Florida Gambling Commission and Gambling Legislation in the State

By Jane Shaw Senior Editor Updated: 11/17/2022

Jane Shaw Senior Editor See Full Bio

We count on Jane to inform our readers about the latest slot games in the US market. With her passion for video games and a degree in engineering, she’s our gambling tech expert. Jane’s also active in our blog section, where she tackles the curiosities and changes in the industry.

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Florida Gambling Commission

Florida is famous for many different things: from beaches to swamps and a bustling, diverse community of people, the Sunshine State has held a long reputation of being a lush warm weathered holiday spot. Florida gambling laws also happen to be some of the most intricate gambling laws of any state in the USA. Read this guide to learn everything you should know before you place your first bet in Florida.

Has the Florida Gaming Commission Made it Legal to Bet in the State?

Is online gambling legal in Florida? No, currently Florida does not allow for any real money gambling in the state. There are plans to introduce online betting in Florida, but no date has been set. However, you can travel to the following states, and legally play at online casinos within their borders. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut, and West Virginia all offer online casinos for you to enjoy. You can also benefit from the best online casino bonuses in these legal states.

• 📖 Florida Gambling timeline
• ⚖ Florida Gaming licenses
• 💰 Florida Casino Laws
• 🧐 Florida Gaming Commission
• ⏮ Legal gambling options in Florida
• ❓ FAQs

Florida Gambling: A timeline

If you don’t know what a u-turn is, now might be the best time to look it up. The history of gambling in Florida is full of u-turns, backtracking, amendments, vetoes and overrides. If you appreciate historical nuances, then buckle up. Florida’s history with gambling laws is a wild ride.

In 1931, Florida legislature approved horse racing and dog racing by the slender margin of single vote. This vote was then vetoed and overridden by Governor Doyle Carlton. In 1935, slot machines and betting on Jai-alai were legalized in the state. In 1937, slot machines were – you guessed it – made illegal.

Fast forward to the second half of the 20th century and a positive development took place, albeit a minor one, with the legalization of Bingo. In 1978, Florida citizens voted against a full-scale constitutional amendment that would legalize casino gambling. In 1979, the Seminole tribe rejected the state’s limit on Bingo games and opened a high-stakes bingo hall in Broward County.

In 1981, 8 senior citizens were arrested for playing a low-stakes poker game in a retirement home. This group of 8 came to be known as the ‘Largo 8’. In 1986, voters rejected the casino gambling amendment for a second time but voted to legalize the lottery. Lotteries began their operations in 1988.

In 1988, the Federal government passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which meant that tribes could legally conduct any federally accepted form of gambling on Florida soil. Since the law legalized gaming through electronic devices, the Seminole tribe installed video lottery machines on their land.

1989 saw the Florida legislature legalize at-home or private poker games with the limit of the pot not exceeding $10. Business owners used the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act as a legal loophole to construct ‘private’ poker rooms on tribe-owned land. in 1996, poker was legalized at pari-mutuel sites across the state with a $10 pot limit.

Florida Gaming Licenses: Overview

With the history lesson out of the way, let’s get down to the heart of the matter and discover what forms of gambling are legal in the best casinos in Florida. Despite the various legislative hiccups, Florida still holds tremendous potential as a gambling state, despite many forms of gambling remaining technically illegal. Florida gaming licenses are awarded to tribe-owned casinos in the state.

Cruise Ship Gaming

Legalized in 1984, cruise ships exploit a simple legal loophole to provide Florida residents an enriching gambling experience. Gamblers buy a ticket and board a ship that then sails out three miles into the Atlantic Ocean or nine miles into The Gulf of Mexico. Once in international waters, local gambling restrictions no longer apply and players can enjoy games like roulette, blackjack, video poker, craps, slots, and other exotic games.

State Lottery

Florida residents love the lottery. The state is home to more than 13000 lottery retailers today. Players can choose from several different options such as multi-state lotteries like Mega Millions or smaller local lottery games. Players can even buy scratch tickets or terminal games, apart from tickets to daily lottery draws. For a state that defines gambling as illegal, Florida loves the lotteries.

Parimutuel Betting

In parimutuel betting or pool betting, players place bets against each other rather than against the house. Florida lawmakers were satisfied that under parimutuel rules, players would not be exploited by casinos. Therefore, parimutuel betting has been legal in Florida since 1931. Parimutuel betting was initially offered on horse racing and greyhound racing, before the latter was outlawed as a practice in the state.

Tribal Casinos

Since we’ve mentioned that gambling is technically illegal in Florida, it’s implicit that casinos are illegal too. Except they’re not. Tribal casinos have been operating in Florida for many years since they are legal under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Players must be 18 or over to play poker or bingo in tribal casinos, and 21 or over to play electronic or table games. Most casinos are equipped with Class 3 devices and owned by the Seminole tribe, while the Miccosukee tribe only owns a single casino that is equipped with Class 2 devices.

Online Gambling in Florida

Unlike other forms of gambling, we can say that online gambling is clearly illegal in the state of Florida. Florida lawmakers have spent the last few years drawing up a favorable ruleset that would legalize online gambling. However, as history seems to repeat itself, online gambling is not being viewed as a favorable practice by governor DeSantis.

Due to the governor’s reluctance to legitimize online gambling, the process toward legalization is moving at a slower pace than expected. In 2021, Florida passed three new bills that would facilitate the legalization of online gambling. However, these bills differ regarding tax rates and annual licensing fees.

The one quality shared by all these bills is that they aim to legalize online sports betting. The Seminole tribe, since they operate most of the casinos in South Florida, are vehemently opposed to the legalization of online sports betting in the state.

It’s not hard to see why the tribe is against online gambling. Since they currently have a monopoly over casino gambling in the state, they will lose a huge chunk of their business if gamblers are given the convenient option of betting online. Better dialogue between lawmakers and the tribes is needed to propose a rule change that ensures all parties including the state, citizens and tribes can benefit from the legalization of online gambling.

Florida Casino Laws

Since the state laws are currently vague and do not address online gambling, online casinos are not legal in Florida. Despite being an undefined gray area, there are no legal online casinos in the state. Florida police actively pursue and shut down unlicensed gambling websites operating out of the state.

As you might have guessed, daily fantasy sports are also not mentioned under the law. Since social and sweepstakes casinos are not considered gambling as per statutes, they continue to be a favorite pastime of many Florida residents. This is where it gets a little confusing, so please pay close attention to the next section.

In Florida’s social casinos, players can enjoy popular casino games like slots, blackjack, and video poker. In sweepstakes casinos, players can win actual cash prizes without actually wagering with their money. In the sweepstakes format, real money is replaced with a form of virtual currency, commonly ‘gold coins’ or other similar tokens that can be used to place bets. These virtual currencies cannot be redeemed for real money.

However, at the end of a contest, players win another form of virtual currency called sweeps coins which have no value on their own, but can be exchanged for real cash prizes. Confused yet? To summarize, gamblers can legally buy currency A, place bets, win currency B and redeem currency B for cash. It makes you wonder why Florida wouldn’t completely legalize gambling in the first place.

In one final confusing loophole in the casino system, Floridians can also play with sites like MyVegas, which offers players tokens that can be exchanged for real money. However, there’s a catch. Players will have to travel to a state that allows online gambling to claim their winnings from such sites.

The Florida Gaming Commission

This guide would not be complete without a mention of the body responsible for reigning in Florida’s famously mixed-up gambling laws: The Florida Gaming Commission. The Commission is a five-member regulatory body responsible for exercising the executive and regulatory powers of the state in matters of gambling.

The activities that fall under the purview of the Florida Gaming Commission include pari-mutuel betting, card rooms, slot machines, gaming compacts and other forms of authorized gambling, except the state lottery.

This FGCC was created in 2021 to serve as an independent entity under the Department of Legal Affairs. Since it was founded recently, big reforms are expected to shake the Florida gambling scene. The Florida Gaming Control Commission is funded by the fees collected from slot machine licenses, and daily license fee revenues collected at gambling venues across the state.

Legal gambling options in Florida

Now that we’ve gone over all the legalities concerning gambling in Florida, it’s time to finally reveal the forms of gambling that are legal and accepted. We’d advise you not to hold your breath, as there aren’t as many options as you might think. The only fully legal forms of gambling in Florida include parimutuel bets on harness racing, horse racing, Jai-alai games, and card room poker games.

To put it simply, gambling is illegal in Florida unless it involves parimutuel betting, playing at Indian-owned casinos, small-stake poker games, or sweepstakes or social casinos. Additionally, cruise ships that sail out to international waters make it possible for Floridians to enjoy a safe gambling experience, away from the keen eye of Johnny Law.