Overview
- The preliminary injunction, issued Thursday by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin, temporarily stops the DOJ-backed regulations from taking effect while the California Gaming Association’s lawsuit moves forward.
- The judge found the Bureau of Gambling Control likely exceeded its authority and said there was clear and convincing evidence that enforcement would cause serious and irreversible harm to cardrooms and the cities that tax them.
- The proposed rules would have effectively banned blackjack-style games at licensed cardrooms and tightened rules for player-dealers, while federally recognized tribal casinos would remain able to offer house-banked blackjack.
- The state’s own economic review warned of large losses to the cardroom sector, projecting at least $600 million in regulatory impact over the next decade and predicting major shifts in revenue toward tribal casinos.
- Cardroom operators say the rules would threaten thousands of jobs and local tax revenue for police, fire and parks, and the court fight now will determine whether those business and municipal impacts become permanent.