Floridians were happy to hear earlier this month that the "live table" stakes have risen in Florida. Players will soon be able to play $5/5 Limit tables and $100 max buy-in No Limit Texas Holdem games.

So what's the controversey all about? It comes with the wording of the text. For no-limit games it states that no betting limits can be set if the required buyin is no more than $100.

When you look at this closely it implies that a person could sit down at a $1/2 No Limit table with more than $100.  The word "required" is what is throwing so many people off.  Technically speaking with the way the legislation was written, this would be true.  A person could sit down at a $3/6 table as long as he was allowed to do so for under $100.

Unfortunately, this new Florida poker legislation was not meant to be that way.  The legislation is still very new and is not expected to be implemented until July 1st.  By then I believe the wording will be revised to allow players to only buy-in and lose a MAX of $100 at a time.  

Currently there are no No Limit - non tournament games running in Florida and the stakes are still very low.  Players can currently bet on $2/2 Limit games or $45 buy-in Texas Holdem tournaments where No Limit is played.

In the new legislation players will also be allowed to play in high stakes poker tournaments held twice a year.

One lawyer had this to say about the confusion.  "The ink isnt even dry on this bill (let alone signed by the governor)."

The increased stakes are a step in the right direction.  Many poker players walk away losers from these low stakes tables not only because of bad play but because of the low stakes.  After tip and rake eventually what little money was on the table in the first place tends to disappear quite rapidly.

Posted by Roger