Posted on: February 10, 2026, 03:44h.
Last updated on: February 10, 2026, 03:44h.
- New rules effectively bar traditional blackjack mechanics at California cardrooms
- Mandatory dealer rotation rules restrict third-party proposition player services
- Cardrooms warn changes will reduce revenue, jobs, and local tax funding
California cardrooms that have spent decades offering “blackjack-style” table games may be forced into a rethink after state regulators finalized rules that tighten the screws on so-called “California games.”
Late Friday, the state’s Department of Justice announced the Office of Administrative Law had approved two regulatory packages, one governing the rotation of the player-dealer position and another targeting blackjack-style games.
Under the newly approved framework, “traditional blackjack” is no longer permissible in cardrooms as currently offered. The new rules state that players can’t “bust.” Instead, hands will be resolved through a comparison with the player-dealer. That also means an ace with a 10-value card will no longer trigger an automatic win.
It will also be prohibited for cardrooms to brand any of their games to include the number 21 or the word “blackjack.”
The second set of measures clamp down on the mechanics of “player-dealer” games. The player-dealer will have to be a seated person, and the position will have to be offered at the start of every hand and must rotate to at least two other players every 40 minutes or the game ends.
What Are California Games?
California’s powerful tribal casino operators have for years railed against the cardrooms’ “California games” – versions of popular casino table games like blackjack and pai gow poker – claiming they violate tribal exclusivity on house-banked casino games.
Cardrooms argues their games shirk the ban on house-banked play by taking a fixed rake from each hand while allowing the “bank” to rotate among players, much like a traditional poker cash game. In theory, the players assume the risk of acting as the dealer rather than the house.
But the tribes have argued in lawsuits that the existing rules require only that the dealer position be offered, not that it actually rotate. In theory, that means a single player could act as banker indefinitely if no one else accepted the role, the tribes have claimed.
Because most patrons have little interest in banking the game, cardrooms commonly rely on state-licensed third-party providers, known as Third-Party Proposition Player Services, or TPPPs, to sit in the dealer position. The tribes argue that these companies function as a de facto bank when the cardrooms fail to ensure rotation.
TPPPs Impacted
Then new rules will sharply curtail the ability of TPPPs to occupy the dealer position for extended periods. While TPPPs are not banned outright, their role will be restricted significantly, reducing their ability to serve as a continuous stand-in banker.
Cardrooms say the rules will sap profitability by slowing play and forcing tables to halt when dealer rotation fails, while removing blackjack mechanics that traditionally drive volume and player losses.
The California Gaming Association, which represents the state’s 80-odd cardrooms, described the new regulatory measures as “extreme,” adding they would result in the loss of roughly 50% of cardroom jobs.
This would put “tens of thousands of working families at risk” while threatening “severe budget deficits for cities that rely on cardroom taxes to fund police, fire protection, parks, and other essential services,” the association claimed.
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