Mardi Gras Racetrack poker room to go 24 hours

Slipping through a loophole, Mardi Gras Racetrack & Gaming has received state approval to operate a 24-hour poker room.

The first non-Indian poker room in Florida to go 24 hours opens July 1.

The Florida Legislature approved daily poker for pari-mutuels when it revised gambling laws in 2007. But the language called for 12 hours per racing permit, and Mardi Gras holds two: its own and one from the Biscayne Kennel Club, which closed in 1997.

Mardi Gras president Dan Adkins earlier this year argued that Mardi Gras should be allowed to stack both permits, and the state's Department of Administrative Hearings agreed last week.

"Look, I'm big on finding loopholes when I can find them, but only because I'm forced to," Adkins said. "I've got to be creative to compete with the Seminoles because I don't have blackjack and everything else they have."

Blackjack began Sunday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, and the three Seminole casinos in Broward County have 24-hour poker. The tribe pays $100 million a year for the exclusive rights to blackjack and other table games. Mardi Gras and two other "racinos" in Broward pay a 10 percent tax on poker and a 50 percent tax on slots. Adkins and others have lobbied the state to reduce the slot tax to 35 percent. This year, Florida's 23 poker rooms have been taxed $7.4 million. Taxes from Broward slots have surpassed $116 million.

This year, Isle Casino and Racing in Pompano Beach has collected eight times the poker revenues of Mardi Gras, and nearby Gulfstream outgains it about 3 to 1. Both have more tournaments and more games where players buy in for $100, then often rebuy if they lose it all.

"I don't think it'll have any effect," Gulfstream poker room manager Scott Poole said. "We absolutely have a different clientele. They have lower-limit players and we have higher-limit players."

Seminole CEO James Allen said: "We wish them luck."

Adkins conceded he can't plan on a poker boom, but Mardi Gras will hold more tournaments, which often start at 10 a.m. and run until 2 a.m. The poker room, which was not remodeled when the dog track added slots in late 2006, will eventually move into fresh digs on the fourth floor.

Gulfstream and The Isle each have an inactive second horse-racing permit, and are evaluating whether to go for 24 hours of poker.

"We need to do our homework," said Isle General Manager Michael Bloom.

Whether the poker business grows or not, Adkins said he'll take the victory. He placed a billboard on Interstate 595 trumpeting the poker growth to celebrate.

"The laws are just so crazy, and the Legislature needs to sit down and correct it all," he said. "I'm anxiously awaiting the next legislative sessions to fix this broken machine."

Sun Sentinel

News Added: 24 June, 2008

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