Jai Alai history

In 1978, a measure to allow casino’s in Dade and Broward county failed by a wide margin.

1979 – Seminole tribe opposes Florida limit on bingo games and opens high-stakes bingo hall in Broward County. (http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19791116&id=JtYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZusFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3637,2260353)

1981 – 8 retirees are arrested for playing a low-stakes poker game in their retirement community.

1986 – Florida voters approve the lottery. (https://results.elections.myflorida.com/Index.asp?ElectionDate=11/4/1986&DATAMODE=)

1988 – The lottery began operations in 1988.

1989 – Florida legalizes penny-ante poker games in private homes as long as the pot does not exceed $10.

By 1993, the company was on its way to being delisted by the NASDAQ. Lexicon was sold to Freedom Financial Corp., and Levy resigned as both an officer and director of the company.

A referendum calling for the creation of 47 casinos, including the state's 30 parimutuel sites, was on the ballot in the November 1994 election.

In June 1995, the company signed an agreement with Centrum X Corporation, gaining first refusal rights to develop and manage a casino on the Tonkawa Indian Reservation in Oklahoma.

1996: Three more jai-alai facilities are acquired.

Pari-mutuel owners again complain that their business is hurt by this competition. (Bell, Maya, “Tracks, Frontons Race to Survive in Post-Lottery World,” Orlando Sentinel, March 9, 1997, Business Section, pg.

The NASDAQ also made note of the situation when announcing that Florida Gaming would be delisted in August 1998.

In fact, the entire jai-alai industry was on the verge of collapse. It was not until August 2000 that the company was able to complete a sale of the fronton.

In February 2002, Florida Gaming signed an agreement to broadcast its Miami Jai-Alai matches over the Internet, using streaming video.

Poker betting raised to $2, with maximum three-raise limit, in 2003

Voters approved 2004 referendum to allow slot machines in Broward and Dade county betting facilities

In 2007, Governor Charlie Crist signed a compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

In November of 2012, Lee County voted to allow slots at its Bonita Springs.

2013 – Spectrum Gaming Group released a report, commissioned by the Florida Legislature at a cost of $388,000 to assess the state’s gambling market.

After 2015, when the tribe’s 5-year blackjack agreement came to an end, things got much more tense with the state and tribe.

The final county to approve slots, also in 2016, was Duval County.

Eventually, a lawsuit between the tribe and Governor Scott was settled in 2017 that would allow blackjack to continue in the state, with payments from the tribe continuing.

In 2018, Florida’s Constitutional Revision Commission put a measure before the ballot that would ban wagering on live dog racing.

Things came to a head when the tribe announced in 2019 it would stop making payments to the state due to its failure (as backed up by a judicial ruling) to enforce the tribe’s right to exclusive blackjack gaming in Florida.