Poker Overtakes Dog Racing Revenue in Florida
Written by Matt W | Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Dog Racing has long been considered a lucrative revenue maker for the state of Florida, and the local government has enjoyed the benefits of taxing this sport. However, with the expansion of poker at the beginning July at gambling locations around the state, it can safely be said that the card game now makes more money for Florida than dog racing.
At least three racetracks have reported that their income from poker is more than from dog racing within such a short period of time. Take, for instance, the dog track in Ebro, Florida which reported to the authorities that it made $2,900,000 from racing and $3,400,000 from poker in the same time period. A dog track in Pensacola made $1,900,000 from racing and over $2 million from their card room.
And take a look at the race track in Melbourne, Florida, which saw poker bringing in a staggering $4,500,000 compared to the $250,000 from dog racing!
The expansion of poker laws in Florida comes hand in hand with a rise in the call for the closure of dog racing tracks due to animal cruelty issues. “Greyhound racing is dying, while interest in poker continues to increase,” admits the head of GREY2K, Carey Theil. “Across the state, dog tracks are becoming poker rooms that happen to have dogs running in circles.”
New Florida gambling legislation dictates that in order to operate a poker room (or a slot machine for that matter), which happens to be located outside Seminole Native American tribe territory, the casino must be in the possession of a parti-mutuel license. The twist is that in order to obtain such a license, the operators needs to hold races a certain number of days a year.
In the case of dog racing tracks, they need to hold races at least 180 days a year in order to earn a poker or slots license.
Other Articles Published on CompatiblePoker.com
· Written by Matt W · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
