Florida Online Casinos and Real Money Slots

The most popular way to play online casino slots and games in Florida (apart from free slots, here) is to play at a sweepstakes casino. With sweepstakes, you get a huge selection of top quality games, including some that you would find on the floor of Las Vegas casinos, like the Venetican and Caesars Palace.

With sweepstakes casinos, there is no purchase necessary (as they work under sweepstakes regulation) and although you can't technically 'cash out', you can redeem your coin wins as prizes that include cash and vouchers. Many players say this is the same as cashing out from a regular casino, but just a different way of exressing it, to comply with the regulations.

When it comes to bonuses, you get 'offers' with sweepstakes. These offers usually give you extra coins. So for example, you might get 25 coins for just $10 (theprice would normally be one coin for one dollar). The great thing is, though, there are no play-through requirments like you would get at a real money online casino. Instead, you just need to play the coins once, before you can redeem them.

You can gamble at online casinos that are based offshore, but most players prefer to play at sweepstakes, because they are legal and regulated under sweepstakes laws. If you’re going dow the rout of real money online casinos, you’ll be operating in a legal grey area. Also, the real money casinos don;t have access to the best games. The providers generally don't want their games to be seen on a sight that could be considered to be in the 'grey' legal area.

Neighbouring States: Alabama, Georgia

Regulation and legality of online gambling

Since there is no mention of online gambling in Florida laws that regulate gambling, internet real money wagers cannot be considered illegal. Locals have no in-state sites to play at, but the range of licensed offshore sites satisfies their gambling appetites. Internet cafes served as a front for gambling games for a while, and they were banned in 2013. There are no indications that any laws will be composed regarding online gambling in Florida any time soon. Some initiative was noted about signing interstate agreements with neighbor states which would allow online poker, but the current Florida lawmakers in office haven’t yet signed in to that proposal.

Florida has always had an ambivalent relationship with gambling has a whole, and the current situation is no different from the usual normal. Online gambling isn’t technically legal in Florida, but it’s also not illegal at the same time. How is this possible?

Well, that’s because online gambling simply isn’t mentioned in Florida’s legislation. According to Florida’s state law, section 849.08, individuals who partake in any sort of game of chance “shall be found guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.”

While such language might make it seem that Florida will crack down on anyone partaking in online gambling, the reality is quite different. Aside from 8 tribal casinos and 25 racinos that are in the state, players can also embark on gambling cruises, where ships sail just inside international borders in order to be out of reach as far as Florida’s laws are concerned.

Even though the state’s official outlook towards online gambling is negative, mainly due to former Gov. Rick Scott stalling all efforts to make a change, Florida is actually very lenient compared to most states.

History

Casinos in Florida started to appear in the late 1800s. Early high rollers in Florida had the opportunity to visit the first (illegal) casino in St. Augustine built by Henry Flagler. The Bacchus Club Casino in St. Augustine was built next to a church and Flagler’s hotels, so it was kind of a package deal. Another important key event in the evolution of Florida gambling was the introduction of ‘bolita’, which was imported from Cuba in 1920. Bolita has some similarities with bingo and it became very popular, attracting even members of the Mob.

Many crime bosses spent the winter in Florida due to its warm weather all-year-long until the 1940s. Famous criminals like Al Capone visited Florida and Tampa was notorious for many organized crime-related shootings in the period. In 1979, the Seminole tribe was the first to a high-stakes bingo hall on their land, initiating tribal gambling in the state of Florida.

Land based casinos

It is common to put Florida land-based casinos in three groups: Indian casinos, racinos (gaming machines at pari-mutuel facilities) and casino boats. The Seminole tribe holds the most casinos on their lands, more than half a dozen, and there is only one establishment that belongs to the Miccosukee and is located on their reservation. The Seminoles have a compact signed with the state, and it allows them to offer traditional Class III gaming machines, aka slots. They also provide blackjack, baccarat and poker tables, as well as less conventional variations of Let it Ride, Pai Gow Poker and Mini-Baccarat.

Seminole-run casinos include Seminole Casino Immokalee, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood and Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa, among others. The Immokalee facilities opened in 1994 in Collier County, Immokalee. The casino offers Vegas-style gaming machines (more than 1,300 of them) and 38 tables. It recently expanded the property. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa opened in 2004 spreading across 190,000 square feet. It is the sixth largest casino in the world, themed around rock and roll music. The venue boasts more than 5,000 Vegas-style slots and over a hundred tables, accompanied by electronic craps and roulette machines.

From Cape Canaveral to Port Richey, gamblers can get access to casino cruise ships and experience classy boat gambling at sea. By taking advantage of the lack of laws in international waters in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, Florida cruise casinos offer a wide variety of gambling items such as sportsbook betting, poker, craps, roulette, slots and more. The Victory Casino Cruises ships offer five and six-hour-long cruises with gaming possibilities such as bingo, Mississippi Stud, Let it Ride, slots and blackjack, to name a few.

The remaining facilities are racetrack-type gaming establishments where players can enjoy placing bets on horse and dog races, as well as Jai-Alai, slots and poker. Notable racinos in Florida are Pompano Park, Casino Miami Jai-Alai, Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino and Derby Lane.

Top Florida Casino Slots and Games

References

[1] Miccosukee Tribal Gaming Commission

[2] Seminole Tribal Gaming Commission

[3] The Florida Lottery

[4] Online gambling - are players at risk of prosecution?

[5] American Gaming Association - https://www.americangaming.org