Explore Florida's Poker Scene: Events, Venues, and Laws

Florida is a very popular vacation destination in the United States – no wonder it’s nicknamed “the Sunshine State”. And a large chunk of those tourists, along with the locals, are looking to gamble.

They have plenty of choices, as there are 82 casinos currently operating in the state, according to worldcasinodirectory.com. That is the 6th most gambling hubs among the 50 US states.

This evidently means that land based gambling is completely legal and regulated. However, games of chance laws there aren’t without any controversy. A 2013 law prohibits people from hosting recreational casino nights at their home. And it’s no “small stakes” either, violating this statute is a 3rd degree felony with up to 5 years in prison as punishment.

It’s also important to note that – unlike in most places – you don’t have to collect rake for your home game to break the law. You just have to be the one in charge. 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up finisher John Racener has run into legal trouble for that very reason, for example.

However, Florida is still an important location in the world of poker. The Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Hollywood, FL is a widely covered annual poker series with huge buy-in events and big-name players.

Also, many of the world’s most successful players have come from Florida. You can read about them in the chapter below.

Famous Poker Players from Florida

Jason Mercier tops currently Florida’s all time money list on Hendon. He has cashed for $19.750 million in live tournaments during his career. He’s a 5-time WSOP gold bracelet winner. He’s among the just 26 players in poker history to have won at least as many, and among the 10 to have won exactly 5.

In April 2014, he finished 2nd in a $100K Super High Roller for $1.622 million at the Bellagio. That is his biggest single live tournament cash to date.

Mercier is also a very successful online player. He amassed over $2.2 million in online MTT cashes, mostly playing on PokerStars under the screen name “JasonMercier”. He’s won two WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) and five SCOOP (Spring Championship of Online Poker) titles.

Michael Mizrachi is best known for being the only player who won the biggest mixed game tournament, the $50K WSOP Poker Players Championship, three times. He too has won a total of 5 bracelets. His career earnings is currently at $17.15 million.

The Poker Masters is a high roller series that gives out the Purple Jacket award for the player who cashed for the most across all of its events each year. In 2019, Florida man Sam Soverel won that prize after cashing in 5 out of 10 events, while winning an additional 2.