As noted here earlier, the Florida table games situation is very interesting, from various points of view.  At present, the Seminoles continue to operate their table games at Hard Rock with a tribal-state compact that's been invalidated by the Florida Supreme Court.  However, a federal district court refused to issue an injunction to stop the table games last July, and so it goes.

Now, the Miami Herald reports that the legislature will re-visit the compact via a new sub-committee headed up by a "gambling opponent."  The idea is for the full House to either sanction the existing agreement or come up with something entirely new.  Apparently, the issues boil down to money & monopoly, with some anti-gaming moralism thrown in the mix.  The current agreement gives the state a set amount of $375 million over the next three years and $100 million per year for the next 25 years, as long as the state bars its various racinos and slots-only casinos from offering table games. 

This reminds me a little of the situation in Connecticut in the early 1990s when then-governor Lowell Weicker negotiated a similarly-exclusive deal with the Pequots of Foxwoods fame.  The exclusive deal Connecticut struck with the Pequots derailed the Steve Wynn-led Mirage's plans to develop in the nutmeg state -- a key decision that contributed to Wynn's decision to shift his focus back towards Atlantic City.  This eventually led to Borgata's development.   But the Pequots' Connecticut monopoly only lasted a few years until the Mohegans and partner Sun International struck a deal to develop Mohegan Sun.  

At this point, the Florida legislature may simply approve the 2007 compact, allowing the Seminoles exclusivity and the state's guaranteed revenue (see above).  But, why limit the potential for gaming around the state?  There's still a big legal question here.  According to the Herald, one key legislator has already declared that ''Everything is back on the table" and he will look for fairness to the state's parimutuel racing & slots operations. 

So, despite the new legislative plan, the picture is still not clear for Florida.  While it is certainly in the tribe's interest (from a PR perspective at a minimum) to work with the legislature on a new compact, there's a strong financial incentive to protect its interests under the current system.  And a gaming monopoly in such a lucrative market is a big interest.  At any rate, a complex scenario with economic, political and (possibly) legal implications will play out over the next few months in the sunshine state. 

I'll be in Disney World for few days in January with my family.  So far there's been no talk of gaming in the Magic Kingdom, at least that I'm aware of....