What to know about the casino gambling inside a Florida highway gas station

Howard Cohen
·2 min read

The Miccosukee Tribe is opening a new casino — inside a highway rest stop.

The casino is on track to open later this year halfway across Alligator Alley in the only place to get gas and food on the stretch from Broward to Naples.

Here’s what to know about the future casino:

A casino gaming destination is going next door to the right at this Miccosukee Service Station on I-75, Exit 49 and Snake Road in Ochopee, Florida. The casino eyes a November 2023 completion. The tribe held a media announcement at the station on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023.
A casino gaming destination is going next door to the right at this Miccosukee Service Station on I-75, Exit 49 and Snake Road in Ochopee, Florida. The casino eyes a November 2023 completion. The tribe held a media announcement at the station on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023.

Where will the casino be?

Location: The new Miccousukee casino will be at the gas station and rest stop complex on Snake Road, about 50 miles west of the Fort Lauderdale area. The plaza is on Snake Road at Exit 49.

Amenities: The rest plaza has food including a Dunkin’ Donuts and Glades Cafe, gas pumps and restrooms.

What type of gambling will there be?

Casino: The new addition will to the highway rest stop will feature 150 slot machines in an 8,500-square-foot space.

Lucas Osceola,35, assistant chairman of the business council, leads children from the tribe around the space after a press conference announcing a new casino being built by the Miccosukee tribe on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, at the Miccosukee Service Plaza in Ochopee, Fla.
Lucas Osceola,35, assistant chairman of the business council, leads children from the tribe around the space after a press conference announcing a new casino being built by the Miccosukee tribe on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, at the Miccosukee Service Plaza in Ochopee, Fla.

KNOW MORE: What to know about the casino gambling inside a Florida highway gas station

Other casinos in South Florida

Miccosukee resort: Casino and resort in the Everglades west of Florida International University off Tamiami Trail at 500 SW 177th Ave.

Seminole resort: The Guitar Hotel and Hard Rock complex near Hollywood off Florida’s Turnpike.

Pari-mutuels: Gamblers can find casinos at the jai alai frontons near the Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports, the Gulfstream horse track in Hallandale Beach, and other parimutuels including the Magic City, Calder, Big Easy, Harrah’s and Hialeah Park.

Why a casino at a highway stop?

Money: Miccosukee leaders hope the casino addition on Alligator Alley will bring in more income. “We haven’t had an expansion in about two decades since the resort,” “Popeye” William Osceola, the Miccosukee Tribe’s secretary business council, said at a groundbreaking event at the Ochopee service plaza in Collier County on Wednesday morning.

Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.