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California cardrooms can keep offering blackjack-style table games while their legal fight with state gambling officials continues. A San Francisco Superior Court judge paused the new rules after cardroom operators warned of major losses for local venues, workers, and city budgets.
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California cardrooms avoided an immediate hit to one of their most important revenue streams after Judge Richard Darwin blocked enforcement of regulations backed by Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Bureau of Gambling Control.
The rules would have ended the model cardrooms use to offer blackjack, baccarat, and pai gow poker. Tribal casinos in California can run banked games, where players play against the house. Cardrooms cannot use that format, so they use player-versus-player games supported by third-party proposition player services.
That setup has sat at the center of California gambling disputes for years. Tribal casino groups argue cardrooms use third-party proposition players as a workaround. Cardrooms say the games follow state law and have operated legally for decades.
The California Gaming Association, which brought the challenge, said the court found “clear and convincing evidence” that enforcement would cause irreparable harm to cardrooms and the communities that rely on them.
Kyle Kirkland, owner of Club One Casino in Fresno and president of the association, said the ruling backed the cardroom argument that regulators tried to change state gaming law through new rules rather than legislation.
“Cardrooms have lawfully operated the games targeted by these regulations for decades. Our games support thousands of middle-class jobs and generate critical revenue for communities across California. Instead of protecting those communities, Attorney General Bonta chose to advance regulations that threaten local economies, public safety funding, and the livelihoods of thousands of Californians,” Kirkland said.
The financial risk formed a large part of the case. According to the economic analysis from Bonta, the regulations could cut more than 50% of cardroom revenue statewide. Cities use cardroom tax revenue for police, fire services, parks, youth programs, and other local needs.
Kirkland said Club One Casino alone brings Fresno $1 million a year in tax revenue. The California Gaming Association also said officials received more than 1,700 public comments against the rules before adopting them without meaningful changes.
Tribal casino groups see the issue differently. A coalition of Native American tribes has argued that privately owned cardrooms draw hundreds of millions of dollars away from tribal communities by offering games that resemble house-banked casino games.