California has 88 cardrooms currently operating throughout the state, not including those inside many of the 62 tribal casino operations. The vast majority of cardrooms run smoothly and legitimately, staying well within the guidelines of the California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC) and federal gambling statutes. However, the number of incidents prompting investigations by the US government’s Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has been on the rise and punctuated by several high-profile cases.
I've visited a few other casino's in the Bay Area and now CG is the only place I play cards. As far as casino's go it isn't as big as many places in Reno or Las Vegas, but it does have a better assortment of card games and more tables than other 'card rooms' that are part of a big casino. 74 rows Note: The game rules and collection rates are displayed as submitted by the individual gambling establishment pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 19826 (AB 1489 - Chapter 598, Stats. The web site is updated on a monthly basis to include additional or revised material received from each card room. The documents are not the product of the Division of Gambling Control.
The CGCC is always willing to cooperate with federal agencies and withdraw licensing when raids and investigations show just cause, but most cardroom licenses remain intact after said investigations. According to the CGCC website, there are currently 12 cardrooms with pending accusations or issues regarding their licenses. That means that 13.6% of the cardrooms in the state are currently under some type of investigation or scrutiny.
Some Examples in 2017
The incident reported earlier this week regarding Artichoke Joe’s Casino in San Bruno, California, was just the latest example of a federal raid and subsequent investigation resulting in a license being questioned. With a hearing to be scheduled to discuss that license status, the casino is currently considering its ability or willingness to pay the $8 million fine assessed by the US Federal Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Card Room Casino California Map
There was the incident of the 500 Club Casino in Clovis, California in August. The 18-table cardroom was investigated by the state for insufficient funds to be operating its poker tables and a lack of cooperation with the CGCC. The California Attorney General pushed for revocation of the club’s license for failure to maintain adequate financing, meaning it couldn’t cover the number of chips circulating at the tables. After three citations, the cardroom was still unable to provide documentation showing otherwise. That prompted the shutdown of the Clovis 500 Club, and though it reopened its doors one week later, there was no gambling allowed. According to the CGCC website, there is an interim renewal license in place, but a hearing to consider the state’s accusations has yet to be scheduled.
The 500 Club Casino will reopen tomorrow morning at 8 am. The Thursday 10 am tournament will resume as well. Please join us!
— 500 Club Casino (@500ClubCasino) August 31, 2017
Card Room Casino California Ca
In the same month, Lucky Lady Card Room in San Diego was under scrutiny for aiding an alleged illegal sports betting operation. In fact, an undercover federal investigation had been ongoing since 2008 and resulted in 14 people indicted in 2016, some of whom were associated with Stanley Penn, who owns Lucky Lady. Another two alleged criminals pleaded guilty to racketeering in August of this year. Many charges in the case pertain to RICO violations, as the sports betting operation was said to have occurred at the cardroom, with money from its cashier cage and by a cage manager. The cardroom was not shut down but operates its 11 tables via an interim renewal license pending a hearing. The California Attorney General’s office has issued a formal accusation that the cardroom is unqualified for continued licensure due to federal charges and its submission of untrue or misleading information to the CGCC.
Sports gambling probe at Lucky Lady mysteriously stalled, again threatens to close card room https://t.co/bBV2HGJLdFpic.twitter.com/QJrTYQaOYw
— San Diego Union-Tribune (@sdut) July 8, 2017
Bicycle Casino Raid Grabbed Headlines
The most high-profile case of 2017 involving California cardrooms happened in April when the Bicycle Casino was raided by the California Bureau of Gambling Control, IRS Criminal Investigations Unit, and ICE Homeland Security Investigations Unit at the direction of the US Attorney General. As the third-largest cardroom in the state with 185 tables, the news was shocking and even more so to the poker community which has long called the cardroom home for a number of sizeable poker tournament series, as well as live-streamed cash games.
The Bike, as it’s familiarly known, was no stranger to investigations prior to the 2017 incident. It was famously the subject of an investigation when the casino was first built, as the US Drug Enforcement Administration and IRS determined that $12 million from money laundering financed the $22 million construction. It was soon after, in 1991, that the government took partial control of the establishment but sold it several years later to Ladbrokes, though the cardroom is now privately owned.
The 2017 raid saw the coalition of agencies, led by the Los Angeles High Intensity Financial Crime Area Task Force, burst into the casino at 7am and clear patrons from the establishment. The agents reportedly seized “thousands of financial records and launched a money laundering investigation,” per the LA Times. The search warrant had been granted by a US magistrate judge.
UPDATE:The Bicycle Hotel and Casino in Bell Gardens will re-open 3a Wednesday.Gamblers were forced to go home following a raid today. @FOXLApic.twitter.com/P69iI1YeTb
— Zohreen (@Zohreen) April 5, 2017
At the center of the investigation was whether patrons used the club to launder money by using dirty money to bet at the tables in order to exchange winning chips for clean money. The casino only commented through a spokesperson that its management was cooperating with authorities, and it did reopen its doors to the public the following day.
No news has emerged from the investigation since the raid, though its current licensing status with the CGCC shows as “active with conditions.”
How Many Scandals are Too Many?
The CGCC is in continuous communication with other state agencies and federal bureaus to ensure its licensed cardrooms comply with all laws. And as evidenced by its involvement in the aforementioned investigations and many others, it does regularly examine and scrutinize its licensees.
With that said and numerous current land-based cardrooms under scrutiny for some type of alleged violations, state legislators continue to express worry about online gambling – even just online poker – in California. Ten years after talks began to legalize and regulate the games within its borders, California has yet to figure out a way to calm fears and bring all interests together to agree on a regulatory framework that is acceptable to all. Quite possibly, if there are systemic problems within the world of California gambling, online poker delays are a result of deeper concerns than bad actors like PokerStars.
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68 Poker Casinos, Cardrooms and Card Clubs
The California Gambling Control Commission has licensed the following gambling establishments to operate poker rooms and card clubs under the state's Gambling Control Act.
5 Largest Cardrooms in California
The mega-sized cardrooms in California are all in Los Angeles County. The following are ranked based on total number of tables licensed by the state.
Cardrooms | Tables |
---|---|
270 | |
225 | |
185 | |
120 | |
91 |
Source: www.cgcc.ca.gov
California Cardroom List
Artichoke Joe's Casino
659 Huntington Avenue
San Bruno, CA 94066
Bankers Casino
111 Monterey Street
Salinas, CA 93901
Bay 101
1788 N. First Street
San Jose, CA 95112
California Grand Casino
5988 Pacheco Boulevard
Pacheco, CA 94553
Cameo Club
552 W. Benjamin Holt Drive
Stockton, CA 95207
Capitol Casino
411 North 16th Street
Sacramento, CA 95811
Casino 99
175 E. 20th Street Suite 150
Chico, CA 95928
Casino Club
1885 Hilltop Drive
Redding, CA 96002
Casino M8trix
1887 Matrix Blvd.
San Jose, CA 95110
Casino Marysville
515 4th Street
Marysville, CA 95901
Casino Merced
1459 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way, Ste 4, 5, 6
Merced, CA 95340
Casino Real
1355 N. Main Street
Manteca, CA 95336
Central Coast Casino
359 Grand Avenue
Grover Beach, CA 93433
Clovis 500 Club
771 W. Shaw Ave Suites 101-108
Clovis, CA 93612
Club One Casino
1033 Van Ness Avenue
Fresno, CA 93721
Club San Rafael
721 Lincoln Avenue
San Rafael, CA 94901
Commerce Casino
6131 East Telegraph Road
Commerce, CA 90040
Crystal Casino
123 East Artesia Boulevard
Compton, CA 90220
Delta Casino
6518 Pacific Avenue
Stockton, CA 95207
Diamond Jim's Casino
118 20th Street West
Rosamond, CA 93560
Empire Sportsmen's Association
5001 North McHenry Avenue
Modesto, CA 95356
Garlic City Club
8630 San Ysidro Avenue, Suite 100
Gilroy, CA 95020
Golden West Casino
1001 South Union Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93307
Hawaiian Gardens Casino
11871 Carson Street
Hawaiian Gardens, CA 90716
Hemphill's Lounge and Cardroom
TBD
Unknown 0
Hollywood Park Casino
3883 West Century Boulevard
Inglewood, CA 90303
Hustler Casino
1000 West Redondo Beach Blvd.
Gardena, CA 90247
Kings Card Club
6111 West Lane, #103
Stockton, CA 95210
La Fuerza
175 East Antelope
Woodlake, CA 93286
Lake Bowl Cardroom
511 East Bidwell Street
Folsom, CA 95630
Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino
20930 Malaga Road
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530
Larry Flynt's Lucky Lady Casino
1045 West Rosecrans Avenue
Gardena, CA 90247
Limelight Card Room
1014 Alhambra Boulevard
Sacramento, CA 95816
Livermore Casino
3571 First Street
Livermore, CA 94550
Lucky Chances Casino
1700 Hillside Boulevard
Colma, CA 94014
Lucky Lady Card Room
5526 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92115
Marina Club
204 Carmel Avenue
Marina, CA 93933
Mike's Card Casino
824 North Yosemite Avenue
Oakdale, CA 95361
Napa Valley Casino
3466 Broadway Street
American Canyon, CA 94503
Nineteenth Hole
2746 West Tregallas Road
Antioch, CA 94509
Oaks Card Club
4097 San Pablo Avenue
Emeryville, CA 94608
Oceana Cardroom
TBD
Oceano, CA 93445
Ocean's Eleven Casino
121 Brooks Street
Oceanside, CA 92054
Oceanview Casino
709 Pacific Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Old Cayucos Tavern
130 North Ocean Avenue
Cayucos, CA 93430
Outlaws Card Parlour
9850 East Front Road
Atascadero, CA 93422
Palace Poker Casino
22821 Mission Boulevard
Hayward, CA 94542
Parkwest Casino 580
968 North Canyons Parkway
Livermore, CA 94550
Parkwest Casino Cordova
2801 Prospect Park Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
Parkwest Casino Lodi
1800 South Cherokee Lane
Lodi, CA 95240
Parkwest Casino Lotus
6010 Stockton Boulevard
Sacramento, CA 95824
Parkwest Casino Sonoma
5151 Montero Way
Petaluma, CA 94954
Paso Robles Central Coast Casino
1144 Black Oak Drive
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Pinnacle Casino (fka Ven-A-Mexico)
955 Front Street
Soledad, CA 93960
Player's Casino
6580 Auto Center Drive
Ventura, CA 93003
Poker Flats Casino
1714 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Merced, CA 95340
Rancho's Club Casino
2740 Mills Park Drive
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
Rogelio's
34 Main Street
Isleton, CA 95641
Seven Mile Casino
285 Bay Boulevard
Chula Vista, CA 91910
Star's Casino
775 West Clover Rd.
Tracy, CA 95376
Sundowner Cardroom
15638 Avenue 296
Visalia, CA 93292
The Aviator Casino
1225 Airport Drive
Delano, CA 93215
The Bicycle Hotel & Casino
888 Bicycle Casino Drive
Bell Gardens, CA 90201
The Deuce Lounge & Casino
30435 Road 68
Visalia, CA 93291
The Saloon at Stones Gambling Hall
6508 Antelope Road
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
The Tavern at Stones Gambling Hall
6510 Antelope Road
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
Towers Casino
115 Bank Street
Grass Valley, CA 95945
Turlock Poker Room
2321-C West Main Street
Turlock, CA 95380
Source: www.cgcc.ca.gov
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