gambling

Casinos in Florida?

Jun 27th, 2011
by edsmith.
Comments are off for this post

Once again, state leaders are discussing their options with regard to Las Vegas-style resort casinos in Florida. According to the Miami Herald, “South Florida voters have grown accustomed to, and tolerant of, gambling.” Florida is already in the gaming business say proponents. And at nearly $2 billion annually, gaming is already a huge industry in Florida. In fact, Florida is considered the fifth largest gaming state in the U.S. The industry employs nearly 8,800 people in Miami-Dade and Broward counties alone.

During the late 40’s through early 50’s gambling thrived in Okaloosa County. At the time, Okaloosa was said to have “more neon than any other place east of the Mississippi”. No one except some fisherman and shrimpers wanted to live in Destin back then.Most notable of the area casinos was the Shalimar Club on Eglin Parkway just north of Fort Walton Beach. Easily accessible from the gate at Eglin AFB, business was said to have been “robust”. At any rate, adverse publicity (eminating from the Tampa Tribune) eventually forced then governor Fuller Warren to remove the Okaloosa Sheriff from office for failure to enforce anti-gaming laws.

While there seems to be little support for legalized gaming in Northwest Florida, with state coffers reeling from a weakened economy, we expect to be hearing more about this over the course of the coming year.

Call Ed and Terri Smith at RE/MAX Coastal Properties for more!  850-837-5500 x1 or via email at smith@realtor.com  or vist  http://www.DestinFloridaRealEstate.com