Opinion ID: 1104877
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Florida's Gaming Laws

Text: It is undisputed that Florida permits limited forms of Class III gaming. The state's constitution authorizes the state lottery, which offers various Class III games, and now permits slot machines in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. See art. X, §§ 7, 15, Fla. Const. For a long time, the State also has regulated pari-mutuel wageringfor example, on dog and horse racing. See ch. 550, Fla. Stat. (2007) (governing pari-mutuel wagering). It is also undisputed, however, that the State prohibits all other types of Class III gaming, including lotteries not sponsored by the State and slot machines outside Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. Florida law distinguishes between nonbanked (Class II) card games and banked (Class III) card games. [9] A banking game is one in which the house is a participant in the game, taking on players, paying winners, and collecting from losers or in which the cardroom establishes a bank against which participants play. § 849.086(2)(b); see § 849.086(1), Fla. Stat. (deeming banked games to be casino gaming). Florida law authorizes cardrooms at pari-mutuel facilities for games of poker or dominoes, but only if they are played in a nonbanking manner. § 849.086(2), Fla. Stat.; see § 849.086(1)-(3). Florida law prohibits banked card games, however. See § 849.086(12)(a), (15)(a). Blackjack, baccarat, and chemin de fer are banked card games. They are therefore illegal in Florida.