Florida’s Bestbet Sues Over Cardroom Approval for Controversial ‘Racetrack’
Posted on: October 23, 2025, 03:44h.
Last updated on: October 23, 2025, 03:44h.
- Bestbet sues regulators over Hamilton Downs cardroom expansion approval
- Dispute revives controversy from 2015 “flag-drop” horse races
- Case could reshape Florida’s parimutuel and cardroom gaming rules
A north Florida card room operator that once ran controversial “flag drop” races has no business opening a new venue a stone’s throw from the Georgia border, according to a newly filed lawsuit from competitor Bestbet Holdings.
Bestbet, which operates card rooms in Jacksonville and Orange Park, sued the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) last week. The suit claims the agency exceeded its authority when it approved an amendment for Hamilton Downs Horsetrack, LLC to open a card-room site in Hamilton County.
Ultra-Low-Fi Spectacle
Hamilton Downs hit the headlines a decade ago when Florida regulators sought to sanction it for offering comically bare-bones “flag-drop” races to satisfy the minimum live-racing requirement needed to keep its quarter-horse permit active.
These ultra-low-fi spectacles involved “a series of races involving [two] tired, reluctant, skittish, or disinterested horses moving at a slow pace down the dust-choked path,” according to court documents at the time.
There was no marked starting line or finish line,” according to the documents. “The horses were often yards apart when the red rag-on-a-stick was waved [signaling the start of the race].”
Despite the regulator’s objections, in August 2015, Administrative Law Judge John G. Van Laningham determined that Florida’s parimutuel statutes did not require more than Hamilton Downs’ minimal contests to qualify for “racing.”
That’s despite his acknowledgment that they resembled an “entry-level campers’ horse show held at the conclusion of a two-week YMCA summer camp.”
Drop the Sham
Hamilton’s ownership group once operated the now-defunct Hamilton Jai-Alai & Poker card room – or at least shared investors with it. The jai-alai venue, located about 12 miles from Hamilton Downs, was a separate facility that maintained its gambling permit by staging a quota of jai-alai matches each year.
In 2021, Florida scrapped the law that required cardroom operators to offer a quota of racing or jai alai as a condition of their gambling licenses. This allowed Hamilton Downs to ditch the sham pony show and concentrate on opening a future cardroom strategically positioned to attract the gambling-starved residents of South Georgia.
In June of this year, the Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) unanimously approved Hamilton Downs’ request to “amend its permitted property description.”
The amendment allows the company to place its card-room facility on property adjacent to where the old racing took place. The FGCC issued a final order in July approving the change.
Bestbet Bites Back
Bestbet’s lawsuit argues that Florida law does not authorize a permit holder to move or expand its card room beyond the originally approved location unless specific statutory exceptions apply, and it says Hamilton Downs doesn’t meet those criteria.
Bestbet also cites a Florida constitutional amendment that requires voter approval for casino-gambling expansion and questions whether placing a card room in a new location triggers the requirement for a local referendum.
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