Florida's new casinos!

[bobliocatt]

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - Tampa, FL

Developed on behalf of the Seminole Tribe of Florida along with its sister project in Hollywood, FL, the combined $410 million project will include a 4-star Hard Rock Hotel, Hard Rock Casino and restaurants/entertainment tenants.

The project is located only a few miles from downtown Tampa at the intersection of I-4 and Orient Road. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa is under construction and will open in the Spring of 2004.

Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - Hollywood, FL

Developed on behalf of the Seminole Tribe of Florida along with its sister project in Tampa, FL, the combined $410 million project, built on 100 acres of the Seminole Hollywood Reservation on State Road 7 (U.S. 441) just north of Stirling Road, includes a 130,000-square-foot casino as well as retail shops, nightclubs and restaurants, including a Hard Rock Cafe and the Council Oak, a steak and seafood restaurant.

The complex also includes the European-style Contour Spa and a five-acre, lagoon-style pool complex with a 182-foot water slide and lazy river.

The project is located on the Florida Turnpike, 2 miles from I-95 and 5 miles from downtown Fort Lauderdale. The Seminole Hard Rock Resort is under construction and will open in the Spring of 2004.

[Brickell]

Just please legalize proper gambling already so I can go play some Blackjack. The pull-tab machines suck. At least allow them to have proper slots.

The Poker ain't bad though.

I hope to make it up to the Hollywood one sometime soon, but it's a bit of a hike.

[Urban_Legend]

The Hollywood complex looks way better than the Tampa one. But what is that marketplace looking thing built around the lake? It looks like retail. But I didn't know of anything like that included in the plans. Once I'm old enough (lol) I'm gonna stay there. That pool looks awesome!

[bobliocatt]

The Hollywood one is larger and better than the one in Tampa. The one in Tampa doesn't even have a Hard Rock Cafe as one of its several bars and restuarants, which is pretty strange to me, considering that the whole city of Tampa doesn't have one. From every thing I've read, the one in Hollywood also includes a retail and entertainment center around that lake, which is pretty cool to me. It resembles something like City Walk or Downtown Disney. I'm going to check it out, whenever I get a chance to make a trip to South Florida.

I'll planning to stop by the one in Tampa, this summer, since I will be down for a family reunion in July. The people down there say its been receiving pretty large crowds since it opened. I just wished that they found a way to build it, in or near downtown, instead of on the outskirts of town.

[Guest donaltopablo]

If they have poker rooms, I'm there.

[Urban_Legend]

I don't know if Florida's weird gambling laws will allow poker rooms. The casino's can only do so much. They should lift the laws, at least for the Native American Reservations.

[Brickell]

Yes, they have poker rooms. Since you're not betting against the house, they're considered OK. They just took away the betting limits as well, so they're running a lot of no-limit tables now. Dog, Horse and Jai-Alai places also have poker rooms now. The indian places also have Bingo and so called "pull-tab" machines. They've gotten around the rules and their basically slots and video poker machines, but they have to be paid out by ticket, not actual money. So you get a little printout and take it to the cashier. Silly. No table games as of yet, but I'm sure they wouldn't build these if they didn't have some hope of changing that soon.

They are considering allowing the slots in the race tracks and fontons too.

[Urban_Legend]

Cool! I really hope they get Blackjack, cause I'm good at that game. At least until the house wins....