Legal duel over player-banked games starts in Florida

Miami gambling regulators are now at loggerheads with a pari-mutuel operator over the legality of “player-banked card games,” after the latter blames the whole conflict to the alleged attempt of Governor Rick Scott and the Seminole tribe to seal a $3 billion gambling compact.

The face-off between Jacksonville Kennel Club, Inc. and state regulators immediately set off fireworks at the start of the hearing ofa complaint against the pari-mutuel operator before Administrative Law Judge Suzanne Van Wyk on Tuesday, as their counsels traded allegations on who is trying to circumvent the law.

CBS Miami reported that John Lockwood, counsel of Jacksonville, has accused state regulators of changing the rules of the popular card game just months after training their own employees in how the games should be played.

Lockwood argued that Jacksonville, which was expected to lose $10 million next year if the games go away, had been faithfully complying with the rules set by the regulators in compliance with the state’s gambling law.