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Photo: Coglianese Photos |
Gulfstream Park on Dec. 18 asked the Supreme Court of Florida to issue an order that would give law enforcement officials authority to shut down blackjack and baccarat tables at the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s casinos in the state.
In the court filing, Gulfstream said those card games are illegal and are having a severe impact on its operations and “on Florida’s horse industry.”
Gulfstream in Hallandale Beach, Fla., is 10 miles from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood. In June 2008, the Seminole Hard Rock became the first Florida casino to operate blackjack and baccarat tables. The Seminoles also began offering those games at their Tampa casino in November 2008 and at their Immokalee, Fla., casino in December 2008--even though the Florida Supreme Court had ruled they are illegal in the state.
In a separate action on Dec. 18, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum asked the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa “to initiate a criminal prosecution to put an end to the calculated illegal expansion of class III gaming by the (Seminole) Tribe.” The U.S. Attorney’s Tampa district includes the Seminole casinos in Tampa and Immokalee.
Gulfstream and McCollum are seeking those actions while Gulfstream and other pari-mutuels in South Florida are launching new campaigns to gain lower state tax rates on their slot machines.
The Seminoles’ Tampa casino competes for gaming dollars with Tampa Bay Downs, which is not permitted to have a casino. Calder Race Course, which has said it plans to build a casino, competes with the Seminole Hard Rock for gaming dollars.
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