California cardrooms welcomed a court decision to let them continue to allow visitors to bet on blackjack, one of their most lucrative games.
A San Francisco Superior Court judge struck down regulations that would ban cardrooms from offering blackjack in California.
Authorities wanted to close what some consider a legal loophole allowing cardrooms to offer blackjack and games in which players play against the house. Those types of games are supposed to be offered only in Native American casinos, but cardrooms were getting around the restriction by using designated outside dealers.
In the June 30 ruling, Judge Richard Darwin said Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and the California Bureau of Gambling Control exceeded their authority by introducing the change.
The California Department of Justice officially introduced the proposed regulations in May 2025, and responded to over 1,700 public comments.
The California Office of Administrative Law green-lit the rules in February, and they were set to go into effect on April 1, but in March, the California Gaming Assn. filed a suit to invalidate them.
In May, Darwin filed a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking the state from imposing the new rules.
There are more than 70 cardrooms across California employing about 20,000 workers, according to the California Gaming Assn. It estimated that the changes could cut the number of cardroom jobs in half and significantly reduce the industry’s positive economic impact.
A 2019 analysis commissioned by the group estimated that tax revenue generated by California cardrooms was roughly $500 million a year.
Kyle Kirkland, the president of the California Gaming Assn. and owner of Club One Casino in Fullerton, said the regulation would have not only affected the cardrooms themselves, but also the cities and communities that rely on the money they generate.
“We give the city of Fresno a million dollars a year in table tax revenue, and they were actively asking me how could they budget for this going forward, given the impact that it’s going to have,” he said.
At Club One, about 60% of revenue comes from blackjack, Kirkland said.
“I can’t survive on the other 40%,” he said.
If the regulations had gone into effect, Kirkland said he would have had to lay off nearly 200 of the cardroom’s 250 employees.
Cardrooms in L.A. County generate more than $2 billion in economic activity and support more than 9,000 jobs.
Kirkland said the regulations would have especially affected cities like Bell Gardens and Hawaiian Gardens, where casinos represent nearly 70% of the general fund.
In the City of Commerce, the Commerce Casino generates 40% of the city’s general fund, and employs 2,200 people. When the regulations were first passed, Mayor Kevin Lainez said the city was “devastated”.
In response to the potential revenue losses, the city declared a state of fiscal emergency, and introduced a higher sales tax.
Lainez said the city would have had to make cuts to senior programs, public safety services and capital improvement projects.
“We’ve responsibly built our budgets and shaped them around the revenue that the cardroom generates, so along with all of the other businesses here in the city, right, and we’ve developed some quality of life services that our community really relies on, and so for this to no longer be hanging over our heads is a relief to our community,” he said.
The ban wouldn’t have affected Native American casinos.
Proposition 1A, passed by California voters in 2000, gave tribes the right to conduct Nevada-style gambling, such as casino-banked card games, on reservations.
Cardrooms have continued to offer blackjack and other banked games such as baccarat by giving players the option to take turns dealing the game and by relying on third-party businesses that employ people to act as bankers.
The Bureau of Gambling Control for years accepted the practice, which attorneys representing cardrooms say is “completely legal” and has been approved by Bonta’s predecessors, but the state’s new rules crack down on the use of these third-party businesses and tighten rules for “player-dealers.”
While the California Gaming Assn.’s suit was successful, Kirkland said he expects the Justice Department to appeal, and said the conflict is far from over.
“There’s not really a lot of celebration,” he said. “It’s concerning that the attorney general would think that that was a valid way of going out and regulating the cardroom industry, so I’m just wondering what’s the next step, what’s coming behind, but at least in this battle, it was a pretty strong and resounding victory.”
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