<\/p>\n
Dozens of cardroom workers rallied to protest Attorney General Rob Bonta\u2019s proposed crackdown on blackjack and player-dealer games outside the Sheraton Grand Hotel in downtown Sacramento, where Bonta was scheduled to speak Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Reeti Malhotra<\/p>\n
reeti.malhotra@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
A California judge halted Attorney General Rob Bonta\u2019s proposed regulations on cardrooms<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bonta proposed a statewide ban<\/a> on blackjack<\/a> and significant rule revisions to the operation of player-dealer games<\/a> in February. San Francisco State Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin, in response to the California Gaming Association\u2019s legal challenge, issued a preliminary injunction Thursday which paused the enforcement of Bonta\u2019s regulations.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s 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,\u201d said Kyle Kirkland, California Gambling Association president, in a Thursday statement.<\/p>\n The Department of Justice\u2019s economic analysis of the proposed gaming rules<\/a> projected \u201csignificant and adverse\u201d effects to the cardroom industry and a regulatory impact of at least $600 million in the decade following enactment. The California Gaming Association argued the regulations would eliminate more than 50% of statewide cardroom revenues and thousands of jobs, according to Janet Fernandez, a spokesperson for the California Gaming Association.<\/p>\n Kirkland, who also owns and operates the Club One Casino in Fresno, said 60% of his cardroom\u2019s revenue is generated by player-dealer games and 20% by blackjack. The outright ban on blackjack cuts 20% of the establishment\u2019s business and leaves 40% at risk with new player-deal rotation rules.<\/p>\n Tax revenue gathered from cardrooms contributes to public safety funding, fire protection, youth programs, essential city services and non-profits, Kirkland added.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are easily the most disruptive set of regulations that I have seen in my tenure in the cardroom industry, which is two decades now,\u201d Kirkland said in a Thursday afternoon phone interview. \u201cI\u2019m not sure most cardrooms would survive because this is such a drastic change.\u201d<\/p>\n Dozens of workers gathered to protest outside a downtown Sacramento hotel where Bonta was scheduled to speak. The ruling came down shortly before the protest started.<\/p>\n Though cardroom workers celebrated the halt to the proposed regulations, they carried on with the protest, holding signs that read \u201cProtect our jobs now\u201d and \u201cSave our jobs\u201d as they clamored for passing drivers to honk in support.<\/p>\n California Gaming Association Executive Director Tej Baath said it was important to do so.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to make sure that our voice\u2014that our presence is felt, and to let him know that we\u2019re still concerned about these regulations,\u201d Baath said.<\/p>\n California cardrooms and tribal casinos have been locked in a bitter back-and-forth for nearly two decades on the operation of \u201cbanked games\u201d, including traditional blackjack and baccarat, which are only permitted to be played on tribal land per state law.<\/p>\n Tribal casinos have argued that cardroom workarounds to the existing legislation, including the innovation of \u201cCalifornia Blackjack\u201d or \u201cBlackjack 21.5\u201d played by third-party player-dealers, should be outlawed<\/a>, as Bonta and the Bureau of Gambling Control\u2019s new regulations aim to do.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means either closing our doors or mass layoffs,\u201d Lo Saechao, the casino manager of Stones Gambling Hall, said at Thursday\u2019s protest. \u201cI mean, I\u2019m the primary income for my family, I have two kids, I have a college-age son.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI potentially could lose my job,\u201d Saechao added.<\/p>\n In the economic and fiscal impact statements submitted along with Bonta\u2019s proposed regulations, the Bureau alleged that the new measures would preserve the substantial contributions of gaming<\/a> to local and state economies, while improving \u201cgaming fairness\u201d<\/a> and reducing \u201cproblem gambling\u201d despite the regulatory impact to the cardroom industry.<\/p>\n The Attorney General\u2019s Office did not respond to a request for comment. The next scheduled hearing in the case is set for June 30.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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