California Gaming Association says proposed rule changes would kill card room industry

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated Wednesday in opposition to new rules proposed by the California Bureau of Gambling Control that would require players to take turns acting as the dealer when gambling in state card rooms.

Following a workshop held by the Bureau of Gambling Control in Sacramento at which they discussed the possible new rules, the California Gaming Association held a news conference and said the changes would devastate the $5.6 billion industry in the state.

"No one in the card room industry relishes confronting their regulator, right?" asked Kyle Kirkland, president of the California Gaming Association, abc10 reports. "We wouldn’t advocate for it, but it’s so lethal and so disruptive to our people and our communities, that we have to push back."

Current California law allows card rooms to have games like blackjack, three-card poker, baccarat and pai gow poker, but instead of the house acting as the bank, players do. That is because games where the casino has a stake in the outcome are not allowed outside of the state's tribal casinos.

In these games, the role of the dealer is rotated between players, but if the player refuses the role, a casino-hired dealer can step in to allow the game to continue. However, under the new proposal, all players at a card table must take turns serving as the dealer, or else play would stop completely. "If the language that was presented today was implemented tomorrow, virtually every card room in the state would be out of business," Kirkland said. 

The draft rules were introduced informally, Kirkland added. For them to be implemented, the bureau will have to hold more hearings and conduct an economic impact report. “I’d be deeply concerned if they used this as a starting point,” Kirkland said, as reported by Sacramento Business Journal. He said the association is ready to take legal action if it comes to that. “We would have to go into an injunction to stop them,” he said. “Our industry, our communities couldn’t survive.”

In a statement, Yocha Dehe Tribal Chairman Anthony Roberts praised the proposed rule change. “Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation applauds Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the Bureau of Gambling Control for proposing regulations requiring cardrooms to follow the law the State Legislature and California voters have put in place,” he said. “This is an important first step to have state law enforced and to stop the play of clearly illegal banked games in card rooms in our communities.”

There are 10 card rooms in the Sacramento area, according to a map on the Gambling Control Commission website.