Las Vegas Sands To Make Casino Resort Proposal In Florida Wednesday

Lawmakers in the state of Florida will have the responsibility in the coming weeks of deciding how the state is going to expand casino gambling. On Wednesday, Las Vegas Sands officials will show their vision for Florida.

Lawmakers are in negotiations with the Seminole Indians on a compact that would allow the Seminoles to offer blackjack and other table games at their casinos in the state. On Wednesday, however, they will break from those negotiations to hear the option that Sands will be proposing.

Sands has said that they would be willing to put $3 billion each up for two casino resorts. One would be in Tampa, and the other would be built in either Fort Lauderdale or Miami. Legislators like the idea of the amount of tourism that the resorts would bring.

"My guess is, you make it a true destination resort," said Senator Mike Hardipolis, as reported by the Tallahassee Bureau, "it's not just gambling, but you've got the hotel, you've got nice restaurants, and you try to play towards the tourist market, who are going to do additional activities in Broward or Miami or wherever."

it does not appear likely that lawmakers will go for this type of gambling expansion this time around. Instead, they will continue to work on completing the compact with the Seminoles.

If approved, the compact would give the Seminoles the right to offer the additional table games at four of their seven casinos in Florida. The deal would run for five years, at which time the state could re-examine whether they want to continue with the arrangement.

March 8, 2010
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
Submit News!