Florida dog track opens poker room

SARASOTA, Florida – As reported by the Florida Herald Tribune: "For people who know 'gutshot' and 'rake' can refer to more than a bullet wound or gardening tool, there's good news.

"The Sarasota Kennel Club, hoping to improve its hand, so to speak, opened the area's only poker room on Friday, One-Eyed Jacks.

"A line of players stretched out through the double doors leading into the 6,000-square-foot room, where chips clatter and cocktail waitresses swarm amid 24 tables offering seven styles of poker, from 7-Card-Stud Hi-Lo to the kind of Texas Hold 'Em tournaments sensationalized on cable television.

"And unlike the concrete and steel bleachers overlooking the track outside, the poker room actually exudes the faux-glitzy feel of Las Vegas, with all its plush carpeting, marbletop bar and tuxedo-clad dealers and cocktail waitresses…"