About a month and a half ago, I made a post about the new increased poker limits and how the Seminoles had found a creative way around the $100 max buy-in no limit games. Their work around only lasted about 5-6 days before they were forced to go back to $100 max buy-in cash games. I was hoping that they would have kept the increased limits, but wasn't too worried because of the upcoming deadline on their negotiations with the State of Florida. I don't think that they were too worried either.

The Seminole Indians current agreement with the State of Florida allows the following games:

Poker ($5 max bet in limit games/$100 max buy-in no limit games) - these are also allowed in several dog and horse tracks around the state, but in a more limited fashion (time restrictions, etc.)
Bingo Style Slots - At first glance, the slot machines appear to be real Las Vegas style slot machines. In reality, they are complex bingo machines cleverly disguised to look like real slots.
No Table Games
No Sports Betting

Late last year, Broward County (near Miami) voters approved an amendment allowing Las Vegas Style slot machines in their horse tracks - considering Class III gaming. Blackjack, roulette, craps, etc. falls into the same Class III gaming category.

The Seminoles immediately appealed to the state to allow them to add Las Vegas Style slots. Governor Jeb Bush's office ignored the request, so they sued the state through the federal government (Justice Department). When Crist was elected governor, the Justice Department told his office to work out a deal with the Seminoles.

In late June, the Justice Department gave the State of Florida a 60 day deadline to work out a deal with the Seminoles or they would make a decision. The Seminoles asked the Governor's office to allow them to have full Class III gaming and in return the state would get a share of the revenues. If the Justice Department ruled on the case, the Seminoles would at a minimum get Las Vegas Style slots and possibly full Class III gaming without the state getting any revenue.

A couple of days ago, the Miami Herald had an article saying that Crist and the Seminoles had worked out a deal that would allow full Class III gaming. Wooohoooo!!!

A quote from the Miami Herald article:

"In closed-door negotiations with the Seminole Tribe, Gov. Charlie Crist has offered the tribe permission to run Las Vegas-style slot machines at its casinos as well as the exclusive right to run Las Vegas-style card games, like blackjack and baccarat, according to people close to the administration.

In return, the state would get something it has coveted: a piece of the tribe's action from gambling. The tribe pays no state tax because it is a sovereign nation."

"Crist said last week that his top priority in negotiations with the Seminoles is to get as much money as possible.

''We are negotiating with them aggressively because to not do so I think puts Florida taxpayers in a bad situation,'' he said.

''Those additional revenues could help in education, they could help in health and human services and in some areas we're going to need some help in,'' Crist added."

It looks like Florida will have full casino gambling within the next few months. Maybe this will lead the way to some major poker tourneys being held in Hollywood (near Miami) or Tampa. That would be awesome. I am crossing my fingers hoping that it means that 2/5, 5/10, and 10/25 nl games will start being offered. Hopefully, they don't forget poker with the craze of the new table games.

It will be interesting to see how this increases tourism in Florida. Beaches, Disney, Universal, Busch Gardens, Blackjack, Poker - sounds like a vacation with everything for both the kids and adults.

Who knows, a few years from now Florida may be giving Las Vegas a run for it's money.

When I woke up yesterday morning, I was excited about the idea of being able to play real poker in Florida. July 1st was the first day of the new poker law in Florida. Before July 1st the maximum bet allowed in a cash game in Florida was $2. The Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa had found an interesting way to get around the wording of the new law "....without a betting limit if the required player buy-in is no more than $100." The way that they interpreted it was that you bought in for $100 at the cashier, sat down at the table, and then re-bought for the appropriate stakes.

I left Orlando around 3:30 with visions of sugar plums dancing in my head. I was imagining the craziness of the Hard Rock as I made the 1 hour 15 minute trek along I-4. I wasn't disappointed when I arrived around 4:45. I made my way into the casino (which is currently under a $120 Million renovation), worked my way over to the now much too small poker room, and got in line for the waiting list. The had a ton of $1/$2 ($100 min/$300max), 6-8 $2/$5 ($100 min/$500 max), and $10/$25 ($500 min, no max) games going. I would have preferred to play a $5/$10 game but unfortunately they didn't have any running, so I put my name on the $2/$5 waiting list.

I grabbed a slice of pizza and waited to be called. I took it as a good sign when they called my name (around 5:30) and told me that I would be seated at the Hammer Table (Table 2-7). How perfect is that? I made my way to the cashier to get my $100 in chips then headed over to the Hammer Table where I took out an additional $400 in cash.

The chip situation was absolutely hilarious - not so much in the smaller games, but in the $10/$25 game. The Hard Rock has never been able to have games bigger than $2 max bet and were not equipped (chip-wise) for No Limit games. The largest chips that they currently have are $5 chips and they are in relatively short supply. (The runners came by several times and bought $500 worth of chips.) Hundred Dollar Bills played at the table. I was told that they should be receiving the new chips within 10 days. It was interesting to watch the $10/$25 players sitting with a ton of red chips - pretty ridiculous really. The good news is that the may start spreading $5/$10 when the new chips arrive.

I witnessed the worst call that I have seen in a cash game in a while. The guy to my immediate left (seat 6) had been playing a ton of pots, but only betting post-flop when he hit. I had seen him overbet all-in after a raise only once when he flopped a set on a board with no draws. He was called by an overpair on that hand. He was sitting with about $1,600 at the beginning of the following hand. Seat 8 had about $2,000 when I first sat down at the table and had been up and down since I sat down. He played a ton of draws and hit a few and missed a few. He would also make ridiculous all-in overbets. He definitely had the turbo SNG mentality when it came to playing and obviously hadn't played much (if any) NL cash.

Seat 6 - $1,600 +/- (in the BB)
Seat 8 - $2,100 +/- (UTG +1)
Seat 9 - $700 +/-

Limp Parade - 6 to the flop
Flop is 10, 8, 6 rainbow

Seat 6 bets $20, Seat 8 raises to $60, Seat 9 calls
Seat 6 re-raises to $100, Seat 8 re-raises another $100, Seat 9 folds
Seat 6 shoves for around $1,400

I think Seat 6's hand was pretty obvious to everyone at the table. Seat 8 thought and thought and asked the guy if he would show. Seat 6 said, "Maybe" and then finally said, "I'll show." When he said, "I'll show" Seat 8 said, "OK, I call."

Hands
Seat 6 had 9,7 for the nuts (obviously)
Seat 8 had (drum roll) 10,6 (top and bottom pair) I really don't know WTF he was thinking. I mean best case scenario was that Seat 6 was shoving with a set; worst case and most likely was the straight. I guess the guy had been catching so many cards that he thought he couldn't miss.

No improvement for Seat 8 and Seat 6 took down the pot of the night ($3,500 +/-).

I saw a lot of other horrible plays, but none as horrible as the one above. The main theme was limp pre-flop or call a pre-flop raise and fold if missed for the majority of the players. Loose-passive pre-flop and weak-tight post-flop.

Queens are my friend

A few hands after the hand above, I was dealt QQ in early position and raised to $20. Seat 6 (now sitting on $3,500) makes it $70, and the clearly steaming Seat 8 goes all-in for $260. I started the hand with about $750. I had a decision to make. Based on his previous preflop play, I put Seat 6 on 77-AA, AK-A10. He definitely over valued big Aces and mid pairs. I thought for a while and figured that I basically had two options - flat call and shove the flop without an Ace or King or all-in preflop. If I flat call and he shoves, I have a big decision. I finally came to the conclusion that more often than not I was ahead of Seat 6 based on his range and he wasn't giving me that "I have Aces" vibe. I also wanted to get him to fold AK if that was what he was holding. IMO, He was capable of folding AK preflop in this spot. I decided to shove instead of playing the rest of the hand out of position against a guy that had me covered.

Seat 6 thought for a long time and finally folded AK. Seat 8 had J9 and didn't improve. The all-in play was the right play because an Ace came on the river and I'm confident that Seat 6 would have re-raised me all-in preflop if I had flat called. Whew - dodged a bullet there.

I won another medium size pot against Seat 6 after flopping a set with pocket Queens against his 1010. I also lost about $150 on another hand after getting all-in against two short stacks with AK vs KQ and KQ. A Queen hit the flop.

I didn't want to leave but had to be at work at 7:30 this morning, so I packed up my chips and left around 11:30.

I finished up $700 on the night. The game is definitely a gold mine and you can clean up if you are catching cards.

In Florida, cash games are non-existent to serious players. They currently have a $2 max bet - even on the Indian Reservations. If you want to play a cash game, the biggest around is $2/$2 fixed limit. All that is about to change this Sunday.

I enjoy playing cash games live. When I head out to Las Vegas next week, I plan on getting in my fair share of 2/5NL and 5/10NL (stakes probably depend on whether or not I'm drinking that night). Up until now (well actually Sunday July 1st), if I wanted to play NL cash games anywhere in Florida I had to either play in a home game or head over to the gambling boat in Port Canaveral. I can't remember the last time that I went out on the Suncruz boat. It is just way too much work for only 3-4 hours of poker. If I want to go on the boat, I have to drive over to Port Canaveral (about 45 minutes to 1 hour), get on the boat, wait 45 minutes for it to get 3 miles off the coast, play for 3-4 hours, wait another 45 minutes for the boat to get back to shore, and then drive back to Orlando. I have to devote 8-10 hours of my time for 3 hours of poker and it just hasn't been worth it.

Fast forward to about 1 month ago. The state passed a poorly worded bill that upped the limits. Governor Crist didn't sign it or veto it, so it basically becomes law on July 1st. (I'm not entirely sure how the entire process worked, but I like the end result.)

The most important part of the bill reads:

However, a cardroom operator may conduct games

16  of Texas Hold-em without a betting limit if the required

17  player buy-in is no more than $100.

The way I read that is that No Limit games are allowed as long as the min buy-in is $100. No max.

When I heard the news, I couldn't hold back my excitement. I called the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa a couple of weeks ago to ask them what new games they would be spreading, only to be told that their lawyers were working on it and they should know something soon.

I called again yesterday and received awesome news. No more $2/$2 No Foldem Holdem. They are going to spread the following games:

1/2NL, 2/5NL, and 10/25NL (I'm wondering where 5/10NL is, but I 'm not complaining)

Limit games up to 20/40

I was like a kid on Christmas morning. Real poker is only 1 1/2 hours away and sure to spread to Orlando in the future. I can only imagine how juicy these games will be, especially for the first few months. Weeeeeee!!!!