Image by Aleksey KurguzovThe Golden State’s two flavors of gambling establishments – tribal casinos and card rooms – are locked in perpetual conflict with one another. It is a conflict fast coming to a head in the Legislature and with California gaming regulators. To understand gaming’s future, this week we’re taking a look at the history of these two similar but also very different industries.
Image by LevanMoseOPINION – The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) creates a structured legal environment for tribal gaming. IGRA mandates that gaming revenue is used in specific ways to benefit the community, such as funding tribal government operations or programs, providing for the general welfare of the tribe and its members, and promoting tribal economic development and charitable contributions to the broader community.
The Commerce Casino, image by Steve CukrovThe California Bureau of Gambling Control has unveiled draft language for potential new regulations that could effectively turn the card room industry – and the cities that depend on the revenue they generate – on their heads. Not surprisingly, card rooms are incensed. But so are their biggest rivals – tribal casinos.
Blackjack, image by 18percentgreyIn the annals of California gaming history, there is perhaps no more infamous and consequential figure than Bob Lytle, who directly shaped California’s current gambling landscape right before he retired from the Attorney General’s office to go work for a cardroom – a cardroom where he was later investigated and ultimately lost his gaming license.
The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in South Lake Tahoe. (Photo: EQRoy, via Shutterstock)Voters are facing the possibility of deciding among three fiercely competing ballot initiatives next year – all of them involving tens of millions of dollars and a revolution in California’s gambling industry. One of the three has already qualified for the November 2022 ballot. The remaining two must still gather signatures.