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House bill supports 24-hour poker rooms, larger pots

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The Associated Press

Published: April 13, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Pari-mutuels could expand poker room hours and pot sizes under a bill approved by a House committee.

Poker rooms at tracks and jai-alai frontons could stay open 24 hours, maximum raises would be $50 instead of $5 and maximum Texas hold-em buy-ins would be raised to $1,000 from $100.

License fees for slot machine rooms at South Florida pari-mutuels would be lowered from $3 million to $2 million and taxes on the machines would be cut from 50 percent to double what the Seminole Tribe would share under a gambling compact. That means pari-mutuels would pay 36 percent tax under a House compact proposal.

The bill was approved Monday in an effort to help pari-mutuels compete with Indian casinos.

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