(FOX40.COM) \u2014 New regulations will bar cardrooms from offering blackjack and other player-dealer games \u2014 a move opponents say will devastate the industry in California.<\/p>\n
Under one of the two new rules, cardrooms cannot offer blackjack, the world\u2019s most popular casino card game. Players would no longer \u201cbust\u201d by exceeding 21 points, and cardrooms may not use the name \u201cblackjack\u201d or include the number 21.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether a player wins or loses shall be determined solely by whether the total points of a player\u2019s hand is closer to the target point count when compared with the total points of the player-dealer\u2019s hand,\u201d the regulations<\/a> state.<\/p>\n Those rules, approved last Friday by the Office of Administrative Law, were officially proposed by the California Department of Justice\u2019s Bureau of Gambling Control last year. Attorney General Rob Bonta\u2019s office announced the approval Monday but did not comment on the change.<\/p>\n In 1999, voters approved Proposition 1A<\/a>, which gives California\u2019s Native American tribes the exclusive right to offer blackjack and other table games where gamblers play against the casino, or the \u201chouse.\u201d<\/p>\n But in cardrooms, gamblers don\u2019t play against a casino \u2014 they use player-dealers. Those players, employed by third-party providers of proposition players services (TPPPPS), volunteer in cardrooms to serve as the \u201chouse.\u201d<\/p>\n The second major change would put a wrench in that complicated system, including requiring<\/a> the deal to \u201crotate to at least two players other than the TPPPPS every 40 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n Heather Guerena, general counsel for Stones Gambling Hall in Citrus Heights, said the new rules would \u201ccompletely obliterate\u201d the cardroom\u2019s ability to offer blackjack and other player-dealer games.<\/p>\n Five of Stones\u2019 17 tables offer blackjack, Guerena told FOX40. Each of those tables supports about 10 employees.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can\u2019t play those games and we don\u2019t have people to play different games on those tables, that would be 50 jobs that would evaporate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Jobs loss and revenue transfer<\/p>\n The industry has been around since the early days of California, Guerena said, and Citrus Heights has been home to cardrooms since at least the 1950s.<\/p>\n Last year, hundreds of cardroom workers rallied in Sacramento outside Attorney General Rob Bonta\u2019s office to oppose the regulations.<\/p>\n More than 10,000 jobs statewide will be eliminated because of the regulations, the California Gaming Association warned \u2014 about half of all cardroom jobs in California.<\/p>\n In regulatory filings, the Department of Justice wrote that the two rules will bring more business to tribal casinos and out-of-state locations. In total, the department estimates the regulations will reduce cardroom revenue by $464 million annually and increase tribal casino revenue by $232 million each year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe primary beneficiaries of the proposed regulations would be tribal casinos,\u201d the department wrote in one document<\/a>. \u201cGaming at tribal casinos would not be covered by the proposed regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n Previous attorneys general have approved the player-dealer games offered by California cardrooms, and no legal changes preceded the push for stricter rules.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only reason these regs are coming out \u2026 is politics,\u201d Guerena said.<\/p>\n The California Nations Indian Gaming Association, a group that fights to protect tribal gaming rights, did not respond to FOX40\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n Years-long power struggle<\/p>\n The new rules are a major milestone in a power struggle between cardrooms and tribal casinos.<\/p>\n