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A preliminary injunction was issued Thursday which paused the ban on blackjack games at state cardrooms
Club One Casino in Fresno derives 20% of its revenue from blackjack
Club One Casino owner says “these are easily the most disruptive set of regulations that I have seen in my tenure in the cardroom industry, which is two decades now"
A California judge halted Attorney General Rob Bonta’s proposed regulations on cardrooms. Bonta proposed a statewide ban on blackjack and significant rule revisions to the operation of player-dealer games in February.
San Francisco State Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin, in response to the California Gaming Association’s legal challenge, issued a preliminary injunction Thursday which paused the enforcement of Bonta’s regulations. Some California cities had also fought against the proposed ban.
The new set of regulations banning blackjack-style games and the rotation of player-dealers were approved in California earlier this year and originally supposed to have taken effect April 1, 2026, applying only to the state's approximately 80 to 85 card rooms. Tribal-run casinos in California would continue to offer casino-style blackjack games.
The regulations were approved by the California Department of Justice (DOJ) following numerous discussions and hearings held over the past year.
“Today’s ruling validates what we have said all along: Attorney General Bonta and the Bureau of Gambling Control exceeded their authority by attempting to rewrite California gaming law,” said Kyle Kirkland, California Gambling Association president, in a Thursday statement.
The Department of Justice’s economic analysis of the proposed gaming rules projected “significant and adverse” effects to the cardroom industry and a regulatory impact of at least $600 million in the decade following enactment.
Kirkland owns one of the cardrooms that would have been impacted. His Club One Casino in Fresno generates nearly 60% of revenue from player-dealer games and 20% by blackjack. The outright ban on blackjack cuts 20% of the establishment’s business and leaves 40% at risk with new player-deal rotation rules.
Tax revenue gathered from cardrooms contributes to public safety funding, fire protection, youth programs, essential city services and non-profits, Kirkland added.
“These are easily the most disruptive set of regulations that I have seen in my tenure in the cardroom industry, which is two decades now,” Kirkland said in a Thursday afternoon phone interview. “I’m not sure most cardrooms would survive because this is such a drastic change.”
California law since 2000 has given Native American casinos the exclusive right to offer blackjack games in which players compete against the house. Card rooms have used player-dealers employed by a third party for blackjack-style games.
Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
