Cardroom Conflict: CA Casino Regulators, Dealers Meet In NorCal

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Casino dealers from all over California traveled to the East Bay this week to speak their piece at an Antioch workshop with regulators from the state Department of Justice over potential rule changes they say could put cardrooms out of business and cost dealers their jobs.

At the heart of the conflict is whether small, legal gambling operations called cardrooms will continue to be allowed to offer certain card games, or those games will be restricted to Indian casinos.

There are 72 cardrooms statewide, with at least one in all nine counties of the Bay Area, like the Oaks Card Club on San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville. California Gaming Association President Kyle Kirkland says player dealer games make up about 70 percent of revenue for many of them, and
banning those games in cardrooms would put a lot of people out of work.

"These are real people," Kirkland said. "That's a real job, and that's where the frustration for us is coming from."

Dealers can make from $20 to $40 an hour without a college degree and they can be trained in a matter of months — or less.

"They're irreplaceable," Kirkland said. "Those kinds of jobs just aren't being created anymore in California."

There are legal issues, however, and pending litigation.

Two Southern California tribes, the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians and the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, filed a lawsuit last month in San Diego County alleging it's unlawful and a violation of the state constitution for cardrooms to operate the games in question.

"It's a problem we've been addressing for years through the administrative process, all to no avail," Kenneth Kahn, chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, said in a statement.

"We are now forced to challenge this through the courts," he said. "We are simply asking that cardrooms comply with the law."

They want the courts to force the cardrooms to stop offering these games, but they're also asking for relief for lost revenue and the loss of tribal employment opportunities. Moreover, the list of defendants includes cardrooms associated with Larry Flynt of Hustler Magazine.

Kirkland counters that the games in question are substantially different from the ones offered in tribal casinos.

"Through the course of play we'll offer you the chance to bet on the dealer's hand," Kirkland said. "More often than not people don't, but it's always mathematically advantageous."

State officials said that Tuesday's workshop in Antioch was one of roughly half a dozen being conducted throughout the state to gather feedback on the proposed rule change. Additional workshops are planned in 2019.

— Story and photos via Bay City News Service