Florida is still trying to figure out how big a role gambling should play in its economy. Indian tribe casinos here generated a substantial $2.2 billion in revenues in 2011. That sum placed the state fourth nationwide in Indian gaming revenue. But it leaves Florida facing stiff new competition from other states and, this week, new challenges from Internet gambling. Florida gaming revenues from the eight Seminole and Miccosukee tribe casinos surpassed those generated in Connecticut in 2011. Yet Washington leapfrogged both states to rank No. 3 nationwide behind California and Oklahoma. Just out, the 2011 rankings appear in the annual "Indian Gaming Industry Report" published by Casino City Press. According to analyst Alan Meister, the report's author, Florida revenues grew because of more table games like blackjack in South Florida casinos, and the opening of the gambling room targeted at Asians at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa.Get the Story:
Robert Trigaux: Florida's gambling industry: Who wants to bet it's about to expand? (The Tampa Bay Times 2/27)
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