California Approves Significant Cardroom Changes, to the Industry’s Dismay

California introduced new rules on cardrooms that would change the vertical as players know it. While cardrooms have become a beloved form of entertainment, tribal pressures have long loomed over them.

Cardrooms Have Been a Thorn in the Tribal Industry’s Side for Years

For context, California’s law provides tribal operators with exclusivity when it comes to casino games. Per the rules, businesses are prohibited from running banked games, such as most casino table games.

Despite that, cardrooms have found other ways to offer similar entertainment. To avoid the prohibition of banked games, the games they offer use third-party player-dealers. Cardrooms have also devised variants of certain popular games, such as California Blackjack and Blackjack 21.5 to fit the local regulatory landscape.

However, tribal operators have never been quite happy with the existence of cardrooms and have continuously sought to get them banned.

The Changes Would Ban Card Games as Californians Know Them

The new rules are the brainchild of Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Bureau of Gambling Control. The changes were recently approved by the Office of Administrative Law, spelling trouble for California’s cardrooms.

The changes would redefine what games cardrooms are allowed to offer and will set stricter limits on the player-dealer format they’ve been employing. Cardrooms will be required to submit reports on their plans to modify their games in accordance with the new law by May 31, 2026.

This could mark the end of the prolonged legal battle between cardrooms and tribal gaming operators. However, cardrooms aren’t ready to give up yet.

Cardrooms Are Ready to Fight to the Bitter End

Cardroom representatives expressed strong disagreement with the new laws. Kyle Kirkland, the president of the California Gaming Association, highlighted the extreme nature of the aforementioned changes, accusing lawmakers of not discussing them with the public.

Kirkland said that cardrooms will pursue “legal remedies” in response to the office’s failure to follow the law. He also accused Attorney General Bonta of dismissing the communities that depend on cardrooms as “politically irrelevant.”

Speaking of which, cardroom industry stakeholders said that the new rules could deprive them of a significant portion of their revenues. Heather Guerena, chief counsel for Stones Gambling Hall in Citrus Heights, estimates that the property could lose as much as 40% of its revenue.

Joseph Melech, co-owner of Stars Casino, was similarly concerned, adding that the changes could affect up to 20% of his company’s workforce.