Calder Latest Florida Track to Open Card Room

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Calder Race Course will become the latest Florida track to open a poker room when its live Thoroughbred meet begins April 26.

The new card room will be located on the second floor of the grandstand and will house 12 tables with a variety of games. It will open at noon EST on live racing days.

"We are pleased to offer another form of entertainment and wagering to our customers with this new card room," said Calder president Ken Dunn. "Our goal is to provide a unique and comfortable atmosphere for our customers, where they can enjoy both horse racing and card-playing. The marketplace is becoming increasingly competitive, and Calder and the horseracing industry in Florida need to remain competitive as well. We believe we will be able to offer some benefits to our customers that the competition cannot."

Calder's card room will not be the first at a pari-mutuel facility in Florida. Similar facilities have proven to be popular and successful at other pari-mutuel venues. Horsemen competing at Calder will receive 50% of net revenue from the card room in purses and breeders' awards. The state gets 10%of all card room revenue.

State statutes establish pot limits for the card games with the maximum bet set at two dollars and a limit of three raises per round. The total pot of a game would also be dependent on the number of players at a table.

Dunn has named Scott Poole the director of card room operations. A native of Lexington, Ky., Poole had previously served as the poker room manager for three major gaming cruise lines between 1990 and 1997.

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