Controversy In Florida

Controversy In Florida

Tuesday, 16 February 2016

One of the most popular poker rooms in the American state of Florida has been charged by authorities with eleven offences following complaints from a group of players that included professional grinder TJ Shulman.

The alleged infractions against Hialeah Park Racing And Casino near Miami include a failure to issue receipts and keep a proper log of entries alongside the mishandling of jackpot funds and receipts.

The southern state’s Division Of Pari-Mutuel Wagering additionally alleges that the venue, which is one of four offering poker in Miami-Dade County, failed to offer sufficient video surveillance of its gaming floor and did not comply with procedures for the seating of players in a tournament.

According to reports from the Miami Herald newspaper, the controversy dates to late-August when Hialeah Park Racing And Casino, which began offering poker in 2013, ran a five-day $250 buy-in tournament that had promised a prize pool of at least $200,000. The event allegedly attracted over 1,000 players but Shulman and others soon complained after discovering that the overall chip counts had been too large while the total cash rewards on offer were around $25,000 short of the guarantee.

The state subsequently charged that the casino’s staff had slipped in around 100 extra competitors for free without increasing the payout totals while also placing these players at advantageous seats rather than at random.

Shulman is an experienced professional poker player with almost $500,000 in career live cashes and revealed that he had raised his concerns with the tournament’s organisers but had been quickly rebuffed. An investigation was launched after the Duluth, Georgia, native and others subsequently complained to authorities with the Miami Herald reporting that a number of the venue’s staff have since resigned or have had their employment terminated.

The Miami Herald declared that the incident represents ‘the first major card room irregularity’ since poker became legal in Florida in 1996 and revealed that Hialeah Park Racing And Casino made $8.35 million in the twelve months to the end of June, which was well ahead of its Magic City Casino and Casino Miami rivals at $6.93 million and $2.33 million respectively.



Tags: Hialeah Park Racing And Casino, Florida, TJ Shulman, Magic City Casino, Casino Miami, Division Of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, Miami Herald