Mission accomplished, Mr. Brunetti

[tector]

The DRF is clueless--they don't seem to understand that TBD got hosed:

http://www.drf.com/news/article/111975.html

Industry News | Posted 4/7/2010, 10:27 amPrint
Slots agreement benefits Florida tracks
By Matt Hegarty

Casinos at Florida's parimutuel facilities will receive a 30 percent tax break on slot revenues and Hialeah Park will be able to open a casino under an agreement reached by the legislature and the state's Seminole Indian tribe.

The agreement, which gives the Seminoles the exclusive right to operate table games at its seven Florida casinos, will reduce the tax rate for slot machines at seven parimutuel facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties from 50 percent to 35 percent, beginning July 1. The legislation will benefit Churchill Downs Inc.'s Calder Race Course, in Miami-Dade, and Magna Entertainment's Gulfstream Park, in Broward County.

In addition, the agreement will allow Hialeah Park to open a slot-machine casino. Hialeah Park reopened late last year under a Quarter Horse racing license in order to fulfill a requirement that the track hold live race meets for two consecutive years in order to qualify for a casino license.

The agreement will also allow all 19 parimutuel facilities in the state, including Tampa Bay Downs, to install up to 350 electronic gambling machines that allow players to gamble on bingo-style games or that use horse races that have already been run to generate numbers that determine payouts. Racetracks will also be able to keep their poker rooms open for 24 hours.

Legislative leaders and the Seminole tribe have been attempting to negotiate a new gambling compact for three years. Under the compact, the Seminoles have guaranteed payments to the state of at least $1 billion over the next five years, and 10 percent of its net revenue on table games for 15 years after the initial five-year period ends.

Florida is trying to close a $3.2 billion budget deficit.

Florida's parimutuel facilities lobbied for the tax-rate cut and expanded hours under the contention that the Seminoles exclusive right to operate table games would put them at a competitive disadvantage.


Yeah, TBD got the same things every pari-mutuel in Florida got--loosened restrictions on poker, and some dumb machines that even most slots idiots won't play (I know--my mom is one). Dog tracks in Jax or Pensacola got that, too.

But those pari-mutuels don't have a Seminole Hard rock casino a few miles away, with Vegas slots AND blackjack--TBD does. And it got nothing to show for it. The Tampa operation is hugely important to the Seminoles because it has NO slots competition:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/st...ms-531295.html

The lynchpin of the deal is the five-year agreement with the Seminoles giving them the exclusive rights to run banked card games, including blackjack, at five of their seven facilities, including their lucrative Tampa Hard Rock casino that brings in at least half of all the tribe's Florida gambling revenue, according to Galvano.

Most important for the tribe is the prohibition against any of the state's pari-mutuels outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties to run the card games.

"When the tribe is committing this type of money, it's important to know the scope of gaming that we're dealing with and what kind of competition or exclusivity you have," said Jim Allen, chief of the tribe's gambling operations.

The third time could be the charm for the Seminoles' gambling agreement — lawmakers twice before rejected compacts struck between the tribe and Crist.

Galvano had steadfastly refused to allow the tribe to operate the banked card games, although the Seminoles began running them without authorization from the state for at least a year. Federal authorities had repeatedly threatened to intervene and make up their own rules for the games if the state and the tribe did not come to an agreement.

The latest arrangement, which Crist is expected to sign as soon as Wednesday, gives the Seminoles five years to ramp up operations while the state considers opening the doors to the European and Las Vegas-based casinos that have come courting.

So, GP and CRC--who DO compete with the Indians on slots--get about a 30% reduction in their slots taxes, and in 5 years they will almost certainly get blackjack. TBD, suffering from the Seminoles directly, gets the same treatment as some stupid dog track in Hicksville.

It is a major screwing. I hope it gets addressed in 5 years, but right now they've been hosed.