I am starting a campaign to change Florida law to raise the wagering cap for legal home poker games, and can use help from other Florida players.
Currently, the law reads:
Quote:
(a) "Penny-ante game " means a game or series of games of poker, pinochle, bridge, rummy, canasta, hearts, dominoes, or mah-jongg in which the winnings of any player in a single round, hand, or game do not exceed $10 in value.
which I want to get changed to:
Quote:
(a) "Penny-ante game " means a game or series of games of poker, pinochle, bridge, rummy, canasta, hearts, dominoes, or mah-jongg in which the wager of any player in a single round, hand, game or tournament does not exceed $100 in value.
The first step is finding a Florida congressional member who will introduce the legislation. I have written to my Representative and my Senator (see below) to request their involvement. Anyone who wants to get involved, please write something similar to your representatives to ask them to introduce legislation this congressional session.
Find your representative (click the tab at left to Find Your Representative). Please post here or PM with a copy of your letter. You can write to both your FL Representative and your Senator as well.
The main points to push are:
1. The current statute is outdated and makes almost all social home poker games illegal.
2. There is currently no clear legal distinction for Florida poker players to judge at what stakes they should limit their home game and at what stakes they are required to attend a licensed cardroom instead.
3. The current outdated law makes it difficult for law enforcement to distinguish between a harmless social game and a commercial underground game.
Once we find a representative to introduce the legislation, we can start lobbying for it.
Quote:
Dear Representative Hooper:
As a resident of District 50 in Clearwater, I am writing to ask you to introduce a bill in the Florida legislature this session to update current Florida gambling law regarding penny-ante home games of poker and similar social games, specifically section 849.085 of the Florida statutes.
Current Florida law provides that no participant of a legal penny-ante game may win more than $10 in a single round, hand or game. Although I have been unable to determine when this law was enacted, I believe it is sufficient to say that it is outdated. Due to inflation since the enactment of this statute, the $10 cap makes it virtually impossible to play a recreational home poker game of reasonable stakes while staying within the law.
As an example, it is usual to play a home poker tournament where the players buy in for $25 each, with seating for 20 players – which is two tables to start. Almost anyone can afford $25 for an evening of entertainment. It is standard practice to award the prize pool in a poker tournament to about the top 10 to 20% of the entrants, in order of finish (poker tournaments are played until all players but one lose all their tournament chips). In this example, there is $500 in the prize pool with prizes for the top four players of $200 for first, $125 for second, $100 for third and $75 for fourth.
Under Florida law, this tournament would be illegal. In fact, you couldn’t legally run such a home game tournament with much more than a $1 per person buy-in. Certainly this is an unreasonable cap today, especially considering the current popularity of poker.
I propose changing the current $10 win cap to a more reasonable $100 maximum bet or buy-in. With this larger cap, Floridians who play in penny-ante home games will be able to have a completely legal game, without the worry of being raided by the police for illegal gambling. Changing the cap in this manner would allow for legal penny-ante games, while still disallowing the higher stakes games, that are better suited to licensed cardrooms for security and regulation purposes, to be played in home games.
Specifically, I ask that legislation be introduced that changes the wording of Statute 849.085(2)(a) to the following:
“(a) "Penny-ante game " means a game or series of games of poker, pinochle, bridge, rummy, canasta, hearts, dominoes, or mah-jongg in which the wager of any player in a single round, hand, game or tournament does not exceed $100 in value.”
Having a realistic cap would have the additional benefit of a reasonable and clear definition for Florida poker players of which stakes they are allowed to play at home and which stakes they are required to attend a licensed cardroom to play. Since nearly every recreational home game currently played for money is illegal under the current $10 cap, enforcement of the law is close to non-existent in the state as it is too difficult to distinguish between a friendly social game and an underground commercial game. The new $100 cap would help law enforcement to know what poker games outside the cardrooms are prohibited as well as give players a clear guideline to the proper restrictions for their social home games.
I thank you for taking the time to read this, and look forward to your reply. I would be particularly interested in speaking with you directly on this issue as it is of concern to myself and my friends, all voters who enjoy our recreational games of poker. Please also tell me the best method to arrange such a conversation in person.
Last edited by PokerXanadu; 11-14-2011 at 08:03 AM.