Florida: The new home of Poker?

On July 1^st the state of Florida finally embraced poker as poker is meant to be played. The caps have been lifted and poker is no longer a crapshoot in Florida as players can buy in with more than 10 big blinds. In the six weeks since the lifting of the caps, poker tournaments have flocked to Florida and Mike Matusow has even won one of them.

The World Poker Tour announced last week an historic tie up with the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino chain. The WPT will be hosting several tournaments in Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos over the coming five years including a $10,000 Main Event this Spring. The partnership deal will see Seminole Casino sites rebrand their poker rooms and offer no limit poker 24 hours a day across six locations in Florida.

Florida is the fourth most populous state in America and is expected to become a thriving community for poker now that the caps have been lifted and poker can fully flourish. There have been some Floridian successes at this year’s World Series of Poker with Michael Mizrachi leading the way with a win at the Players Championship and final tabling the Main Event.

If poker continues to thrive and grow in Florida as many expect it to then pretty soon we may have an East and West Coast divide between the centres of LA/Vegas and Florida. Poker companies and players alike are recognising the importance of Florida over the next few years. WPT President Adam Pliska stated:

“A WPT tournament at a Seminole Casino in Florida is a perfect addition to our television season,” said WPT President Adam Pliska.

“With the recent changes in its poker laws, this is a momentous time for the evolution of poker in Florida and we are proud to join forces with the Seminole Tribe to finally bring high-stakes poker to Florida.”

“World Poker Tour will bring a new level of sophistication and excitement to poker rooms at Seminole Casinos,” said Jeffrey Hook, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Seminole Gaming.

“We look forward to combining the WPT partnership with no-limit poker and 24-hour play to maximize the action for our players.”

Mike “the mouth” Matusow will be hoping more and more events are held in Florida as he won his first tournament for a long time with a win at the Florida State Poker Championships.