A new curfew to address the rising amount of COVID-19 cases in the state will affect California cardrooms and tribal casinos.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a curfew for nonessential businesses, including cardrooms. Beginning last Saturday and lasting until at least Dec. 21, cardrooms must close between the hours of 10 p.m and 5 a.m.
Many California cardrooms have operated outdoors 24/7, trying to recoup some of the losses sustained during the coronavirus shutdown.
Kyle Kirkland, president of the California Gaming Association, expressed frustration with another setback to the cardrooms.
“It is disappointing that the state is implementing a one-size-fits-all,” Kirkland said, “as the cardrooms are one of the only industries with COVID-19 regulations in place and they do not permit mask removal.
“There is no eating permitted at the tables and every table has plexiglass or social distancing between players. We urge the state and county officials to allow our businesses to continue to safely operate outdoors as we have not been able to open indoors for months.”
California tribal casinos chose their own path
As sovereign nations, California tribal casinos don’t have to abide by the state curfew order.
Some, such as Graton Resort & Casino in the Bay Area, elected to close overnight.
But tribal casinos that remain open will likely face some loss in business. The curfew figures to discourage Californians from going out at night.
Worsening COVID-19 rolls back California cardrooms
There are no longer any cardrooms operating indoors in California.
When two cardrooms reopened for indoor operations, it was supposed to be just the beginning. As more California counties improved in tiers, cardrooms would add limited capacity indoor gaming to their outdoor offerings.
Instead, counties have moved backward in tiers. Out of 75 California cardrooms, 70 sit in purple-tier counties.
Nevada County dropped two tiers from orange to purple. Towers Casino, which reopened indoors Sept. 22, was forced to close. The cardroom’s website indicates it is closed until Dec. 29 at the earliest.
Similarly, Casino Club in Redding closed Oct. 30, when Shasta County dropped from the orange tier. It has since moved all the way into the purple tier.
Only one cardroom in the state remains in an orange-tier county with indoor operations possible: St. Charles Place in Sierra County. The small poker room, though, hasn’t reopened.
| Cardroom | County | Tier | Indoors | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Livermore Casino | ALAMEDA | Purple | N | N |
| Oaks Card Club | ALAMEDA | Purple | N | N |
| Palace Card Room | ALAMEDA | Purple | N | N |
| Parkwest Casino 580 | ALAMEDA | Purple | N | N |
| Casino 99 | BUTTE | Purple | N | N |
| California Grand Casino | CONTRA COSTA | Purple | N | N |
| Kelly’s | CONTRA COSTA | Purple | N | N |
| Nineteenth Hole | CONTRA COSTA | Purple | N | N |
| Clovis 500 Club | FRESNO | Purple | N | N |
| Club One Casino | FRESNO | Purple | N | N |
| North Coast Casino | HUMBOLDT | Red | N | N |
| Tommy’s Casino & Saloon | IMPERIAL | Purple | N | N |
| Aviator | KERN | Purple | N | N |
| Diamond Jim’s | KERN | Purple | N | N |
| Golden West Casino | KERN | Purple | N | 8/12 |
| Bicycle Casino | LOS ANGELES | Purple | N | 10/5 |
| Commerce Casino | LOS ANGELES | Purple | N | 10/5 |
| Crystal Casino | LOS ANGELES | Purple | N | 10/8 |
| The Gardens Casino | LOS ANGELES | Purple | N | 10/5 |
| Hollywood Park | LOS ANGELES | Purple | N | 10/5 |
| Hustler Casino | LOS ANGELES | Purple | N | 10/12 |
| Larry Flynt’s Lucky Lady Casino | LOS ANGELES | Purple | N | 10/8 |
| La Primavera Pool Hall & Café | MADERA | Purple | N | N |
| Club San Rafael | MARIN | Red | N | N |
| Golden Valley Casino | MERCED | Purple | N | N |
| Banker’s Casino | MONTEREY | Purple | N | N |
| Marina Club | MONTEREY | Purple | N | N |
| Mortimer’s Card Room | MONTEREY | Purple | N | N |
| Pinnacle Casino | MONTEREY | Purple | N | N |
| Napa Valley Casino | NAPA | Purple | N | N |
| Towers Casino | NEVADA | Purple | N | N |
| Bruce’s Casino | RIVERSIDE | Purple | N | N |
| Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino | RIVERSIDE | Purple | N | N |
| Capitol Casino | SACRAMENTO | Purple | N | N |
| Hotel Del Rio & Casino | SACRAMENTO | Purple | N | N |
| Folsom Lake Bowl | SACRAMENTO | Purple | N | N |
| Limelight Card Room | SACRAMENTO | Purple | N | N |
| Magnolia House Casino | SACRAMENTO | Purple | N | N |
| Parkwest Casino Cordova | SACRAMENTO | Purple | N | N |
| Parkwest Casino Lotus | SACRAMENTO | Purple | N | 8/27 |
| Rogelio’s Inc. | SACRAMENTO | Purple | N | N |
| Stones Gambling Hall | SACRAMENTO | Purple | N | 8/24 |
| Lucky Lady | SAN DIEGO | Purple | N | N |
| Ocean’s Eleven Casino | SAN DIEGO | Purple | N | N |
| Seven Mile Casino | SAN DIEGO | Purple | N | 8/25 |
| Casino Real | SAN JOAQUIN | Purple | N | N |
| Kings Card Club/ Westlane Cardroom | SAN JOAQUIN | Purple | N | 8/26 |
| Parkwest Casino Lodi | SAN JOAQUIN | Purple | N | 8/24 |
| Star’s Casino | SAN JOAQUIN | Purple | N | 8/8 |
| Central Coast Casino – Grover Beach | SAN LUIS OBISPO | Purple | N | N |
| Paso Robles Casino | SAN LUIS OBISPO | Purple | N | N |
| Oceana (Brooks) Card room | SAN LUIS OBISPO | Purple | N | N |
| Old Cayucos Tavern | SAN LUIS OBISPO | Purple | N | N |
| Outlaws Card Parlour | SAN LUIS OBISPO | Purple | N | N |
| Artichoke’s Joe’s Casino | SAN MATEO | Red | N | 9/4 |
| Lucky Chances | SAN MATEO | Red | N | N |
| Jalisco Pool Room | SANTA BARBARA | Purple | N | N |
| Bay 101 | SANTA CLARA | Purple | N | 9/11 |
| Casino M8trix | SANTA CLARA | Purple | N | 9/12 |
| Garlic City Club | SANTA CLARA | Purple | N | N |
| Tres Lounge and Casino | SANTA CRUZ | Purple | N | N |
| Ocean View Card room | SANTA CRUZ | Purple | N | N |
| Casino Club | SHASTA | Purple | N | N |
| St. Charles Place | SIERRA | Orange | N | N |
| Parkwest Casino Sonoma (The 101) | SONOMA | Purple | N | N |
| The River Card room | SONOMA | Purple | N | N |
| Empire Sportsmen’s Assoc. | STANISLAUS | Purple | N | N |
| Mike’s Card Casino | STANISLAUS | Purple | N | N |
| Turlock Poker Room | STANISLAUS | Purple | N | N |
| Deuce Lounge & Casino | TULARE | Purple | N | N |
| The Mint | TULARE | Purple | N | N |
| Sundowner Card Room (Visalia) | TULARE | Purple | N | N |
| Player’s Poker Club | VENTURA | Purple | N | N |
| Casino Marysville | YUBA | Purple | N | N |
| Golden State Casino | YUBA | Purple | N | N |
LA cardrooms face additional county restrictions
In Los Angeles, cardrooms face even stricter restrictions. The curfew lasts an extra hour, until 6 am, and the county limits outdoor gaming to 50% of capacity.
Beginning Wednesday, Los Angeles County will also prohibit outdoor dining for the next three weeks.
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