Staff protest against California’s move to ban Black Jack-style games at cardrooms
The state intends to close a loop hole that has allowed card rooms to offer the games.
US.- Last Thursday, members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) gathered outside Attorney General Rob Bonta’s Fresno office to protest against the proposed regulatory changes that would ban blackjack-style games in California cardrooms. The state’s Department of Justice proposes to close loopholes that have allowed state-licensed cardrooms to offer the games.
Card rooms in California are prohibited from offering games in which players compete directly against the house. However, the games offered pit players against each other with the use of paid, third-property proposition player services.
Kyle Kirkland, president of Club One Casino and the California Gaming Association (CGA), said his cardroom contributes $1m to the city’s tax revenue each year and said there had been no private complaints regarding blackjack-style games other than by tribal-owned casinos.
In comments quoted by The Business Journal, he said: “This is 100% politically driven. There is nothing that impacts the tribes in any meaningful way. We offer peer-to-peer gaming and blackjack-style gaming. They’re all approved. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for the games now, all of a sudden, to be deemed illegal, unlawful, unsuitable for play.”
The CGA said cardrooms in Fresno County provide 476 direct jobs, 139 indirect jobs, 149 induced jobs, $128.5m in total economic impact and $500m in statewide taxes.
