The complaint filed with the two tribes seeks to stop non-tribal cardrooms from operating house-banked card games
Two tribes are suing several Southern California cardrooms, claiming they have been violating state legislation by providing house-banked card games, such as blackjack, as well as percentage card games, local news outlets report.
The Chumash and Luiseño tribes clarified their lawsuit did not aim to challenge the right of their cardrooms to function but to challenge the performance of house-banked and percentage card games. Back in 2000, state voters approved Proposition 1A, below which only federally recognized tribes were allowed to offer you the above-mentioned card games on tribal land.
In their lawsuit, both Indian countries said they would not have taken legal actions, in the event the state Department of Justice along with the Gambling Control Commission had transferred to enforce the provisions of Proposition 1A. The Chumash and Luiseño tribes further noted they were trying to address the issue for well over ten years today, but with no success.
The legal complaint, filed in the San Diego County Superior Court late last week, said that by offering house-banked and percentage card games, the defendant card rooms violated the California Constitution and existing gaming laws.
Legal Treatments
The complaint seeks injunction to compel the defendants to prevent offering house-banked and percentage card games along with lawful relief to the monetary losses sustained by both tribes, that has also resulted in the reduction of earnings for the government, employment opportunities for tribal members, and goodwill. Allegations from the litigation further comprised unfair competition and public nuisance, among others.
Hustler Casino, Oceans 11 Casino, Hollywood Park Casino, and Hawaiian Gardens Casino were among the defendant card rooms named in the lawsuit. Defendant players were named John Doe 1 through 25 and Green and Red Companies I through XXV.
As stated earlier, the tribes were given the exclusive right to run house-banked card matches back in 2000. A year later and following mounting pressure from California’s non-tribal cardrooms, state lawmakers enabled them to provide card games as long as players acted as the bank, maybe not the house since it had been at tribal casinos.
Shortly after, cardrooms started hiring proposal players to behave as the lender, thus bypassing the law. A completely new industry appeared as a result, with third-party proposal player firms penning agreements with all the cardrooms to provide players. There were also cardrooms that afterwards on started banking their card games, dismissing the law altogether.
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