The Florida Senate voted last Friday to advance a bill that would go beyond Governor Charlie Crist’s compact with Seminole casinos, bringing expanded gambling to both racinos and tribal gaming venues. The new bill would continue allowing blackjack at the Seminole casinos, but would also raise poker limits, provide blackjack at existing racinos, and give the tribe roulette and craps.

At least tens of millions of people visit the Seminole Tribe’s seven Florida casinos in a given year, and once in a while one of those patrons might slip and fall, or in rare cases, suffer an injury that leads to death. Those are the moments when the tribe’s unique „sovereign nation“ status — easy for some visitors to forget — becomes all too clear. Tribal police, for example, don’t have to respond to Sunshine Law requests for documents.

Tallahassee – If the Seminole Tribe of Florida follows through with plans to expand its casinos and resorts, it will siphon off USD 95 million in annual tourist and convention business from around the state and gain an even greater competitive advantage. Those were the conclusions of Amy Baker, the Florida Legislature’s chief economist, in a report presented to the House Committee on Seminole Indian Compact Review on Friday.

The operator of the Seminole Tribe’s Hard Rock hotels and casinos told a House committee Monday that the state can immediately use USD 288 million and will soon have another 45,000 jobs if the gambling agreement Gov. Charlie Crist signed with the tribe stays in place. James Allen, the Seminole Gaming CEO and chairman of Seminole Hard Rock International, told a House committee on Monday…

Tampa – Seminole Hard Rock Casino & Hotel patrons got a big surprise Thursday when the Seminole Tribe of Florida opened 104 tables for blackjack and baccarat games at 5 a.m. So, too, did state officials. Conservative lawmakers have tried to use the courts to block additional gambling on tribal property, and a spokesman for Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said that office did not know blackjack and other gambling games would begin Thursday.

Miami: Visitors to Florida might have a tough time telling whether it’s an anything-goes playground or the tip of the Bible Belt. In some spots, you can sunbathe topless, bar-hop around the clock or carry a drink down the street in full public view. Yet until this summer, you couldn’t legally play a hand of blackjack — a game allowed in 28 other states, most of them much less dependent on the money blown by tourists.

A July court decision affecting the gaming compact between Governor Florida Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida has caused the tribal casinos to delay adding table games to some of their gambling menus. Actually, the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, began dealing blackjack and other card games in June. But in July, the Florida Supreme Court invalidated the gaming compact that allowed all Seminole casinos to operate like a Las Vegas-styled casino.

Tallahasse: The Attorney General of Florida wants a federal agency to step in and stop gambling at Seminole Indian casinos, even though the governor signed an agreement with the tribe last year. „The legislation never gave permission for it. That’s the basis upon which the Supreme Court ruled the compact null and void,“ Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said in a phone interview Friday.

The Florida Supreme Court struck down the gaming compact signed by Governor Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe, throwing into question the table game operations the tribe opened at its casinos only a few weeks ago. The high court, ruling in a lawsuit brought by a state lawmaker, held that Crist overstepped his authority by authorizing the tribe to conduct banked table games including blackjack and baccarat, in addition to the Class III slots to which it was entitled.

A federal judge said he’s powerless to block the Seminole Tribe from offering blackjack at its casinos, rejecting a Pompano racetrack’s lawsuit while emphasizing the legal hurdles facing anyone tangling with the tribe. Lawyers for The Isle Casino & Racing at Pompano Park and its parent company, PPI Inc., attempted to sidestep the tribe’s sovereign nation status by suing only Gov. Charlie Crist and the federal government…

Tallahassee, Florida – A South Florida casino wants a federal judge to stop blackjack and other games at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Lawyers for Isle Casino of Pompano Beach cited last week’s Florida Supreme Court ruling that declared unconstitutional the tribe’s recent gambling agreement with the state. The filing Monday is part of an ongoing lawsuit filed in federal court in Tallahassee challenging that agreement.

The Florida Supreme Court has overturned an agreement Gov. Charlie Crist signed with the Seminole Tribe to allow Las Vegas-style slot machines, baccarat, black jack and other card games at its facilities, which include the Hard Rock casinos in Tampa and Hollywood. The court ruled that Crist does not have the constitutional authority „to bind the state to a gaming compact that clearly departs from the state’s public policy by legalizing types of gaming that are illegal everywhere else in the state.“