In the latest battle over the future of gambling in California, privately run cardrooms notched a temporary victory over tribal casinos when a judge blocked state regulators from banning blackjack at the gambling halls.
The regulations from Attorney General Rob Bonta’s Bureau of Gambling Control threaten to wipe out taxes on table games on which many local governments across California rely.
But whether the state’s 80 or so private poker rooms can keep their lucrative business model — and keep pulling gamblers away from tribal casinos — was hardly settled by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Darwin’s preliminary injunction last month.
At least one former lawmaker says that’s cynically good news for the state’s politicians.
