HAWAIIAN GARDENS, Calif. — In September 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 549, which allowed several tribal nations in California to question the legality of some community casinos offering specific table games.
According to representatives for the seven tribes, the law is that only tribal casinos in the state can offer banked card games, like blackjack and baccarat. The tribal nations have sued to stop some local casinos from using a loophole in the law that allows card rooms to offer certain games.
Some non-tribal casinos across the state use third-party providers of proposition players for table games. The TPPPs are independent contractors who have no affiliation with the casinos. Since it is illegal for the card rooms to have one person, such as a dealer, to take in all the wins or losses for a singular establishment. Third-party providers of proposition player services are state licensed businesses that provide some casinos with services that include playing as a participant in any controlled game that has a rotating player-dealer position.
This differs from tribal casinos or gambling establishments in Las Vegas, where a single dealer is collecting wins or losses on behalf of the casinos. Those types of games are illegal in the state, except at tribal casino locations.
“If you go into a card room, what you’re seeing is the proposition player is sitting there for an hour, for two hours, for three hours, banking every single hand,” said Adam Lauridsen, the head legal counsel for the tribal nations involved in the lawsuit. “And that’s illegal. That’s what makes these games indistinguishable from a Vegas game, from a tribal casino game.”
Lauridsen said that allowing the card rooms to operate banked games under these circumstances is costing some tribal nations millions in lost revenue.
“They can offer the legal games, which they did for many, many years successfully,” Lauridsen said. “They’ve had poker games, they’ve had other games, that aren’t banked, that don’t run afoul of these legal requirements, so we’re not trying to put anybody out of a job, or out of business, we’re simply trying to have people follow the law.”
But those who oppose the lawsuit say that if it is successful, it would severely hamper several small local communities.
Hawaiian Gardens is the smallest city in Los Angeles County, with a total size of roughly one square mile. The city is home to The Gardens Casino, which provides roughly 75% of Hawaiian Garden’s general funding through tax revenue. Those funds are used for municipal services and programs, such as policing and youth outreach.
Shavon Moore has worked in Hawaiian Gardens for eight years. She’s seen just how much the local has done for the community.
“The casino helps with the livelihood,” she said. “And the quality of life for the city.”
As an employee of the city, Moore is directly affected by the revenue generated by The Gardens. She’s thankful they have the casino, especially with a recent, serious health scare.
“I just got diagnosed last year with cancer,” Moore said. “And I was able to go through this with honor and dignity because I have the best medical insurance.”
Dozens of casinos around the state generate tax revenue directly for their local cities.
Victor Furfan has been on the Hawaiian Garden City Council for 16 years and knows firsthand just how much those local communities need the money raised from the casinos.
“It’s not just Hawaiian Gardens, we’re talking 70 different communities up and down the state of California, that somehow, someway benefit from card room revenue,” Farfan said. “But it’s been a very daunting task to come to some sort of an agreement.”
While the tribal casinos have acknowledged that card rooms are a benefit for the local communities, Laurisden said he would like to see the rules enforced.
“It’s a matter of equality before to the law,” he said. “When you pass a law, it should apply equally to everybody.”