California sports betting hearing; cardrooms protest rule changes

California’s gambling market is poised for a potentially major shakeup in 2020 over proposed changes to sports betting and cardroom regulations.

On Wednesday, California legislators announced a joint Senate-Assembly information hearing on January 8 to discuss competing proposals to legalize sports betting in the state. State Sen. Bill Dodd told local media that it was legislators’ job to “stand up for the public interest and ensure California adopts the best possible model.”

Dodd and Assembly member Adam Gray have each introduced bills that would amend the state constitution to permit legal wagering, including online and mobile bets. There’s also a strictly land-based (for the time being, at least) betting ballot initiative backed by the state’s tribal gaming operators that would prohibit involvement by the state’s cardroom operators.

Speaking of, Wednesday saw the state’s Bureau of Gambling Control (BGC) hold a public workshop to discuss proposed changes to the rules involving cardrooms’ so-called ‘player-banked’ games. Cardroom operators fiercely oppose the proposed changes, which were floated earlier this month, based on the their belief that the alterations would make their operations unprofitable.