TITLE: California Gambling Control Commission Receives Comments on Modified Cardroom Advertising Regulations
BODY:
On March 16-19, 2026, the California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC) received multiple stakeholder comments on its second modified proposed cardroom advertising regulations (CGCC-GCA-2025-02-R).
The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria submitted comments expressing concerns that the modified regulations omit provisions addressing cardrooms' advertising of illegal banked card games, which the Tribe asserts violates California Constitution Article IV, Section 19(e)(f) and California Penal Code Section 330. The Tribe urged the CGCC to restore language prohibiting advertisements depicting gaming activity not currently approved by the Bureau and to strengthen provisions by changing "and" to "or" in Section 12099. The Tribe also requested inclusion of a "scofflaw" provision suspending licenses for cardrooms repeatedly warned about deceptive advertising.
California Grand Casino and Oaks Card Club raised concerns regarding violation counting methodology under Section 12099, arguing the regulation fails to clarify whether each advertisement dissemination constitutes a separate violation. The submission noted that under current language, a single advertisement broadcast 50 times or viewed by 100,000 individuals could result in 50 to 1.2 million separate violations, each carrying potential $5,000 penalties. The submission proposed alternatives including counting repeated content as one violation with frequency treated as an aggravating or mitigating factor, consistent with existing Disciplinary Regulation 12554(k).
The California Gaming Association incorporated the cardroom's comments and requested the CGCC defer action to allow staff further revision of Section 12099.
REFERENCES:
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria letter, March 16, 2026
Law Offices of David M. Fried letter, March 18, 2026
California Gaming Association letter, March 19, 2026