What it takes to win at Poker in Florida

Winning at Poker in Florida means becoming…A Dealer. That’s right; the only person who can win at poker for the moment, other than the house is the Dealer!!

I was in Florida for 2 days while waiting for my poker cruise to leave port. I always get there a few days early to make sure I adjust to the time zone. This time during my stay I visited two casinos. One was in Hollywood at the Seminole Casino (better known as The Hard Rock) and the other was Dania Jai Ali.

So I walk in and everything seemed normal. There were lists for games like 1/2 2/4 3/6 and 5/10 Hold’em. Ok 5/10 being the biggest game wasn’t unusual; in fact I thought I’d heard something about limits in Florida. So I’m watching the 5/10 and players are sitting with $100.00 in front of themselves. OK a short buy-in for a few, some bigger stacks for others. Nope!!

The largest buy-in you can make in any game in Fla. is $100.00. That’s right it’s the state law. Ok, so Fla. hasn’t figured it out yet, but then I was struck at how many 5/10 games there were. So I was watching and saw what I expected; a push fest. Not only was it a push fest, but it rarely mattered what the hand was. The strategy is to build up as big a stack as you can so you can take pot shots at short stacks. This is Poker Fla. Style.

But wait it gets worse. The rake is $5.00 a hand, 5% of your buy-in stack and the tipping is the same. You heard me; players are tipping $5.00 a hand as well. So 10% of your buy-in stack disappears every hand.

I knew they blew the 2000 election with their hanging chads, and this year they disenfranchised their primary by moving it up in time, but hey, can anyone do math down there in the Sunshine State or are they all on too much Sunshine?

You can not beat a game where the buy in for all 10 players is maximum $1000.00 and the rake is 5% and you’re tipping the same. If a normal dealer, using a dealing machine gets out 40 hands an hour, your dropping $200.00 and tipping $200.00. So in theory in 2 and half hours everyone is broke!! Now I understand all the re-buys add the total, but come on folks this is ridiculous.

Now I played a 1/2 game with the same rake, but when I won a pot I tipped a normal $1.00. After a dealer dealt for their half hour, she got up and said “I hear you’re a Poker Tournament Director, to which I replied yes, which prompted her to say “Hard to believe”. I guess when everyone tips $5.00 per hand, I looked cheap!!

Rest assured, the experience leaves me believing that the Fla. Legislator has some learning to do and that when the Fla. Players learn that they’re running out of poker money because of the rake and the tip, things will change drastically there.

When they do, I’ll return and when I see that dealer and I win a pot, maybe she’ll say thank you for the dollar.