Florida House Proposes Bill To Combat iGaming Access

It's no secret that Florida's legislature has proven to be very protective of the Seminole Tribe's right to control casino gambling within the state's borders. The very fact that sports betting was passed several years ago, but no mention of online casinos, is evidence of that protection. The exclusive right to control casino gambling was established by a compact between the state and the Tribe years ago in accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.

Laws aside, Floridians continue to enjoy access to offshore and sweepstakes casinos, such as Stake.US. If State Rep. Berny Jacques has her way, that access will end very soon. She is the sponsor of House Bill 591, a bill that would criminalize the use of any type of online casino by a Florida resident. Based on the language of the bill, it's clear she is targeting games simulating casino-style gaming. Violation of this law would be considered a third-degree felony.

Not Everyone is Happy With this Proposal

Florida casino players aren't particularly concerned about the rights of the Seminoles, preferring to have iGaming access. Being denied that access forces casino enthusiasts to visit Seminole-controlled retail casinos or take risks associated with offshore casino gambling. With that said, there is another party with a vested interest in the iGaming industry that also opposes this law. That would be the Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA).

The main charter of the SGLA is to support easy and full access to online casino gambling wherever and whenever possible. This group gets its power from the Sweepstakes Casino community that has been gaining popularity over the last few years. They are much opposed to the issuance of a fine of up to $500K for operators who are said to be trafficking online casino games without the proper licensing.

According to SGLA Executive Director Jeff Duncam, this bill unduly penalizes social casino sites that offer access to free, not-for-pay, online casino gaming. Of course, the underlying issue is that many of the social gaming sites are being accused of offering true gambling access by the issuance and selling of "sweeps" coins. These are coins that are redeemable for real prizes such as:

• Vacation travel and airline tickets


• Gift cards to Amazon and big-box department stores


• Electronics like laptops and iPhones


• In many cases, real cash is made available


• Free subsciption services like NetFlix

It's worth noting that the language of the bill would deny iGaming access unless it was approved under the control of the Seminole Tribe. Regarding such control, it's not clear how the Tribal community feels about offering online casino gaming because of the impact it might have on the Tribal nation's robust retail casino industry.

While this bill would seemingly also want to discourage offshore casino gambling, that would be a lot harder for state officials to enforce. It seems likely this bill would pass, given the bills that have been passed in other states in recent months. After all, Florida has gone to great lengths to protect the substance of the Indian compact.