An administrative law judge in Florida ruled earlier this week that one of the top destinations in Florida for poker tournaments, bestbet Jacksonville, has been violating state laws in running certain games on their floor.
The case was a challenge by the Jacksonville Kennel Club, the owners of bestbet Jacksonville, and was heard by Administrative Law Judge Suzanne Van Wyk. The original law designated that pari-mutuel operators – of which bestbet Jacksonville would fall under – could not operate games that are “banked,” or which feature the house playing against the players. Those types of games, most often blackjack, three card poker and other table games, are the purveyance of the Seminole Indians of Florida and their properties located around the Sunshine State.
To get around this law, bestbet Jacksonville offered a variant of three-card poker that, instead of having the house bank the game, saw a “designated player” used. That “designated player” would then play against the others in the game and take the position that the house would normally be put in. According to original complaints filed, however, bestbet Jacksonville allegedly took the actions a step further.
In the case of the Florida card room, which generates almost $1 million per month in action, they took the steps of hiring a third-party person to take the seat in the “designated player” box and were provided with chips that were handed out to other players. There is some question as to whether these third party players actually played any of the games they were sitting in on (and hence complying the law) or were just there to man the chip stack and not play (a violation). According to Jacksonville Business Journal writer Dara Kam, the complaints mentioned this factor, with a lawyer from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, William Hall, stating on June 1, “All the designated player does is sit next to the chips (and doesn’t play)…can that person legitimately be called a player?”
Apparently it was enough for Judge Van Wyk to make a decision on the case. In a 54-page decision, Van Wyk found that the bestbet Jacksonville “designated player” game was in violation of the state’s gaming codes. “Given the strict statutory prohibition against gambling, the intricate regulatory scheme imposed and the narrow carve out for card rooms, the games cannot be allowed to continue to operate in the current manner,” the judge wrote. “(The card room statute) is that authorized games are not casino gaming because the participants play against each other. As currently operated, the designated player is a player in name only.”
In making her decision, Van Wyk handed down a $4500 fine to bestbet Jacksonville (along with the order to cease the games). It is expected that attorneys for the card room will file an appeal and it is not known whether bestbet Jacksonville will quit spreading the “designated player” games until the final decision is rendered.
The case has become important because of the ongoing fight between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe that had exclusivity over “house banked” gaming in the state. The previous deal between the parties expired in December 2015 and, despite negotiations between the two entities, no new compact has emerged that passed muster in the Florida Legislature. If a deal cannot be reached, the state of Florida looks to lose approximately $3 billion in Seminole gaming revenues over a five-year period.
In just a few years, bestbet Jacksonville has become one of the most popular stops for many of the tournament poker circuits that traipse across the United States. As host for stops on the World Poker Tour, the Mid-States Poker Tour, the CardPlayer Poker Tour and other smaller circuits (not to mention their own in-house events), bestbet Jacksonville challenges some of the other operations in the state such as the Seminole Hard Rock locations and dog and horse racing tracks located around the state.
