familiar with gaming who can help me explore the possibilities of establishing an LLC with S-Corporation status for the purposes of paying myself to play poker, and save on Self Employment tax. There has been lots of talk about it in various threads on 2+2 (with little movement on the subject over the past few years), but I wanted to speak directly with an attorney based in Florida before doing any more research. I understand the process, but there's a pretty big question mark as to whether or not this sort of behavior is legal.

Any names, references, please pm me. Thanks!

She has introduced two other bills so far too, one of which would legalize advanced deposit wagering and one that would place restrictions on electoral donations and funding to and from people in the gambling industry. The ADW bill is kind of funny to read because its clear she has no idea what ADW is.

She is a wackjob that should have left office years ago IMO.

The Supreme Court decision is an interesting read. Not sure I really agree with them regarding their interpretation of the language but it looks like it will have some possible lasting effects on the industry.