Florida’s Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering has revised again the operating hours Florida poker rooms can use beginning July 1.
A June 17 memo from Division Director Milton Champion to poker rooms says the Division will seek a change to state rules in how an operating "day" is defined, changing it from the current 6 a.m.-5:59 a.m. to midnight-11:59 p.m.
The change will be presented during the next formal rulemaking session, but the Division has advised poker rooms that it may operate on the new hours starting July 1, when state law allows rooms to expand their hours to 18 hours a day on weekdays and 24 hours a day on weekends and state holidays.
Poker rooms had begun to plan for the midnight-11:59 p.m. timeframe based on preliminary guidance from the state in May, but had to change course this month when they were informed that the hours would be 6 a.m. to 5:59 a.m., meaning that rooms that open at 9 or 10 a.m. on weekdays would have had to open later on Fridays in order to avoid closing for a few hours during the weekend.
