{"id":381603,"date":"2026-07-01T02:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381603\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T02:53:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T02:53:07","slug":"judge-halts-bontas-proposed-california-card-room-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381603\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge halts Bonta\u2019s proposed California card room regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Blackjack<\/p>\n

Blackjack and other player-dealer games will remain available in California card rooms after a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled Attorney General Rob Bonta lacked the authority to impose statewide restrictions.<\/p>\n

Sacramento Bee file<\/p>\n

A San Francisco judge ruled Tuesday that Attorney General Rob Bonta lacks the authority to impose proposed regulations on California card rooms, handing the industry a significant legal victory and keeping the games available.<\/p>\n

Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin ruled that the state Department of Justice\u2019s Bureau of Gambling Control lacked the authority to impose statewide restrictions on the games through regulation, finding that such policy decisions rest with the Legislature.<\/p>\n

For years, card rooms \u2014 gambling establishments licensed by the state \u2014 have used third-party proposition players employed by outside companies and offered games such as \u201cCalifornia Blackjack\u201d and \u201cBlackjack 21.5\u201d that are similar to traditional blackjack. California\u2019s tribal casinos, which have exclusive rights to offer banked card games, have argued those games violate state law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bonta proposed statewide restrictions on games using third-party proposition players, also known as player-dealers, as well as blackjack and other banked games, in which players wager against the house. The Office of Administrative Law approved the regulations, which were scheduled to take effect April 1.<\/p>\n

The California Gaming Association, backed by the California Cardroom Alliance and Communities for California Cardrooms, filed lawsuits in early March<\/a> seeking to block the regulations and have them declared unlawful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are disappointed in today\u2019s ruling but are reviewing our options and will respond appropriately,\u201d a spokesperson for the Bureau of Gambling Control said Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

Card room operators and several local governments argued the regulations would jeopardize more than 30,000 jobs<\/a> and reduce tax revenue that helps fund city services in communities where card rooms operate.<\/p>\n

An outside economic analysis prepared for the Department of Justice<\/a> estimated Bonta\u2019s proposed regulations would have an economic impact of about $600 million over the first decade after taking effect.<\/p>\n

Darwin issued a preliminary injunction<\/a> on May 21 blocking enforcement of the regulations while the case proceeded. In Tuesday\u2019s decision, according to the California Gaming Association, Darwin decided that the Bureau of Gambling Control\u2019s role is to enforce California\u2019s gaming laws, not rewrite them through regulation.<\/p>\n

Heather Guerena, vice president and general counsel for Stones Gambling Hall in Citrus Heights, said third-party proposition player games account for approximately 70% of the casino\u2019s revenue. Eliminating those games would force Stones to lay off between one-third and one-half of its employees, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a relief for us to have the judge interpret the law correctly and find that the department did not have the authority to issue these regulations,\u201d Guerena said.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s ruling means the regulations cannot take effect unless the decision is overturned on appeal. Darwin issued the ruling from the bench and is expected to issue a written order after a hearing next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court\u2019s ruling is a lifeline for communities across California,\u201d California Gaming Association President Kyle Kirkland said in a statement. \u201cIf these regulations had been allowed to stand, the consequences would have been devastating for working families, local businesses, and the cities that rely on card room revenues to fund police, parks, libraries, youth programs, and other essential services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blackjack and other player-dealer games will remain available in California card rooms after a San Francisco Superior Court…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-381603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}