Card room approval is a safe bet

Florida -- Ocala Jai Alai came one step closer last week to obtaining a state license to host poker games when the Marion County Commission voted to approve the license request.

The commission narrowly gave its blessing, voting 3-2 in favor of the proposal by Ocala Breeders Sales, which owns the jai alai fronton in Orange Lake, and Second Chance Jai Alai, which leases and operates the pari-mutuel facility. And commissioners did so without any discussion. That's probably because there really was nothing to say.

OBS and Second Chance are seeking the card room license, which would allow poker games only, in order to increase the fronton's income and, in turn, its financial viability. According to OBS lawyer Steve Gray, the fronton loses about $600,000 during the two-month jai alai season, even with off-track betting proceeds. It's more than a matter of the bottom line, though.

OBS sorely wants to keep the fronton economically viable in order to retain its pari-mutuel license, which OBS could use if it ever decided to establish a horse race track in Marion County - not an unrealistic proposition given we live in the Horse Capital of the World.

It would have been easy for the three commissioners who voted in favor of the license - Chairman Charlie Stone, Barbara Fitos and Jim Payton - to oppose the request on ideological or political grounds. Commissioner Stan McClain did just that, saying before voting against the license, "I'm against expanding gambling in Florida. So I'm going to say I'm not for any of it."

That's fine, but the reality is there are private high-stakes poker games going on in Marion County every day, but none of which pay any taxes to the state, like the Ocala Jai Alai card room will. (The state gets 10 percent of all gross revenues, and the county gets 25 percent of that.)

And we are, after all, talking about adding poker to an establishment that already takes wagers on jai alai as well as daily horse and dog racing across the country through Simulcast television. It makes sense.

The poker played at Ocala Jai Alai, if given approval by the Florida Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering, will be of modest stakes, regulated and taxed. And it will be being played in a long-standing gambling establishment.

The commission acted prudently, indeed logically, in approving the card room proposal. The state should follow suit. Enough said.

News Added: 26 December, 2007

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