In an effort to reform hawaii’s gambling industry, Florida is working on several fronts towards clarifying and changing most rules that govern betting in the Sunshine State. One area of attention is on pari-mutuel wagering: the betting that goes on during the state’s race tracks and frontons that are jai-alai their state. But industry insiders say that the first draft of rules that have been proposed by state regulators simply won’t work.

Workshop to Hammer Out Wagering Rules

Those rules will ultimately be discussed at a workshop with the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering on October 16, but were first released in a draft kind week that is last. The guidelines are designed to eliminate a number that is growing of practices that are demonstrably outside of what the state intends to allow at such venues. And even though some of these new rules work, those in the industry say that many merely reveal that regulators aren’t familiar enough with Florida’s gambling industry to produce such sweeping changes.

‘Some of them seem sensible,’ stated Ken Stirling, executive director of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and defensive Association. ‘ a number of them haven’t been thought out extremely well. One or two are pretty silly.’

One of many big areas covered in the draft guidelines is horse racing regulations designed to expel non-standard racing. Many in the industry agree that this is a good clear idea, as ‘barrel racing’ and ‘flag-drop’ racing have been seen by some operators in order to cheaply make payments that will even permit them to provide card spaces or slots alongside those events.

The brand new rules would help put an end to such practices. They would bar ‘the racing animal to improve course in reaction to virtually any hurdles regarding the surface that is racing and make sure that jockeys conform to uniform and fat demands that wouldn’t be a problem for legitimate racing operations.

Disagreement Over Acceptable Race Lengths

But the laws don’t stop there, and that is where some feel that the rules go wrong. According to Stirling, some among these rules could devastate the racing industry if they aren’t changed.

As an example, the regulations that are new require that most races are at minimum six furlongs in length a thing that might create sense in the event that you’ve only seen the Triple Crown races or the Breeder’s Cup, but which makes no sense for the industry in general.

‘[The guideline that] no race must be reduced than…six furlongs…is a killer,’ Stirling said, noting that such races would be too long for two-year-old horses rushing into the summer time. ‘That’s silly. We run baby races at 4.5 furlongs and we’ve been doing it for a hundred years. I know they truly are in Tallahassee, but we have these plain things called phones.’

He also objected to a rule that states that each and every battle must have at least six horses a rule that may cause races to be canceled as a result of last second scratches.

Jai-Alai would additionally be affected by the new regulations. For instance, each location will be needed to own eight players that are certified rotation. This rule comes in response to a debate at Ocala Poker and Jai-Alai, which started the 2012 season with just two players.

While there could be problems with the rules, unit director Leon Biegalski says there shouldn’t be a nagging issue, and that the workshops are made to help iron out these issues with all the industry’s assistance.

‘They’re draft rules. They’re a point that is starting. We should make sure that all the license holders and all the stake holders are on the page that is same terms of exactly what the regulation is that’s out there and what should be out there,’ Biegalski said lucky nugget lobby.