California cardrooms win reprieve as judge voids Bonta rules

A regulatory defeat with city budgets attached

A San Francisco Superior Court judge has invalidated California cardroom regulations pushed by Attorney General Rob Bonta’s Bureau of Gambling Control, ruling that the bureau exceeded its authority by trying to impose statewide limits on table games.sacbee +1 Judge Richard Darwin said major gambling-policy changes belong with the Legislature, not an enforcement arm of the Department of Justice.sacbee +1

The rules would have restricted blackjack-style games and player-dealer arrangements that licensed cardrooms have used for decades.sacbee +1 Cardroom advocates warned the changes could cut industry revenue roughly in half, force closures or downsizing, and threaten thousands of jobs tied to the venues and their host cities.2urbangirls +1

Cardrooms keep their central games for now

The fight centered on whether the bureau could use regulation to reshape categories of games across the state. Cardrooms argued that the Bureau of Gambling Control enforces the Gambling Control Act but cannot rewrite the rules for entire classes of games; Darwin sided with that view in striking down the regulations.loscerritosnews +1

The ruling preserves the current operating model while any appeal is considered.loscerritosnews The Sacramento Bee reported that the regulations had been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and were scheduled to take effect April 1 before Darwin issued a preliminary injunction in May.sacbee A bureau spokesperson told the Bee the state was disappointed and reviewing its options.sacbee

The tribal-cardroom fight is not over

The decision lands inside a wider struggle between state-licensed cardrooms and California gaming tribes. Tribes have long argued that blackjack-style games and third-party proposition players infringe on the exclusivity tribal casinos hold for banked card games, while cardrooms say their games remain player-banked and legal under state law.igamingbusiness

Host cities framed the ruling as a fiscal reprieve. The California Cities Gaming Authority said cardroom revenue helps fund public safety, parks and community programs in Gardena, Inglewood and Colma, with annual contributions of about $9.3 million, $5.1 million and $4.12 million, respectively.mynewsla California Gaming Association President Kyle Kirkland called the ruling “a lifeline for communities across California,” saying the regulations would have harmed workers, local businesses and cities that rely on cardroom taxes for basic services.2urbangirls