A friend of mine mentioned that a staff member from one of the card rooms in North Broward County was adding a couple of staff members just to stay on top of potential collusion.  I have to say, this is very encouraging news to me.  I hope to see other poker rooms follow suit, but I have to admit, I’m not that optimistic.

My friend mentioned that the notion of professional players from around the country (and Las Vegas, always gotta say “pros from Las Vegas”) bringing their friends might lend itself too well to organized collusion.  Sadly, I have to agree.  What I think will really surprise Floridians is the level of sophistication that pros have in their poker game, as well as the level of sophistication in their cheating.  I can say from my experience prior to the poker craze of the past decade, that poker professionals have easily the ability to collude on teams that are so well organized that even local teams would be embarrassed about how naive they have been.  To put it simply, if you’ve ever “seen collusion,” then you haven’t seen good collusion.

I have to say,  I do believe that Mardi Gras, Calder, and Pompano will benefit the most from the new limits.  With only $100 on the table, players might favor a “pretty casino” over a better managed one, but when there are real stacks on the felt come July, you can bet people will begin to appreciate a level game with staff that isn’t paid to look the other way on collusion, and dealers that have a degree of professionalism and a sense of accountability.  I can say this, based on what I’ve seen of the South Florida level of customer service, “this place is no Vegas,” and that’s not gonna change any time soon.