Debuting July 1st in Florida are new live poker regulations that could change the landscape of the industry for quite some time to come. Present at a hearing to determine what card games will be allowed in Florida was Randy Kasper, founder of Poker Players International. Kasper sat down with Poker News Daily to recap the event.
Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Tell us about the scene in this week’s meeting of the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.
Randy Kasper: Milt Champion, who is the Division’s Director, and other officials sent a memo out to the select invitees from the poker community. There were two sessions, so there were card room managers, card room staff, poker media, and players. We had representatives from the Poker Players Alliance, High Heels Poker Tour, and Ante Up Magazine, just to name a few. There were a fairly decent number of people, probably around 100 in the morning session.
PND: What did you take away from the sessions?
Randy Kasper: The first and most important thing that came out of this was that these people get it. Milt really gets it. His quote for what games we’d play was, “Dream on.” They are there to enforce Florida statutes, but not create policy. Aside from having a list of games permitted like Badugi, Stud, and Hold’em, there will be a list of things like buying the button, Mississippi straddles, and other accents on the game.
PND: What do you expect to see the final list of permitted games look like?
Randy Kasper: You’re going to see any non-banked card games approved. Badugi is getting popular. Crazy Pineapple is getting popular, so the only question will be whether it’s a banked card game. The only restrictions they have are not putting cash on the table; you have to convert it to chips first. Everything else on the wish list will probably be there.
PND: For those who aren’t familiar with the current poker law in Florida, tell us about some of the restrictions that players face.
Randy Kasper: In No Limit Hold’em, you only have a $100 buy-in limit for $1/$2, $2/$5, and $5/$10 games, so there’s no strategic poker. Who would sit down at a $5/$10 game with 10 big blinds? Now, we can have real poker.
There also likely won’t be any tournament caps now, which could attract the World Poker Tour (WPT) and other events. Right now, we have Chad Brown’s charity event and the Florida Million. There has been an artificial cap on events until now because no one took poker here seriously.
PND: What would it mean to Florida to be able to attract a big event like the WPT?
Randy Kasper: It would validate the fact that Florida is on the map as a premier poker destination. There are so many tourist-related events like the Daytona 500 and Super Bowls, so attracting a big poker event tells people that Florida is more than that. Any validation by the North American Poker Tour (NAPT), WPT, Heartland Poker Tour (HPT), or other tour announces to the poker world that Florida is not just a place to come and get away for a while.
PND: Florida has been home to a number of top players, including the Mizrachi brothers and Jason Mercier. Talk about the crop of players that have come out of the Sunshine State.
Randy Kasper: You have a number of people who have done well. The skill at the games in Florida is probably in a three or four year time warp, but you have guys like the Mizrachis and Jason Mercier doing well. Now, Florida players can have a couple of in-state events.
PND: What are the next steps?
Randy Kasper: The law takes effect on July 1st. Then, the card rooms can implement the changes. Now, everyone is scrambling to get the allowed list of games up and that will be an evolving process. I’d expect the list of approved games and special features to be released soon. The poker room operating hours will also change, which are 18 hours during the week and 24 on the weekend.
