Indian casinos and card clubs have been investing their profits on expansion, adding facilities including hotels, restaurants and spas. Revenue from those operations in 2015 - a record $7.9 billion - represented the sixth straight year of growth, according a report by Alan Meister, an economist with Nathan Associates Inc. The turmoil comes as gambling businesses find themselves on a roll with the help of a robust national economy.Ĭalifornia leads the nation with 63 tribes that run gambling operations. In other card clubs, up to 70% of operations involve games that rely on third-party bankers.Ĭard clubs also offer traditional poker, where the players bet against each other, and clubs charge a fee for overhead costs. (The offer is more elaborate theater than business opportunity the players, who are mainly interested in gambling rather than banking, are unlikely to accept.)Ĭard club operators say they fear that the bureau may put an end to that agreement, and they suspect state regulators are acting under pressure from Indian tribes, which have long argued that only the tribes have the legal right to operate casino-type games in the state.Īt the Gardens Casino, about 40% of its revenue comes from games involving a third-party banker, such as blackjack poker, pai gow poker, baccarat and Ultimate Texas Hold ‘Em.

The Bureau of Gambling Control has accepted the use of third-party bankers as long as the banking role is offered to other players at each table after two hands are dealt - and then again two hands later on a continuing basis. The fee is based on the bet limit at each table. The banker, not the casino, pays winners and collects from losers.Ĭard clubs generate revenue by collecting a fee from each player during each hand.

These businesses are called “third-party providers of proposition players” and they are licensed by the state.Īlthough the dealer still deals the cards at card clubs, the players bet against the third-party banker, who also sits at the table behind a rack of chips. To abide by the law, many card clubs in the state invite into their casinos third-party businesses that employ people to act as “bankers” for each table. Only Indian casinos are allowed to do that in the state. In California, state law prohibits card clubs from having any financial stake in the outcome of the card games that take place in their establishments. The dealer takes the bets and deals the cards, then rewards the winners and collects from the losers. In traditional casinos in Las Vegas and on Indian lands, players at a card table try to win money from the casino, which is represented by the dealer.

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