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Court: Poker Limits a Flop: Appeals Panel Says State Has No Reason to Regulate Pot Sizes

Posted on: Saturday, 18 March 2006, 15:00 CST

By David Angier, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Mar. 18--An appeals court Friday busted a play by the state wagering division to halt no-limit poker tournaments because they are dangerous to public health, safety or welfare.

Last year, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering issued an emergency stop to all no-limit poker tournaments at licensed facilities in the state. Poker tournaments are allowed at pari-mutuel facilities, but under strict guidelines.

No-limit poker, which has become widely popular during the last few years, means that a player can put in as much money as that player has on any single bet. The state said this unlimited bet exceeded the mandates of the administrative code, which places a $2 maximum on single bets at licensed parimutuel facilities.

Six corporations with parimutuel interests, including Washington County Kennel Club Inc., sued for review of the division's order.

First Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Joseph Lewis Jr. wrote that the wagering division had the right to order this stoppage of play if it could show an "immediate danger to the public health, safety or welfare." In this case, the division only provided proof of one card room in the state holding such a tournament.

"The Division did not show that any particular members of the public were actually faced with an immediate danger to their health, safety or welfare as a result of the no-limit tournaments that were apparently held at this one card room," Lewis wrote. "The Division's reasons for finding an immediate danger do no rise to the level of an emergency."

Lewis and Judges Charles Kahn and Ricky Polson agreed to quash the division's ruling. The decision can be appealed to the Florida Supreme Court.

Pam Bowman, shift supervisor at the Ebro Greyhound Park poker room in Washington County, said their tournaments had been suspended since the division's order, but their betlimit game has gone on three days a week as usual.

Bowman said there had been talk of submitting a bill to state legislators that would set out the rules for poker games in the state, but that was not done this year.

For the last two years, the park has hosted a Texas Hold 'em charity tournament that drew more than 100 players in 2005. Players paid a set amount for chips and a chair at the tournament, then played until there was one overall winner. The chips had no monetary value, and the money collected went to charity. The winner received an award, but no money, Bowman said.

That kind of game, she said, was not affected by the state's order and the park could host that tournament again this year.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The News Herald

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