October 13

Online casino players are following this story with curiosity and new advances are taking place. Now, unreturned questions surrounding the divisive introduction of slot machines at 4 pari-mutuel casinos in Broward County will be a primary focus of discussion at next week's Florida Gaming Summit.

Earlier in 2005, Broward voters passed a constitutional amendment that permitted operators to place the machines in the facilities, but installation has been delayed as the Florida Legislature is still considering when to decide on laws to regulate slots. One resolution would allow voters to reconsider the measure. Meantime, an appeals court last week held that the Broward parimutuel facilities have the ability to install slots while awaiting regulations. The State of Florida is appealing the ruling.

Gaming companies, vendors, analysts and even the supervisory body from Florida and the national gaming industry will meet for this important first-year conference, set for October 17 and 18 in Miami. Local and national gaming experts will discuss the Broward County slots issue, the growth of Indian gaming, the rapportbetween gaming and tourism, and the local impact of gaming.

Sen. Steve Geller will talk to Florida's political and legal environment and the future of slots in Broward County in Monday night's opening keynote address. Sen. Geller has played a leadership role in the effort to add gaming machines to the product mix of the state's pari-mutuel slot casinos.