California’s $5.6 billion cardroom industry is bracing for a major upheaval as new gambling regulations threaten to eliminate thousands of jobs and drastically alter how these establishments operate.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta finalized a complex set of gambling rules on February 6, 2026, which will take effect April 1. The regulations would prohibit cardrooms from offering blackjack-style games and change how other card games are conducted, forcing the industry to eliminate nearly 13,000 jobs statewide.
“If 60% of my business goes away, or is disrupted, we seriously have to think about what the reboot is for our business,” said Kyle Kirkland, president of the California Gaming Association, which represents 72 cardrooms across the state.
The new rules create a stark divide between tribal casinos and cardrooms. While tribal casinos operate under federal law and can offer “banked” card games where players bet against the house, cardrooms are state-licensed venues that may only offer player-banked or peer-to-peer games. Bonta’s regulations would effectively end cardrooms’ ability to offer blackjack tables and threaten other popular games like baccarat and pai gow.
Local governments that depend on cardroom tax revenue are particularly alarmed. Hawaiian Gardens, the smallest city in Los Angeles County with just 14,150 residents, collects about 60% of its $20 million general fund from taxes paid by the Gardens Casino.
“This decision will be devastating. It shakes at the very foundation of our city,” said Victor Farfan, councilmember with Hawaiian Gardens. “We will not be able to provide essential services for our community.”
If the regulations proceed as planned, Farfan fears Hawaiian Gardens may need to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection and potentially lose its independence to Los Angeles County or state control.
The cardroom industry argues these changes break from longstanding precedent that allowed such table games before the passage of Proposition 1A in 2000, which amended the state constitution to give federally recognized Indian tribes exclusive rights to operate certain gambling activities.
“We’ve been playing blackjack forever, and now he’s (Bonta) decided we can’t,” said Keith Sharp, general counsel at The Gardens Casino, who alleges Bonta is influenced by tribal casino lobbyists. “A handful of people, wealthy tribes, want to control all gambling in California.”
The California Gaming Association is preparing to file a lawsuit against the state in coming weeks.
Meanwhile, cardroom employees face an uncertain future. Nary Chin, a 55-year-old dealer at Hawaiian Gardens since 1999, put four children through college with her six-figure salary including tips.
“This will affect my life a great deal because I’m a single mom,” said Chin. “I came from a very poor family, where we barely had food on the table. I don’t want to go back to that.”
Tribal casino representatives view the regulations differently. James Siva, chairman of the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, called them “an important step in combating unscrupulous and illegal gaming in California.”
“The regulations further clarify that games and practices employed by commercial card rooms are indeed prohibited under California law,” Siva said in a statement.
San Diego County’s two legal cardrooms—Ocean’s Eleven Casino in Oceanside and Seven Mile Casino in Chula Vista—also face significant impacts. Marl Kelegian, President of Ocean’s Eleven Casino, said the regulations could force him to lay off half of his 300 employees.
“The Attorney General is massacring our business,” Kelegian told FOX 5 San Diego. “This is their third attempt.”
Cardrooms have until May 31 to submit compliance plans, but many industry leaders say they cannot comply with rules they consider vague and contrary to their interpretation of permissible card games.
Poker games will remain unaffected by the new regulations, leading some cardroom operators to consider restructuring their business models to focus exclusively on poker.
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