Florida is retarded

[Russ M.]

Ok, so on Wednesday, Florida shut down all poker tournaments in the state. This didn't really bother me much, as the tournaments that are held at the poker room in Jacksonville all have a ridiculous vig of $13 on a $32 entry fee and they don't have higher or lower fee tourneys, meaning the 9-player SNG has the same fee as the 250-player tourney. Stupid. Not to mention the stupid laws that restrict betting to $2 max on any street.

So my whiny, unanswerable question is: Why does this state's poker laws suck so much? Do they not realize there are millions of retired people sitting on nest eggs looking for ways to spend their time and money in Florida?

[GetThere1Time]

Also in Florida:

Naked man calls police after intruder breaks into his house and attacks him with baseball bat. Police rush to scene and promptly arrest naked, bleeding victim. Suspect still at large (http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060120/BREAKINGNEWS/60120005)

[Greg Miller]

[ QUOTE ]
Also in Florida:

Naked man calls police after intruder breaks into his house and attacks him with baseball bat. Police rush to scene and promptly arrest naked, bleeding victim. Suspect still at large (http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060120/BREAKINGNEWS/60120005)

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah, the perils of being a wanted criminal in Florida. When I read your deceptively-worded link text, I thought for a second that they arrested the victim by mistake.

[VOX]

[ QUOTE ]
So my whiny, unanswerable question is: Why does this state's poker laws suck so much? Do they not realize there are millions of retired people sitting on nest eggs looking for ways to spend their time and money in Florida?

[/ QUOTE ]

The form of poker Florida has was legalized as a concession to Florida pari-mutuels, as their business (booking bets on dogs, jai-alai, and sundry horse races) was drying up. Like much of legislation, it's the product of the upper and lower bounds of the tolerances of lawmakers. I. Nelson Rose (http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_magazine/archives/showarticle.php?a_id=13731&m_id=81) has written about this.

It should be noted that Florida's vascillation on poker tournaments is a result of the Division of Pari-Mutuels, not the Legislature. The Legislature just approved the rules for Class III slots, but the Miami Herald's report (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/5min/13575696.htm) on the issue implies that the resulting negotiations with the state's tribes for Class III compacts will not touch poker. So change is unlikely until Jeb Bush, who says he hates gambling, leaves office next year.

As to the idea of expanding gambling to appeal to retirees, Florida likes to bill itself as the "family-friendly" vacation destination, and an alternative to Las Vegas for conventions. The conventional wisdom dictates cutting these appeals by expanding gambling, to appeal to a traditionally strong, less desirable retiree market, isn't worth whatever they could make by taxing the games.

[Brocktoon]

[ QUOTE ]
Also in Florida:

Naked man calls police after intruder breaks into his house and attacks him with baseball bat. Police rush to scene and promptly arrest naked, bleeding victim. Suspect still at large (http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060120/BREAKINGNEWS/60120005)

[/ QUOTE ]

Is that news in Fla? In NYC they routinely arrest shooting/stabbing victims. They walk right up to guy in the hospital and cuff him to his gurney, and then force all family members to leave because, "prisoners aren't allowed visitors". They'll do this regardless of how badly injured the victim is.

The arrest is usually for some nonsense like an unpaid beer summons. This happens everyday, I'd go so far as to say that most victims of violent crimes in high crime areas, such as Harlem, end up being arrested for an outstanding petty summons. I'm surprised this kind of thing isn't brought up more because I think a lot of people would be outraged if they knew what was really going on.

Yeah I know, this is a hijack, sorry.

[gojacketz]

Russ,

Welcome to the Bible Belt. A segment on one of our newscasts scared all of our 'charity' games to shut down recently. Georgia is just as bad, if not worse.

Did you make it to Tunica? I am going to Vegas in March.

Gojacketz

[Russ M.]

No I didn't get to go but I hope to sometime soon once I get by BR back up to a good size, which it pretty much is now.

I guess if it doesn't help the government in a profound way, we're not gonna get it. I wish they'd go up to 4/8 or so at least. This 1/2 [censored] is just saying "here, you can play live poker but don't expect to win much".

[CORed]

Well, every time I get depressed by Colorado's retarded poker laws, ($5 max bet for cash games, but tournaments are allowed) I cheer myself up by thinking "It could be worse. I could live in Florida".

[silkyslim]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, every time I get depressed by Colorado's retarded poker laws, ($5 max bet for cash games, but tournaments are allowed) I cheer myself up by thinking "It could be worse. I could live in Florida".

[/ QUOTE ]
but you can bet 60 grand on a greyhound race!