Opening a Card Room in California

How to Open a Card Room in California

There are numerous poker rooms throughout the state of California. A poker room is an establishment running poker table games that is open to the public.

 Through the California Gambling Control Commission, a private citizen can apply and, if approved, open a poker/card room in California. 

Currently, there is a moratorium on card rooms until the year 2020,  therefore no new card room licenses are being issued.  

A General Outline of the Steps. 

1.- Apply for a Gambling Establishment License from the California Gambling Control Commission. All prospective owners must apply and pass an extensive background check conducted by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Gambling Control. The Bureau's website states, "suitability is determined by a number of factors including but not limited to the applicant's honesty, integrity, general character, reputation, habits, and financial and criminal history. Once this step is completed the application is scheduled for the next Commission meeting at which time a decision will be made to approve or deny the application".

2.- Check local ordinances in your area to ensure no laws will be broken by opening a poker room.

3.- Obtain poker and Cal game approval from the Bureau for each game you wish to spread. 

Each game must be individually approved by the Bureau before operations may begin. The Bureau will also check local ordinances to ensure operating a card room does not conflict with any local laws.

4.- Purchase necessary equipment and furniture. Hire employees. Set up the card room.

5.- Direct all employees to apply and be approved for a work permit. The Bureau of Gambling Control states that "any person employed in a gambling establishment as a dealer, secretary, waiter or waitress; floor, security, count room, cage, collection, surveillance or data-processing personnel; appropriate maintenance personnel; or any person whose employment duties require or authorize access to restricted gambling establishment areas must obtain a work permit. The work permit will be issued by the local jurisdiction or the Commission." Once all work permits, licenses, and approvals are in place, the card room can begin operations.

The link to the State of California Department of Justice web site

http://oag.ca.gov/gambling/card

Splitting Eights

Standard 56-card deck (Photo credit: Wikipedia)








 

Splitting 8's when the dealer has a 10 or face card as their up card?

Should a player split 8's against the dealers up card of a 10 when late surrender is offered? 

Basic strategy says that you should always split aces and eights but it also tells you that you should surrender your hand when you have hand that is a total of 16 against a dealers 10/face card, so what about two eights? 

I often get this exact question, "Should I split my 8's or surrender when the dealer is showing an up card of 10/Face card".  

Yes, you still want to split your eights against even if late surrender is offered.

Even when you base the math on a two-deck game, that does not allow double after splitting, these being less favorable house rules than most, the expected value of splitting 8's,  against a 10 is -0.480673, but it is still a shade better than the -0.5 by surrendering..

It's pretty close, mathematically but you should split your eight's, even when the casino offers late surrender or does not allow double after split.

Late Surrender-  Late Surrender is when the house offers you as a player the choice to fold your hand, at the cost of half of the original bet. You must make that after the dealer has checked for blackjack and the decision to surrender is made prior to taking any other action on the hand. For example, once you draw a third card, or split, or double down, surrender is no longer an option.

Related articles

• Surrendering your bet

Blackjack Busting Chart: Percentages for both player's and dealer'shand busting

Blackjack Bust Chart

Do you feel as if you always bust when you hit 16? 

Does it seem that the dealer rarely busts whenever they have a 2 as their up card? 

The chart below shows the busting percentages for the player's hand and for the dealer's hand after each has been dealt 2 cards.

Players starting hand busting percentage:

The left side of the chart contatins the busting percentages for the player's starting hand.  The players staring hand is the first two cards dealt to the player.

Dealers starting hand busting percentge showing one card:

The right side of the chart contains the dealers busting percentage with a certain up card, before the hole card is revealed or the dealer hits.

Cardroom Insider Blackjack Busting Chart

Basic strategy for Spanish 21

Strategy Chart is for Spanish 21

Dealer hits soft 17

Redoubling 3 times (4 hands total), drawing on split aces and

Surrender Allowed

The Martingale System and a Variation

The Martingale System 

The Martingale system is a very old and extremely simple system. It is based on the probability of losing infinite times in a row and is usually applied to 'even money' bets.

You start with one bet. If you win, you start again with one bet. If you lose, you double your bet. Each time you lose, you double your last lost bet. Eventually you are bound to win. When you win you would recover all your lost bets plus one unit (or chip) profit against your initial wager.

Although infallible in theory, the Martingale system requires a large bankroll, has a very low return and is a very risky one because of the maximum bet limits imposed by the casinos. If you run out of money or reach the house limit, you can lose a lot with no chance to recover your losses.

Negative progression, a variation of the Martingale System.

Assumes you will win before you reach the house limit and can bankroll the losing run. Bet an initial amount (N). For each win, on the next bet N again. For each lose bet N*x+N where x is the number of losing bets. Thus if you finally win, you will recover all bet money, plus N for every loss. The progression would look like this on a $5 table. 5, 15, 35, 75, 155, 315, etc. As with all negative progressions, and this one even more so, it requires more capital and is employed to force a winning outcome following a losing streak.

Using the term "Monkey" for a face card in Blackjack and in Baccarat

When you play blackjack or baccarat you often hear the familiar cry for a  "monkey",  when players are calling for face card.  

Many people ask me, "why do the players call for a monkey"?

The best explanation I have heard is that the term "monkey" came from people of Chinese culture playing the European invented game of baccarat. 

In Europe the King, Queen are part of the Royal Court or Royal Monarchy.  

When Chinese people use the English word "Monarchy" with their Cantonese or Mandarin accents, spoken quickly, the word "Monarchy" sounds like "monkey". 

Rules that Blackjack Dealers Use

Here is an article written by Udemy on the rules that a dealer must play by when you are playing blackjack.

This is a good read for those just learning to play blackjack and some refreshers for those who haven't played in a while.

http://www.udemy.com/blog/blackjack-dealer-rules/

Related articles

• Discover The Blackjack Strategy Chart

Insider Info: Players Hand Probabilities

Player Hand Probabilites

Listed below are the probabilities of the player's starting hand

1) Blackjack – 4.8% (winning hand)

2) Point totals of  17 – 20 – 30.0% (automatic stand)

3) Point totals of 12 – 16 – 38.7%  (decision hands)

4) Point totals of 4 – 11 – 26.5% (must hit)

Notes from a dealer:

One of the more common questions or complaints that I hear every day,from players, is "How come you are always giving me 13 or 14?"

When playing blackjack the probability of the players starting hands  (First 2 Cards) being a point total of 13  or 14, is almost 40%.  There is a mathematical reason the player often feels they are always being dealt 13, because nearly half of the time, they are!

Conversely, I also hear many times a day, "how come you never give me a blackjack"---or---"I have only had 2 blackjacks all day today".  

The odds of the player being dealt a blackjack is 4.8%. 

At less than 5% of your hands, it is easy to see why players feel like Blackjacks don't come around very often and probably the reason why, right after a player is dealt one,  The first word The dealer hears is "Finally".

www.CardroomInsider.com 

Insider Info: Dealer Hand Probabilities

Blackjack Hand Probabilites

Listed below are the probabilities for the dealers hand in blackjack:

1) Blackjack or 21 – 12.2% chance
2) 20 points – 17.6% chance
3) 19 points – 13.5% chance
4) 18 points – 13.8% chance
5) 17 points – 14.6% chance
6) Dealer Busts – 28.3% chance

Before any cards are flipped the odds that a dealer will not bust is 71.7%.  

That's where the buster bet percentages come into play. 

Blackjack Dealer Hand Probabilities
Www.Cardroom.Insider.com

California Blackjack: Blackjack Variation Created for Card Rooms

California Blackjack:  The Game

A version of blackjack created specifically to be played in California's card rooms. 

California Blackjack History

In 1873, the California Legislature enacted Penal Code 330 which outlawed the game of "Blackjack" or "21", throughout the state.  This California statute is still in effect. 

Native American Indian casinos currently play "Blackjack" or "21" under authority from the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

For decades, this law meant that card rooms in the state could not offer the game of blackjack.

As a way of circumventing the state statute, game inventors looked to devise varieties of blackjack to be played in legal card rooms throughout California owned by non-Native American Indians. 

In 1989, a man named Roger Wisted changed everything. Wisted invented, patented and trademarked this version of blackjack developed specifically to be played in a card room setting, where players compete against each other instead of the casino.  He called it California Blackjack.

One primary difference between traditional blackjack and Wisted's version, is the game is played to 22 instead of 21.

The game itself is played with a 53-card deck, adding one joker for each deck in the shoe. The Jokers act as wild cards and when added together with any other card the hand equals 21. 

The best possible hands are called "naturals," and naturals are made up of either two jokers, or a joker and an ace. Technically speaking, these "natural" hands equal 22.

California Blackjack has been licensed to card clubs and casinos throughout California since 1990.  

A more in-depth look at California Blackjack:

http://freeblackjack.net/free/blackjack/games/california-blackjack/

The Lucky Derby in Citrus Heights continued to spread a version of California Blackjack with an optional side bonus bet until 2013.  

This game was a favorite of long-time card room players, but was not viewed as favorably by those who were new to playing in card rooms and were more accustomed to playing in tribal gaming casinos and Nevada casinos.

NOTE:

After inventing California Blackjack, Roger Wisted took the money he earned in licensing agreements and started Blackjack Ranch Vineyards and Winery in Solvang (Santa Barbara County). The outfit's wine club is known as the High

Rollers Club. For more information, visit

http://www.blackjackranch.com/

  

California law governing "California Blackjack" in card rooms

The law that provides for card room blackjack. 

PENAL CODE SECTION 330.11

California cardroom blackjack

330.11. "Banking game" or "banked game" does not include a controlled game if the published rules of the game feature a player-dealer position and provide that this position must be continuously and systematically rotated amongst each of the participants during the play of the game, ensure that the player-dealer is able to win or lose only a fixed and limited wager during the play of the game, and preclude the house, another entity, a player, or an observer from maintaining or operating as a bank during the course of the game. For purposes of this section it is not the intent of the Legislature to mandate acceptance of the deal by every player if the division finds that the rules of the game render the maintenance of or operation of a bank impossible by other means. The house shall not occupy the player-dealer position. 

Insider Term: Dealer Tokes

^{Insider Term: Dealer Tokes}

Dealer tokes, also called tips, are gratuities that are given to dealers as "tokens of appreciation" for the service they provide, much like a waitress.  

Dealers are paid minimum wage and rely on tips to make a living. 

A toke can be given to a dealer in a couple of different ways.

The Toke Bet 

The most common way for a player or guest to tip a dealer is to make a "toke" bet for the dealer by placing an additional bet, directly in the front of the player's bet. This is the preferred method for most dealers, or at least this dealer anyway.i

The Hand In Tip

You may also just lay a chip on the felt and tell the dealer “this is for you”.

Why tip a dealer?

There are a variety of reasons why a guest might tip the dealer. One reason would be that they are winning, but that is not the only reason a guest may tip.

Guests do not need to be winning to tip, you could also tip because the dealer...

-Deals the game noting some of your preferences.

-Is engaging and entertaining

-Is Good natured when you are either winning or losing

-Is someone you enjoy spending time with

-Meets your needs or preferences consistently

-Maintains table etiquette

-Advises the guests when another player has either added a hand or taken one out

-Mindful of keeping your area clean and your glass full

In other words, guests may tip the dealer, or bet for the dealer, when they are either winning, or losing, if the dealer gives great customer service.

Dealer Tokes: "Go For Your Own" Vs. "Pooled" or "Shared" Tips

"Go for your own" houses:

Generally speaking, blackjack/cal games dealers in a cardroom "go for their own" tips, as well as some Nevada casinos.  

"Go for their own" means:

whatever tips the dealer generates that day are theirs to keep and they do not need to share or pool with other dealers. 

(In most instances they are required to give the Table/Cal Games Floor person a percentage)

Card Room dealers who "go for their own", can sometimes let their tips ride too, meaning they can let all or a portion of the winning toke bet ride on the next hand, resulting in a larger tip.

Pooling Tips:

Many of California’s Tribal gaming casinos and many Nevada Casinos “pool” or "share" dealers tokes, in one of the following ways:

Splitting tips by the day:

In this method all of the tips generated by all dealers in a 24 hour period are marshaled together and then divided by the number of dealer hours on the floor that day. This gives you an hourly toke rate. The casino will pay the dealer the tokes earned on their checks for every hour the dealer worked that day.

Splitting tips by the shift:

The three classified shifts that casinos dealers work are Day shift, Swing shift or Graveyard shift. When casino's use the "split tips by shift" method, the tips generated by dealers are kept separate, by shift. At the end of each shift, tokes are counted, divided between only those dealers that worked that day and on that shift.

The tokes earned are put on the dealers paychecks.

Dealers who pool tips are not allowed to let tips ride, in effect they would be wagering other dealers money, so the casino doesn't allow that.

If you place a toke bet for a dealer who shares tips, they will pick up the winning toke bet and place it in the toke box at the conclusion of each hand.

Casinos that pool tips, can also be required dealers to share their tokes with Floor Persons.

Do guests receive better service with the “go for your own” method or the “pooling” method?

This is the million dollar question and is up for debate. 

In regards to customer service, there are some pros and cons for each.

The tip pooling method can reward dealers who might not give the best customer service because the dealers receive the same amount, regardless of the amount of tokes they generate. The motivation to provide great customer service may be compromised using this method.

Card room dealers who "go for their own", try and give the customers who tip individual and personalized and generally provide a richer experience for those who tip. But do the customers who do not tip well, receive the same great customer service?

The next time you play Blackjack:

Try it out, and if your dealers are helpful and provide a favorable experience for you, be sure and hand them a tip or place a "toke" bet for them.

Ask A Dealer

I am a Cal Games dealer or a "Banked Games" dealer in a California card room.  (see Banked Games at www.cardroom insider.com for more info)

It is widely believed that card rooms offer Poker only and many folks are not even aware that "Banked Games", like blackjack are offered in card rooms.  

Cal Games or Banked games are basically all games other than poker.  

Currently I deal Blackjack pitch, single deck and double deck, blackjack shoe with bonus options, no commission EZ Baccarat with the Dragon as Panda bonuses and a squeeze option, Ultimate Texas hold em, Casino War, Pai Gow Poker  and Spanish 21. 

I invite you to ask any questions you may have about California card room Cal Games or playing in a card room in general. 

www.cardroominsider.com

Insider Term-Ace Rich

Ace Rich - A phrase used to describe a deck that is full of Aces since not many have been dealt.  

When a deck is Ace Rich you should be making a larger than average wager.

Surrendering your bet

Most Card rooms offer the late surrender option to their guests

When playing blackjack the must render option offers you as a player the choice to fold your hand, at the cost of half of the original bet. 

You must make that decision prior to taking any other action on the hand. For example, once you draw a third card, or split, or double down, surrender is no longer an option. (Except on Spanish 21)

 Not every game offers the surrender option, and those that do fall into two categories: Early vs Late.

The two varieties of surrender, early and late, different only in when the player may actually surrender thier hand. 

In an early surrender game, a player may surrender before the dealer checks his cards for a blackjack, offering a cheap way out even if the dealer turns out to have a blackjack. Because this offers a healthy advantage to the player, this version (early surrender) is rarely offered.  I have never seen the early surrender offered.  L

The much more common variation is the late surrender option.  The late surrender is where the dealer checks for blackjack first, and then only if the dealer does not have blackjack the player will be allowed to surrender their hands.

Surrender is an excellent option for players who use it wisely. 

Unfortunately, many players surrender far too many hands or far too few. 

If you play in a game that offers surrender, use basic strategy to determine when surrender is the appropriate play. To understand how bad a hand must be to properly be surrendered, consider the following: 

To lose less with surrender, you must be only 25% likely to win the hand (ignoring pushes). That is, if you lose 75% of the time, and win only 25% of the time, your net loss is about 50% of your bets, equal to the amount you'll lose guaranteed by surrendering. 

So, learn to use the surrender option, but make sure you know when it is appropriate.  

Double Deck Blackjack Basic Strategy

Double Deck Blackjack Basic Strategy

2 decks, H17, DAS, Late Surrender, Peek
Estimated casino edge for these rules: 0.36 %
	Dealer Upcard
Your Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
5	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
6	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
7	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	D	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	RH	RH
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	RS	RH
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	RS
A,2	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,3	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,4	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,7	DS	DS	DS	DS	DS	S	S	H	H	H
A,8	S	S	S	S	DS	S	S	S	S	S
A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
2,2	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
3,3	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
6,6	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
7,7	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H
8,8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
9,9	P	P	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	S
T,T	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
Dlr	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
Key:
	H	= Hit		S	= Stand		P	= Split
	D	= Double (Hit if not allowed)
	DS	= Double (Stand if not allowed)
	RH	= Surrender (Hit if not allowed)
	RS	= Surrender (Stand if not allowed)