In an attempt to reform their state’s gambling industry, Florida is working on several fronts towards clarifying and changing most of the rules that govern betting in the Sunshine State. One part of attention is on pari-mutuel wagering: the betting that goes on at the state’s race tracks and frontons that are jai-alai the state. But industry insiders state that the very 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 type last week. The guidelines were created to eliminate a number that is growing of techniques that are clearly outside of what the state intends to enable 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 sufficient with Florida’s gambling industry to make such sweeping changes.

‘Some of them make sense,’ said Ken Stirling, executive director of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. ‘ Some of them haven’t been thought out very well. One or two are pretty silly.’

One of the big areas covered in the draft rules is horse racing regulations designed to eradicate non-standard racing. Many in the industry consent that this is an idea that is good as ‘barrel racing’ and ‘flag-drop’ race were seen by some operators as a way to cheaply earn payments that will even allow them to supply card spaces or slot machines alongside those events.

The latest rules would help put a conclusion to practices that are such. They would bar ‘the rushing animal to alter course in reaction to any obstacles regarding the racing surface’ and make certain that jockeys conform to uniform and fat requirements that couldn’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 race industry if they aren’t changed.

For instance, the new regulations would need that all races are in least six furlongs in total something which might create sense if you’ve only seen the Triple Crown races or the Breeder’s Cup, but making no sense for the industry all together.

‘[The guideline that] no race must be shorter than…six furlongs…is a killer,’ Stirling said, noting that such races would be too long for two-year-old horses racing within the summer. ‘That’s silly. We run child 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 additionally objected to a rule that states that each race must have at the very least six horses a guideline that could cause races become canceled due to minute that is last.

Jai-Alai would additionally be affected by the regulations that are new. For example, each venue is needed to possess eight players that are certified rotation. This rule comes in response to a controversy at Ocala Poker and Jai-Alai, which began the 2012 season with just two players.

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

‘They’re draft rules. They’re a starting place. We want to make sure that all of the permit 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 stated.