Short Summary: Also known as The Sunshine State, Florida has so far legalized almost all forms of betting and gambling. Approved forms of gambling include casino gambling (table games and slots) on certain Indian tribal lands, slot machine gaming at one of the licensed pari-mutuel facilities, sports betting, poker and dominoes in licensed cardrooms, pari-mutuel wagering and jai-alai activities, the Florida lottery games as well as penny-ante games played outside a cardroom only if the winnings of any player in a single game do not exceed $10 in value. If compliant with the state law, bingo, sweepstakes and drawing for chance can be offered as well.
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Most forms of gambling that anyone can possibly want are available in Florida, but that is mainly due to the existence of the Tribal Casinos. Without those, it is difficult to tell whether any full-on brick-and-mortar casinos would exist in the state as they certainly do not have any at this time. They do have racinos, which are kind of like smallish casinos that are physically tied to a racetrack and offer machines. Some of these racinos also offer player-banked table games, and all of them can offer poker.
In 2018, voters approved anti-casino amendment (Amendment 3 on the Florida ballot), making it harder for gaming companies to build a new venue in the state. As far as decided, lobbyists and legislators cannot have a say on whether and where a casino would be established.
During the same year, Floridians also outlawed greyhound races by approving Amendment 13, which declared this activity illegal and unconstitutional.
At the time of writing, the following forms of gambling are legalized and regulated in the State of Florida:
Florida does have an exhaustive list of what forms of gambling are allowed when it comes to charitable gaming, but it is difficult to say how strictly any of this is enforced. There do not seem to be any specific licensing procedures, and more than that, it does not appear that the state taxes charitable gaming revenues. With that being the case, it seems as though if the charities operate within the confines of the charitable gaming codes, they should be okay.
As indicated earlier, casino gambling, including slots and table games, is available on certain Indian tribal lands, whereas slot machine gaming is allowed at one of the eight licensed pari-mutuel facilities located in Miami-Dade or Broward Counties.
Players can also take part in pari-mutuel wagering on live and intertrack horse and jai-alai activities at licensed racetracks and jai-alai frontons. Licensed cardrooms can offer dominoes and poker, whereas certain penny-ante games such as poker, pinochle, bridge, rummy, canasta, hearts, dominoes, and mah-jongg can also be played outside the cardrooms, but provided that they are compliant with the state law.
In charge of all regulatory and executive affairs related to gambling in the state is Florida Gaming Control Commission. This 50member regulatory body supervises pari-mutuel wagering, cardrooms, slot machine facilities, oversight of gaming compacts, and other forms of gambling authorized by the State Constitution or law, excluding the state lottery.
Florida also has horse tracks that offer both live and simulcast wagering. There are several of these locations throughout the state.
The Florida State Lottery pumps in billions of dollars annually, like, actual billions. In addition to their own games, they are in the multi-state network for Powerball and Mega Millions.
Finally, Florida is home to several Tribal Casinos which are semi-regulated by way of compact with the state.
Even though itās a state with large number of sports teams, Florida has had quite a turbulent journey with sports betting legalization.
In 2021, the Seminole Tribe entered a gaming compact with the State, receiving an approval to offer mobile sports wagering, but under the condition that wagers placed throughout Florida take place at the site of servers on Seminole lands. The state agreed to such arrangement in exchange for substantial sums of money- more precisely, $2.5 billion in the first five years and an estimated $6 billion through 2030.
Greenlighted to offer sports betting through its app was Hardrock Sportsbook. After only a bit over than a month of functioning, the operator shut down its app due to legal challenges. While the agreement was approved at the state level, it faced opposition and was challenged in court. Critics argued that the compact violated federal law because it allowed betting outside of tribal lands, effectively making it illegal.
Two years later, on June 30, 2023, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Seminole Tribe making sports betting legal again. Hard Rock Bet relaunched its app to all eligible bettors on December 5, 2023.
In June 2024, The US Supreme Courte declined to hear the petition regarding the Florida sports betting case. Secured via the compact until July 2051, The Seminole Tribe kept the right to maintain exclusivity over Florida sports betting.
Traditional online gambling, that is casino games such as slots, and table games, are not legal in Florida. The state has strict regulations that prohibit online casinos where real money is wagered.
An interesting thing to mention is that, at the same time as sports betting was finally welcomed for real, The Seminole Tribes also received approval to launch craps and roulette at its casinos.
Fortunately, there are many online casinos perfectly happy to take players from the Sunshine State, and you can find some of our top picks above!
We were able to find a Florida law that would, in theory, prevent players in the state from playing at online casinos, which states as follows:
Whoever plays or engages in any game at cards, keno, roulette, faro or other game of chance, at any place, by any device whatever, for money or other thing of value, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
With that, we do feel the need to let players know that a second degree misdemeanor is fairly serious, but at the same time, we have found no instance of a player ever being prosecuted for playing at online casinos from their own home. There have been some arrests in Florida pertaining to illegal sports betting and internet cafes over the years, but none pertaining to being a mere player at an online casino. Beyond that, we canāt fathom how Florida authorities would determine that a player was doing so, and even if they could, we believe it would be very unlikely for them to actually care.
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The first thing to understand about any full-on casinos in Florida is that they are all Tribal Casinos, so any proper casino with slot machines, all house-banked table games, etc. is going to be Native American owned. As of this time, the State of Florida legalizes and regulates racinos, which can have machines, poker, must be tied to a racetrack and the status of player-banked table games is up in the air. Some offer them under their interpretation of the law.
With only one exception, which we will list first, the rest of the casinos in the State of Florida are all operated by the Seminole Tribe.
Really, Florida is just a weird state when it comes to some of their laws and their gambling laws, of course, are no different.
The Miccosukee Casino is located in Miami, Florida and is owned and operated by a tribe of the same name.
Given the presence of a salon, spa, golf course and cabaret, this gets billed as a resort. As far as the gaming is concerned, the only thing d on their website is slot machines and they do not seem to be advertising any table games. They do offer what they term, āHigh-Stakes Bingo.ā
NOTE: The remaining casinos on this part of the list are all Seminole owned, so there is no reason to specifically state that from here on out.
Seminole Casino ClassicWe guess this is as opposed to the Seminole Casino Contemporary, what a strange name. This casino offers more than 1,000 slot machines, some table games and a bingo room of 250 seats that promotes itself as offering, āHigh-Stakes Bingo.ā That seems to be a proper advertising term in the state, as opposed to just saying Bingo. Just another thing that is unique to Florida, it seems.
Located in Hollywood, Florida, the following table games are offered: Three Card Poker, Double Draw Poker and Criss Cross Poker.
Aside from that, they have a few lounges and a few dining options, but this otherwise looks like it would be primarily a place for locals and not at all a destination casino.
This casino is located in Okeechobee, Florida and seems pretty similar in scope to the Seminole Casino Classic in of offerings, though it is quite a bit smaller. This casino boasts only over 400 slot machines, also claims to have this high-stakes Bingo action and offers a few table games. The only two games claimed by this website as far as table games are concerned would be Blackjack and Three-Card Poker.
With even fewer dining and entertainment options that the Seminole Casino Classic, this is pretty strictly going to be a locals hangout or a place to maybe hit up if you just happen to be nearby anyway. This is definitely not a place you need to go out of your way to check out unless youāre a table game chip collector or something.
Located in the city of the same name, this casino at least boasts a hotel with total rooms numbering 100, 19 of which are suites. In addition to that, this casino boasts 1,300 slots as well as 38 gaming tables. Even though this place seems slightly bigger in scope than Brighton and Seminole Casino Classic, it appears that this casino does not offer Bingo.
The casino offers the following table games: Blackjack, Mini Baccarat, Three Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Holdāem, Pai Gow Poker, Let it Ride, Blackjack Switch, Spanish 21, Mississippi Stud, Double Deck Pitch Blackjack, Midi Baccarat
With multiple dining options and an event center this is definitely bigger in scope than the properties listed above.
Located in Coconut Creek, Florida, this facility may not have a hotel dedicated to it, but it is certainly the biggest casino floor we have listed so far. They more than 2,000 Las Vegas-style slot machines. They also have seventy table games which include, Blackjack, Mini Baccarat, Three Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Holdāem, Pai Gow Poker, Let it Ride, Blackjack Switch, Spanish 21, Mississippi Stud, Double Deck Pitch Blackjack, Midi Baccarat. In addition to these table games, this casino also has electronic craps and roulette because, for whatever weird and oh-so-Florida reason, they are not allowed to offer the real deal. This is also the first Seminole Casino on this list to offer a poker room.
In of dining and entertainment, this place seems pretty similar to the Seminole Casino in Brighton. If you like any of the games and are in Florida within a reasonable distance, it might be worth checking out, but I also wouldnāt go too far out of my way to get here.
Better known perhaps as simply, āThe Hard Rock,ā now weāre playing with the big boys when it comes to casinos. Featuring a twelve-story hotel tower and the sixth-largest casino floor in the world, this is finally a bona fide destination casino in the Florida area fit to plan a trip around. Originally known as the Four Points Sheraton, this casino features more than five thousand Vegas style slot machines, more than 100 table games including, Blackjack, Mini Baccarat, Three Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Holdāem, Pai Gow Poker, Let it Ride, Blackjack Switch, Spanish 21, Mississippi Stud, Double Deck Pitch Blackjack and Midi Baccarat as well as a poker room with 46 tables.
If youāre looking for some harder-to-find table games, you might be in luck as the Hard Rock Tampa s Asia Poker, Blackjack Switch, Double Exposure Blackjack, Crazy 4 Poker, Double Draw Poker, Criss Cross Poker, and Pai-Gow Tiles. When it comes to these more difficult to find games, we would certainly recommend actually calling the property to figure out what hours specific games run as they almost certainly do not operate around the clock.
From fine to casual, there are a wide variety of dining options as well as a salon on the property. Event Centers are also available for anyone who needs to host a conference or other event.
While this casino may not be of the size and scope that the Hard Rock Tampa is, offering over 2,000 slot machines makes this place not a slouch by any stretch of the imagination. While this casino may boast more than 100 table games, you will not find anything too out of the ordinary here as they only Blackjack, Mini Baccarat, Three-Card Poker, Pai Gow Poker, Let it Ride, Ultimate Texas Hold āEm, Casino War and Spanish 21.
The property also features a live poker room that it says is open around the clock. Otherwise, this property can basically just be considered a slightly scaled back version of the Hard Rock Tampa, it probably offers enough in the form of dining, amenities and entertainment that it could be considered an entry-level destination casino. If you come from a state with legalized and regulated commercial casinos, or a place like Arizona with such big and expansive Tribal Casinos, this wonāt seem too impressive. If youāre from one of the unfortunate states who do not have any full-on casinos, you will be more than pleased with your visit here, if not a little bit overwhelmed.
Aside from those casinos, there are a few dozen racinos, which are all tied to horse racing tracks located throughout the state. One and all, these racetracks will offer live racing on given days and at given times as well as simulcast wagering during their operating hours.
Where things can get a little dicey on these racinos, and why you would want to call or check their websites for more specifics, is because the offerings outside of the racing vary pretty wildly. The majority of them have some sort of slot machines, even though a few of them donāt. Some of them offer live poker whereas others donāt.
In of table games, any of these racinos would be definitely violating Florida law if they were to offer house-banked table games, which is to say that the house makes its money by way of a house edge. They may be on shaky ground, but some of these racinos seem to believe they can offer player-banked table games, so the, āBank,ā gets ed around and each player takes turns acting as the house, unless one player wants to do it the whole time and everyone agrees.
In other words, some of these places offer a few table games in a fashion similar to the California Card Rooms in which the house just takes a per-hand fee and lets the players do the banking for the game. Again, there is really nothing in the codes that explicitly makes this legal for them to do and all of that is being decided.
These racinos are really just places for locals to go putter around more than anything. If youāre in the area and you need something to do for an evening, theyāre just fine, but I would absolutely not plan a visit to Florida around one of these places. As weird as I may think the state is, they definitely have more exciting things to do than go to a racino.
You can enjoy horse track racinos in Tampa, Pompano Beach, Miami, Hialeah, Hallandale, and Gretna.
As for greyhound racing, the historic law which banned greyhound racing in Florida took effect in the beginning of 2021. The final race took place at the Palm Beach Racetrack on December 31, 2020.
Following this ban, the number of states that banned greyhound racing amounted to 41, leaving West Virginia and Iowa as the only ones that still permit it. Greyhound racing is still legal in a couple of more states as well, but not practices.
Florida is the main hub for cruise ships of all kinds in the United States. Most cruise ships also have casinos on board and thereāre some that are solely designed to be floating casinos once they reach international waters. Florida has specific casino cruises launching from Port Richey and Fort Myers Beach. You can also take cruises from Cape Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Riviera Beach, and Miramar.
Jai-Alai is a pari-mutuel wagering game that is played in Florida. At one time it was popular in other states but currently, itās only played in Florida.
You can see Jai-Alai in Miami, Reddick, Dania Beach, Jasper, Orlando, and Fort Pierce.
Citizens of Florida arenāt allowed to own new slot machines but may possess machines that are at least 20 years old. The laws are designed so collectors can build a collection of machines but only licensed casinos and racinos can have newer machines.
Florida is home to a state lottery that participates in multi-state drawing games and outperforms the average when it comes to loss per resident.
The reason that we suspect that is true is that Florida is home to many retired folks and also has many densely populated major cities. One thing that we have found when it comes to Traditional Lottery Revenues, by state, is that overall population density (or, at least, having a few major cities) is a highly contributing factor.
The reason why is because that puts a considerable percentage of the population convenient to a lottery retailer, so for that reason, states where the population is more spread out (such as Wyoming and the Dakotas, for a few examples) tend not to do as well.
We can look at the 2019 Annual Lottery Report for the State of Florida, where we will find that total lottery sales were $7,151,236,000 compared to total prizes of 4,638,488,000, thereby resulting in losses to the lottery of 2,512,748,000, which is well over two and a half BILLION dollars for the Fiscal Year. Florida is quite a populous state with the estimate for 2019 being 21.48M, so we see a loss of about $116.98/resident.
Anyway, many Floridians have some excess spending cash and are convenient to lottery retailers, so they spend it on the lottery.
Itās also important to note that, unlike Delaware, Florida is not home to Commercial Casinos and has no licensed and regulated (through the state) online casinos, so while there are a few Tribal Casinos owned by the Seminole Tribe, the majority of Floridians donāt have access to better returning forms of gambling. If they did, lottery revenues would certainly drop a bit, but the state would almost certainly be making more in gambling taxes on revenues to compensate for the differenceāas we see in other states to legalize Commercial Casinos within the last two decades.
Perhaps surprisingly, Floridaās Lottery pulled better numbers for the Fiscal Year ended in June of 2020, despite a few months of that being during the early stages of Covid. That can mainly be attributed to Florida not being as strict with shutdowns as some other states, particularly states such as California, which is why our major lottery page will look at the 2019 Fiscal Year for all lotteries.
Instant tickets can go all the way to $30 each in Florida and overall return to player for Instant Tickets for the state come in at just under 75%. Thatās above average compared to other states, probably meaningfully above average, so our best guess is that Florida has a higher proportion of sales belonging to higher denomination (and generally slightly better returning) Instant Tickets when compared to other states.
Thatās not to say that such tickets are a good value. Everything having to do with any traditional lottery is a terrible value for the player. If you lose 20% of $30, for example, thatās an expected loss of $6 on that ticket, which is obviously much more than a $1 Instant Ticket even costs in the first place.
Anyway, the best way to buy lottery tickets is this: NEVER buy lottery tickets. Of course, many of the readers of this site tend to be a bit more savvy than average, so we expect that many of you already know that.
While poker has been legal in Florida for many years, it used to be limited by a state law that capped maximum wagers at $2. Then a law was ed that allowed no limit games but with a capped buy-in of only $100. These laws created plenty of low limit action but forced any serious poker players to go out of state to play or to find an online card room where they could play.
Fortunately, these limits were finally lifted in 2010 and poker players can enjoy the same betting structures found in other popular gambling locations like Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
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Florida permits casino gambling, primarily on Indian tribal lands, where residents and visitors can enjoy table games and slot machines. The local gambling scene is largely shaped by the presence of Tribal Casinos, which are undoubtedly the most important āplayerā in the sector.
In addition to tribal casinos and racinos, facilities that combine racetracks with limited casino operations, a couple of more forms of gambling are permitted, most interesting of which is sports betting. After certain ups and downs, the state has finally welcomed this activity, allowing its residents to explore a wide array of engaging sports activities on Hardrockās sports betting app.
While Florida offers a diverse range of legalized gambling options, it still remains a state without legal online gambling. The future of iGaming in Florida remains uncertain, but it is expected that the state will do all thatās in its power to make balance between the interests of various stakeholders and the demands of an ever-changing market.
Yes, but only because Florida is a bit of a grey zone. Since there is no legislation to permit online gambling, there arenāt any laws that would render it illegal. You can play at online casinos which are not based in Florida, simple as that.
Tribal casinos, lottery, Pari-Mutuel (live and off-track simulcast), and charitable gaming are the only types of gambling allowed in Florida.
Florida does have legalized greyhound and horse racing, and these are heavily tied to racinos.
These are venues for live and simulcast race betting, and most of these will also offer som sorts of slot machines and sometimes even live poker.
These venues can be found in Bonita Springs, Daytona Beach, Ebro, Hallandale Beach, Jacksonville, Melbourne, Miami, Monticello, Pensacola, Saint Petersburg, Sarasota, Tampa, and West Palm Beach, Gretna, Hallandale, Hialeah, and Pompano Beach.
It is a pari-mutuel wagering fame that can be played in Orlando, Jasper, Dania Beach, Fort Pierce, Reddick and Miami.
Yes, there is a state-run lottery, along with Powerball tickets, Mega Millions lottery tickets, and various sorts of scratch-off and instant games.
If you wish to participate in bingo or lottery you have to be 18. Those who want to play at casinos or bet at racing facilities need to be at least 21. If youāre in Miami and youāre 18, you can play poker, so thatās something, as well.
Florida belongs to states with quite well-diversified gambling market, with numerous forms being classified as legal. Those are charitable gaming, pari-mutuel (live and off-track simulcast), lottery, tribal casinos, casino gambling on Indian tribal lands and sports betting.
Horse racing betting is legal in Florida, but greyhound racing is no longer a legal activity in the state.
