Vegas in Florida? You bet.
Maxwell: A Q&A on the casino and massive gambling expansion.
Last week, Florida lawmakers signed off on a massive gambling and casino expansion — right on the heels of Floridians voting for a “No Casinos” movement.
You have questions. And I have answers, some of which might even be accurate. So let’s get started.
Scott, can you answer the biggest gambling question I have?
Sure. Always split aces and eights, even when the dealer’s showing a 10.
That wasn’t my question.
It’s still good advice.
Fine, but my biggest question is: What the heck just happened?
Florida lawmakers voted to allow more casinos, more games and sports betting throughout the state.
But I thought gambling was illegal in Florida.
It is. Except on tribal land, in counties where voters approve it and virtually any other time and place legislators want to let it happen.
That last part sounds like a pretty fat loophole.
Fatter than a deer tick on a coonhound.
Sometimes I forget you’re a Southerner.
Yep. And I’ll bet you a bowl of grits and red-eye gravy that some of this gambling deal doesn’t survive court challenges.
Does anyone else agree with you?
Yes. One of the lawmakers who voted to approve the deal. He literally said: “I don’t think it’s going to survive.”
What kind of politician approves a deal that he doesn’t even think is legal?
The kind you’ve been electing for the past couple of decades. The legal hurdle is the constitutional amendment votes passed in 2018 that said Florida can’t add any new casinos or casino games without voter approval … which the Legislature just did.
They must have some justification.
They do. A couple of their buddies — namely Donald Trump and a billionaire developer down in South Florida — really, really want new casinos.
I mean they must have some LEGAL justification.
Oh yeah. They may have that, too. The amendment included an exception to allow new gambling on tribal lands.
But I read that this new deal would allow sports betting throughout the entire state. Correct.
So I could place a bet while using my phone on the toilet? Gross, but yes.
But my toilet isn’t on tribal lands.
That’s one of the reasons why this deal may get tossed in court. Lawmakers and the Seminole Tribe argue the computer servers that process your bets will be located on tribal property.
But that doesn’t make sense. I mean, sports betting is already legal in Nevada. But I can’t place legal bets from my toilet now even though the servers are there.
First of all, you need to spend less time on your toilet. It can lead to hemorrhoids. But
everything you said is correct, which is why this deal may get tossed.
If the deal stands, when can I start placing bets?
Oct. 15. In time to see the Bucs beat the Bears.
On any app I want?
No. Just the ones approved by the Tribe.
You mentioned something about Donald Trump up above. How’s he involved?
Well, Republican lawmakers have historically claimed to have moral and economic objections to casino gambling. But those deeply held principles faded as soon as the Trump family said they wanted to open a casino in South
Florida, and the politically connected owner of the famed Fontainebleau hotel in South Florida said he wanted one, too.
But the Trumps aren’t members of the Seminole Tribe, are they?
No.
So what do they have to do with the tribal compact?
Nothing. But Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has mega MAGA love for Trump, decided to tuck language in the Tribe’s compact that opens the door for new non-tribal casinos more than 15 miles away from the Tribe’s existing casinos.
Where is Trump’s resort and the Fontainebleau?
Slightly more than 15 miles away from the Tribe’s existing casinos.
And legislators agreed?
The lawmakers didn’t include the 15-mile language in their bill. But the head of No Casinos says the governor’s compact, coupled with the legislative deal, allows lawmakers to try to do so down the road. So who wins in this deal? Definitely the Tribe. The deal lets them build new casinos and add roulette and craps games to their casinos as well.
Why aren’t craps and roulette legal now?
Because gambling laws are stupid. Florida lawmakers somehow decided years ago that slots and blackjack were OK gambling but dice and roulette wheels were not.
That sounds crazy.
As a June bug on a moonshine bender.
You’re doing that bumpkin thing again. Who else wins?
Taxpayers. They get $500 million a year.
Great. To fund things like mental health services and pre-K classes? Theoretically, but no. Huh?
Democrats proposed a clause that said the new gambling revenues should fund such needs. But Republicans ruled the proposal out of order. You’re out of order!
Are you doing Al Pacino? Sorry. I got carried away. Other big winners are the legislators themselves. How so?
The deal also creates a gaming commission to regulate non-Tribal gambling. Seats on the commission will pay $136,000 a year.
The original proposal banned lawmakers from snagging those seats until they’ve been out of office for at least two years. But legislators changed that rule to allow themselves to start scoring those positions immediately.
That sounds …
Self-serving? Self-dealing? Like it has nothing to do with public policy and only like politicians want to pad their pockets and pensions?
Yeah. Who approved all this?
Almost everyone. The compact was approved 38-1 in the Senate and 97-17 in the House. The locals opposing it were an interesting mix: Democrats Anna Eskamani, Joy Goff-Marcil, Carlos Guillermo Smith and
Geraldine Thompson; and Republicans Scott Plakon and Anthony Sabatini.
And what do you think of this deal, Scott?
I’m a libertarian on gambling. I think adults should be able to do what they want with their own money and that the Tribe should have pretty free rein to do as it pleases. But unlike legislators, I also respect the will of the voters and the Florida Constitution. And I’m pretty convinced some of this deal violates both.
So that’s what has lawmakers nervous?
Like long-tailed cats in a roomful of rocking chairs.