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California court grants card rooms’ request for injunctive relief against new state regulations

Derek Helling

Legal Writer

Publish Date: May 26, 2026

Fact checked by: Matt Moreno

Key Points

Injunction blocks California’s enforcement of new rules for card rooms as the lawsuits play out.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta can appeal court’s decision.
Card rooms can continue to offer blackjack-style games in accordance with previous regulations while injunction is in effect.

Card rooms in California have secured a preliminary victory in their efforts to resist new regulations imposed by the state that would change how they offer certain games. On Thursday, a San Francisco County Superior Court judge granted the card rooms’ request for preliminary injunctive relief that blocks law enforcement in California from holding card rooms to account for compliance with regulations that the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, finalized earlier in 2026.

With the injunction in place, card rooms can continue to offer the blackjack-style games that the rules banned and tribal casino operators within California’s borders argue that they have exclusive rights to provide. Bonta can appeal the court’s decision on the injunction, although he may allow the litigation to play out.

The blackjack table as it opens at Graton Resort and Casino in Rohnert Park, California on Tuesday, November 5, 2013.

(Photo By Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Court sides with California card rooms on petition for injunction

According to Alan Riquelmy of Courthouse News Service, Judge Richard Darwin granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction regarding a pair of complaints filed by card room operators. The petition argued that Bonta overstepped his authority and that the businesses would suffer irreparable harm if California authorities were allowed to enforce the rules that were finalized in February.

Darwin’s opinion found that the state government did not follow the proper procedure in establishing the new regulations. Darwin decided that the card rooms had a sufficient chance of success in the lawsuit and that irreparable harm arguments had enough merit to grant the injunction.

Bonta can appeal Darwin’s decision to the district court of appeal and perhaps the California Supreme Court from there if he so wills. However, the state could also focus its attention on litigating the case, especially as there is a finite end to the injunctive relief.

Injunction may only delay the implementation of the new rules

Under California law, this type of injunctive relief can only last 45 days at maximum. Bonta had already planned not to start enforcement of the new regulations until June 1, so the injunction may only push that timeline back.

Under the new regulations, there are additional restrictions on card rooms’ use of third-party provider of proposition players services. These are services that card rooms contract with to satisfy legal standards around player-banked card games like blackjack.

Card rooms have argued that the new rules effectively nullify their ability to offer blackjack-style games, which are major drivers of revenue. Municipal governments of California cities have echoed that message, stating that the tax revenue they collect from card rooms would diminish significantly.

Those blackjack-style games are at the center of the dispute between card room operators and tribal gaming authorities within California’s borders as well. Tribal groups have claimed that their gaming compacts give them exclusivity over blackjack and the state is violating the terms of those compacts by allowing card rooms to offer them.

With the temporary injunction in place, the state can focus on strengthening its case to the court, likely starting with moving to dismiss the lawsuits altogether. While a settlement technically remains possible, the distance between the parties seems too great to make that immediately feasible.

Card rooms in California won’t have to worry about accommodating new rules for a few more weeks. However, this dispute is far from settled, as the injunction represents only the most preliminary decision California courts will make regarding the matter.

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