Casinos and Seminole Indians Play High Stakes Poker of Florida

Las Vegas style high stakes poker and multimillion-dollar state deficits coincide with the State of Florida and the Seminole Tribe’s gambling casinos rights. Florida now joins California, Nevada, and New Jersey in offering this type of gaming. Limits are abolished, as are gaming hourly restrictions. Play any amount all day. The Seminole Tribe of Florida offers 1360 seats of high stakes poker under this July 1, 2010 new law. This is a great news from gamblers and casino goers. Doors are now wide open in Florida.

High Stakes No Limit Poker Games for Sport, Profit, and Jobs

Several months earlier during negotiations, the Seminole Tribe agreed to give Florida $150 million to pay for municipal costs that casino visitors might incur as well as for road and emergency maintenance, police, and construction. More people, more jobs, and more money will help the government coffers. This latest deal upholds the Tribe’s exclusive rights to Blackjack, Baccarat, and Chemin de fer card games. A part of the revenue share also goes to education and this is something important for their children. The Tribe controls duty free tobacco sales at the casinos where smoking is allowed indoors but the poker rooms may be non-smoking. Florida is otherwise a no smoking state.

ESPN, the sports channel, features high stakes poker tournaments as if it’s a sport like any other. Big Money Tournaments featuring Texas No-Limit Poker first entered the top 20 in Nielsen’s TV rating in 2008 and remain very popular. Lately, it is learned that the same is available on YouTube channels.

The Seminole Indian Tribe

The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s web page claims the Seminole as “the only tribe in America who never signed a peace treaty.” The Tribe has Head Quarters in Hollywood Florida and covers areas in Big Cypress, Brighton, Coconut Creek, Fort Pierce, Immokalee, Naples, and Tampa. They are self governing with their own police and fire dept. They own Hard Rock Casinos in Tampa and Hollywood Florida as well as Seminole Casinos.

The Seminoles, decedents of Native Americans from the southern US states, created the Seminole Tribe in 1957. They shared language and beliefs but originally were separate tribes.

Gaming is a Multibillion-Dollar Industry to Help Beat the Recession

Florida may be showing other states how to survive a recession with money from gambling plus hosting large political conventions such as the 2012 National Republican Convention. Florida has one of the highest real-estate foreclosures rates in the country and is betting on this type of gambling being more of a sure thing.

Las Vegas gaming may express recession concerns but Florida as a tourist location has a variety of attractions including beaches, Disney World, baseball and football, ice hockey teams, horse racing, picturesque ethnic towns such as Ybor City, Tarpon Springs and of course a tourist destination for chocolate lovers. Meanwhile, no limits poker games will be another attraction.

Vacation Destinations for Chocolate Lovers

Men, women and children love the decadent taste of chocolate. For many it is the one indulgence they cannot do without. In the northeastern portion of the United States, there are a few special vacation destinations including Florida and Michigan that is centered around the theme of chocolate. Whether Valentine's Day, a birthday or anniversary, these locales make a perfect chocolate lovers getaway.

Cocoa Cottage Bed & Breakfast in Whitehall, Michigan

This cozy and intimate bed and breakfast is about an hour of drive from Grand Rapids, and a couple of hours from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. With rooms named Godiva, Hershey, Ghirardelli and Cadbury, a chocolate lover will feel right at home in this inn. Guests staying at the Cocoa Cottage Bed & Breakfast can enjoy comfortable lodging with full private baths, queen or king beds, flat screen televisions, wireless internet access and complimentary bath and body products. A homemade breakfast is also served to guests each morning, and a tasty chocolate treat each evening. Throughout the year, the inn offers special events such as chocolate cooking classes, chocolate tasting and a murder mystery weekend.

The inn is just minutes from Lake Michigan, Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park and numerous golf courses.

Hershey's Resort

The ultimate in chocolate destinations is that of Hershey, Pennsylvania (a city built on the theme of chocolate). Located near Harrisburg on the eastern side of the state, Hershey offers an array of chocolate related fun and activities. Some of these include Hersheypark (an amusement park), the Chocolate Spa and Hershey's Chocolate World (a chocolate tour). At Hershey's Resort one can also enjoy fine dining and championship golf.

Chicago Chocolate Tours and the South Bend Chocolate Factory

Many may be wondering how chocolates are made and how it is processed from farm to the market. Here it goes. The city of Chicago is internationally known for professional sports, arts and culture and Lake Michigan. Being the headquarters for the Fannie May corporation, Chicago is also a Mecca for chocolate indulgences. Various tour companies throughout the area offer what are known as chocolate tours to help people learn and know everything of their favorite chocolate. Some of these tours require walking, while others are taken via a trolley ride. Tours involve visits to various chocolate shops, plants/manufacturers, bakeries and cafes. Of course lots and lots of tasting is allowed. While in Chicago be sure to stop by the Peninsula Hotel, home of Chicago's Chocolate Bar. After a day or two in Chicago, head east to the Indiana city of South Bend. There one can visit and tour South Bend's Chocolate Factory. There are much and much more to discover if one can stay longer, for about a week or so, in the area and meet with locals. The local residents can help in knowing more about chocolate.
Other great vacation spots for chocolate lovers in the Northeast United States include Boston and New York. The chocolate tours are available in both of these cities as well as chocolate spas and bars. Some more information can be collected from the government and ministerial websites of Chicago.