Getting ready to settle down and watch the games? While you watch the Dolphins face off against the Packers, the Cowboys battle the Giants or the Bears take on the Lions, you might want to put a little money on the results. Can you, legally, in Florida?

Yes, but not everywhere.

Is sports betting legal in Florida?

Yes, but only at casinos on Seminole Tribe lands or through the Seminole Tribe’s mobile app.

In 2021, the Seminole Tribe struck a 30-year deal (known as a gaming compact) with the state to allow sports betting on tribal lands and also allow anyone in Florida to gamble with a mobile app hosted on tribal land, in exchange for paying the state about $20 billion, including $2.5 billion over the first five years. The contract also allowed the Seminoles to add craps and roulette, previously prohibited, to their Florida casinos. Slot machines were already allowed there but illegal anywhere else.

After that, there were years of legal battles between the Seminole Tribe and a group of pari-mutuel companies who challenged the compact, but the challenges consistently lost and all parties finally came to an agreement in October.

What sports betting apps are legal in Florida?

The Hard Rock Bet app (iOS | Android) from the Seminole Tribes is the only approved mobile betting app in Florida.

There are online apps that claim to be based on offshore locations and therefore legal in Florida, but they’re on shaky legal ground.

How can I bet on sports in Florida?

You have three legal options.

1. Place in-person bets at one of the Seminole Tribe-controlled casinos where sports gambling has been launched.
2. Bet online with the Seminole Tribes’ Hard Rock Bet app or the Hard Rock Bet website.
3. Take a gambling cruise that travels three miles out into international waters. Which is sort of fuzzy, legally speaking, but it is an option.

What forms of gambling are currently legal in Florida?

Broadly speaking, Florida currently allows:

• Sports gambling at Seminole-Tribe-run casinos or through the Seminole tribes’ app.
• Some pari-mutuel gambling, including horse racing and cardrooms licensed by the state. Jai alai was added to the Hard Rock Bet app this year as part of the Seminole Tribes’ agreement.
• Casino gambling on lands belonging to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.
• State-run lotteries and interstate games such as the Powerball and Mega Millions.
• Bingo, raffles and drawings of chance if run by a “charitable, nonprofit, or veterans’ organization.”
• Small social games.

Can I bet on sports among friends in Florida?

Not legally. It is a second-degree misdemeanor to bet on “any trial or contest of skill, speed or power or endurance of human or beast.” It’s even worse to be the person taking the bets, which is a third-degree felony.

There’s some argument over where offshore betting websites fall here, but Florida bans all betting on sports.

Except, for some reason, bowling. Bowling tournaments are exempted from this and are perfectly welcome.

Playing cards and other penny-ante games, defined as “a game or series of games of poker, pinochle, bridge, rummy, canasta, hearts, dominoes, or mah-jongg in which the winnings of any player in a single round, hand, or game do not exceed $10 in value” are allowed.

What is the legal age for gambling in Florida?

The minimum gambling age is 21 for casino games and 18 for lottery games, poker, bingo, and pari-mutuel betting such as horse racing and jai alai.

LABELLE, Fla. (WSVN) — Authorities seek the public’s help in their search for two 4-year-old boys out of Hendry County, Florida.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an AMBER Alert for Jermaine Crocker and Tremaine Crocker, late Wednesday night.

Investigators said the children were last seen in the area of the 400 block of Withlacoochee Avenue in LaBelle.

Both boys stand 3 feet, 5 inches tall, weight around 24 pounds, and have black hair and brown eyes.

Jermaine was last seen wearing a multi-colored shirt, brown shorts, and red and blue tennis shoes. Tremaine was last seen wearing a multi-colored shirt, blue jean shorts and gray Crocs.

Authorities said they may be in the company of 47-year-old Ralph Garvin.

Garvin stands 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs around 155 pounds, and has black hair and black eyes. He was last seen wearing all black clothing, including a black hoodie.

Officials advise anyine who spots them to refrain from approaching them and immediately contact law enforcement.

Officials urge anyone with information on their whereabouts to call FDLE’s Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 1-888-FL MISSING (1-888-356-4774), the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office at 863-674-5600 or 911.

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ORLANDO, Fla. (WFLA) — A missing persons case out of Orange County reportedly came to a tragic end last month after authorities said they found a woman dead and dismembered in a suitcase on the side of a Georgia highway.

The investigation began with a welfare check at a home in the Waterford Lakes area on the morning of Oct. 29, according to NBC affiliate WESH.

A friend told Orange County deputies that he had started receiving concerning text messages from one of the residents, 41-year-old Jorge Javier Quintero. When authorities got there, they couldn’t find Quintero or his girlfriend, 29-year-old Carmen Elsa Escalante Carrera.

Instead, they were met with a gruesome scene, according to descriptions in an arrest report. Deputies reported finding a large kitchen knife, a bloodied bathtub, bloody clothes and handwritten letters that they said were consistent with suicide notes.

Security footage reportedly showed a man walking out of the back door and driving off in a white truck just 30 minutes before. Through their investigation, deputies said they were able to confirm that Quintero had rented that same white truck.

Also inside the home was information for another nearby apartment complex. Investigators said they learned that the couple was in a new relationship and was in the process of moving into the building.

Detectives continued their search for Quintero and Escalante Carrera at their new unit, which had already been leased to Quintero. According to the arrest report, the door was unlocked when authorities got there.

While inside, deputies said they found bloody towels, additional blood spots on the wall and many of Escalante Carrera’s personal items, except her phone. By 1:30 p.m., detectives said her phone was pinging in Seminole County, Georgia.

Pings from license plate readers reportedly showed the white truck traveling in a similar direction. Some license plate readers also captured photos of the truck. Officials said the photos appeared to show a trash bag that was in the shape of a human body in the bed of the truck.

As their investigation continued, detectives said they were able to obtain security footage from a Lake City, Florida gas station that showed Quintero making purchases using Escalante Carrera’s phone. However, she was nowhere to be seen.

Then, on Oct. 31, the U.S. Marshals found Quintero and the rented truck in Alabama, where they got into a shootout. Quintero was critically injured, but deputies told WESH he was still alive as of Nov. 26.

Escalante Carrera was not with Quintero when the shootout occurred. However, Georgia officials reported finding human remains in a suitcase on the side of a highway about three hours later.

The remains were visibly identified as Escalante Carrera. According to the arrest affidavit, she was found in brutal condition. Detectives said a power cord was wrapped around her neck and her body parts were fully or partially dismembered.

A medical examiner said Escalante Carrera died from ligature strangulation.

Quintero is facing a first-degree murder charge, according to the sheriff’s office.