Danny Hall, 66, left, and his nephew Randy Hall, 49, watch a race replay and see just how close they were to winning on Tuesday, Jan. 6. “There are a million ways you can win at this,” Randy Hall said. (Joe Pangburn/ NYT INSTITUTE)

By JOE PANGBURN

Gamblers sit elbow-to-elbow at the new blackjack tables inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., tapping their fingers against the felt and stacking chips near their cards. Some sip cocktails tableside. In the background, tricked-out slot machines flash and ring.

It may not be Vegas, but, considering it’s off the highway and built on a swamp, it comes close enough. That’s bad news for the pari-mutuel industry — the dog and horse tracks and jai alai frontons that once dominated Florida’s gambling scene and now struggle to attract customers and stay competitive.

Hit hard by the recession and the popularity of American Indian-owned casinos, the Florida pari-mutuel industry has seen a 17 percent decline in wagering and a 13 percent dip in slot revenue from July through October of last year, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Just a short drive from the Seminole casino, the Flagler Dog Track and Sports Entertainment Center in Miami, built decades ago, looks and feels its age. On a recent afternoon, about 40 mostly older men sat scattered around the small, covered clubhouse, handicapping races. They watched in near silence as eight greyhounds hit the final stretch. Below them, a poker room showed more signs of life as card sharks played Texas Hold ’em.

“Once the casinos put the slots and new card games in, we were down 20 percent in four weeks,” said Barbara Havenick, chief executive of the Flagler dog track, which has been owned by her family for generations. “It hurt everything last year.”

The Seminole casino has slowly lured customers away from the older, more traditional gambling sites since it opened in 2004. But the situation took a sharp turn for the worse in November 2007, when Gov. Charlie Crist agreed to allow the casinos to operate Las Vegas-style slot machines and run table games, like blackjack and baccarat.

In exchange, the casinos, which do not pay state taxes since they are owned by a sovereign nation, will send Florida $375 million over the first three years for education programs, then move to a sliding-scale payment of 10 percent to 25 percent of their revenue. The tribe does not report its gaming revenues.

The pact angered the Florida Legislature, which did not vote on the agreement. Last year, it took the governor to court and, in July, the Florida Supreme Court sided with the lawmakers, saying the governor lacked the authority to unilaterally forge the deal.

But the court has no authority to force the casinos to shut down the slot machines and the gaming tables, which were rolled out last year. So the games go on, while Crist works to craft a new deal with lawmakers.

Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminole tribe, is blunt about the success of the new table games and slot machines.

“Business increased significantly in 2008 because of the new games,” he said. “People are familiar with these games, and there is a strong demand for them in Florida from locals as well as tourists.”

A lifeline remains, though, for the dog and horse tracks and jai alai fronton in Miami-Dade County. Last year, voters in Miami approved the addition of Las Vegas-style slots to those facilities, granting them a reprieve.

The Flagler dog track is now building what will be known as Magic City Casino. It will have 1,500 slot machines, shopping outlets and restaurants. A concert stage for outdoor events will be set in the middle of the track.

“Those used to be really popular here,” Havenick said of the concerts. “They seem to have gone by the wayside, but I think people will enjoy them.”

Havenick said she hopes these new entertainment and gaming options will bring more people to her track. “It’s a survival issue for our family,” she said.

Ramadan Aly, 47, scooped up his winnings after a hand of Texas Hold ‘em in the poker room at Flagler. He said he’s ready for the expansion.

“I love this place,” said Aly, who has been coming to Flagler for years. “I’m excited to play the slots here, but we also need 21,” he said, referring to blackjack. “It’s such a great game. I don’t know what it is going to take, but we need it here.”

The slot machines alone may not be the boon Havenick expects. In Broward County, where two horse tracks and a dog track set up Vegas-style slot machines in 2005 and 2006, the payoff was not as high as anticipated. A spokesman for Boyd Gaming, which owns the Dania Jai-Alai fronton, was quoted last year in news reports saying the fronton decided not to introduce slot machines because revenues in the other facilities were lower than expected.

Pari-mutuel owners said they are at a serious disadvantage because they must pay a 50 percent tax on slot machine returns. In light of that, they want blackjack tables, too.

“We’re lobbying for them now,” said Mike Mullaney, a spokesman for Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino in Hallandale Beach. “But it is a long and arduous process, and I don’t know how soon we will get them.”

Mullaney said the uneven playing field has cut into the number of people coming to Gulfstream. “It definitely affected our business last year,” he said.

The flailing economy hasn’t helped, he said, nor has the construction of retail and residential projects on the property, which has disrupted the flow of people. A large sign along a fence on South Federal Highway advertises that the facility is open, but it hasn’t done the trick.

“We lost a lot of parking spots to the construction last year,” he said. From the highway, “it may look like there is nothing here or that we are closed.”

As for the state, while it was once reluctant to expand gambling in a family-friendly destination, the desire for more money in the face of declining revenue has changed that.

Last week, Powerball came to town, and Floridians bought $7 million in tickets for the first drawing, held Jan. 7. Lottery sales have been down 8 percent over the last six months, but officials said they hope Powerball will spur sales.

Back at the dog track, Havenick said she isn’t asking to become the next MGM Grand of the South. She simply wants to be dealt an even hand.

“We want to be on some parity with the Indians,” Havenick said. “Our business is based on competition, so we need to be allowed to have these games if the other casinos won’t drop them.”