Artichoke Joe’s Casino among card rooms worried about impact of new blackjack ban

Aside from the loss of blackjack, which is a major revenue source for many card rooms, new restrictions on the rotation for the player-dealer positions will make it more difficult for players to participate and require them to have a higher stake in the game, Sammut said. 

Sammut couldn’t offer an estimate for how much revenue is at risk, but it’s bound to impact San Bruno, which receives $3 million annually from the casino. The city is also quite cognizant of the potential revenue loss, City Manager Alex McIntyre said. 

“That's a lot of money to have at risk,” he said. “We just want to make sure we can do whatever we can to help Artichoke Joe’s continue to thrive in San Bruno, no matter what games they're playing.” 

Artichoke Joe’s isn’t the only California card room worried about the new regulations, which were introduced by Attorney General Rob Bonta and exclude tribal casinos, which have been permitted to exclusively play a version of blackjack and other card games that pits players against the house since 1999. At local card rooms, all games are played in a peer-to-peer style that will be hampered by the new player-dealer restrictions. 

The California Gaming Association filed a lawsuit against the state asking for the regulations to be overturned last month, citing existential concerns to the industry. 

The Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to request for comment on the reasoning regulations or the lawsuit, but previously issued a schedule that would see the regulations technically effective April 1. Card rooms have until June 1 to file game modifications requests, which the office will respond to by August and September. 

That suit is being supported by Casino M8trix, a San Jose card room that could lose up to 85% of its business when they have to enforce the rules, Vice President Rob Lindo said. They, alongside local casinos like Artichoke Joe’s, who Sammut said is “involved” in the lawsuit, are hoping a judge puts an injunction on the regulations until they’re fully decided in court. 

“Why don't we consider the legality? We'll put these rules and regulations on hold, and everything will remain as it is now, status quo, while we decide if this is OK,” Lindo said. “Everybody's got employees who don't know if they're going to have a job soon.” 

The new rules mark a major, unprecedented change to what types of games are legal in the state, Sammut said. 

“We think that our games are legal. We think that they've always been legal, 100%. We've had these games for over 20, going into 30, years,” he said. “I am hopeful that the court will rule in our favor.” 

Casino M8trix employs 750 employees who are now concerned about their job security, Lindo said. And the $12 million in tax revenue they provide to San Jose could also become slashed by up to $10.2 million, a worry the city itself acknowledged in a letter to the state questioning the fiscal impact of the regulations. 

“These games have been legal for decades. There's 20,000 plus employees in this industry who are making a good living, and are people who need these jobs and they support our local communities in California,” Lindo said. 

Artichoke Joe’s is making every effort to retain its over 425 employees, General Manager Mike Koniski said. 

“Our team members are our priority,” he said. “We've been here since 1916 paying taxes, contributing to the community, and at this time, we have every intent on keeping every one of our team members.” 

San Bruno Mayor Rico Medina wrote a letter to the Attorney General’s Office last December, also citing Artichoke Joe’s as a major local employer and significant revenue source for the city. 

“Card rooms are among the largest employers in our community, providing stable jobs and support to working families,” the letter said. “A substantial loss of revenue and economic activity would jeopardize these jobs, increase financial strain on our city budget and reduce our capacity to deliver core public services.” 

Joining the nine other California cities who’ve declared support from the California Gaming Association lawsuit is not off the table, McIntyre said. 

“It pays a lot of bills for us,” he said. “Artichoke Joe’s really has been a good neighbor, a good resident of our city for over 100 years. It’s a family-owned business, and we want to do what we can to help them.” 

Lindo also said Bonta had unfairly folded to the demands of the tribal gaming industry with little reasoning. 

“They've been approving the games for decades. There's no new developments that would establish why the AG is taking this position,” he said. “They've identified no health or safety concerns. It's really just the tribal casinos that have been lobbying the AG for these changes for years, and this AG has decided to acquiesce.”