Last week, a group of Native American tribes in California sued dozens of licenced card clubs in the state, claiming they illegally offer player-banked card games similar to those found in Las Vegas casinos, where gamblers play against the house.

On the latest episode of iGaming Daily, supported by Optimove, Jessica Welman, Editor of SBC Americas, was joined by Charlie Horner, SBC’s Content Director, to explore the ongoing legal battle.

In California, tribes have exclusive rights to casino games such as house-banked games, dice games and card games. However, card rooms in the state are allowed to offer peer-to-peer poker games.

Jess explained that the contention between the two parties stems from the tribes alleging that card rooms are using prop players, those hired by the casinos to fill out tables, as a way to skirt the state’s gambling laws.

“It’s gotten to the point where essentially the tribes argue these player-banked games are actually being banked by the house because these prop companies have huge contracts with the casinos,” said Jess.

“For the past 15 years or so, 10 at the very least, the tribes have been screaming at the state [saying] you gave us exclusivity on these games and these people are just doing these dumb workarounds and we need you to do something about this.”

Up until now, the tribes have been unable to take this issue to court due to their status in the US as sovereign nations., Last year a bill was passed which offers tribes the chance to sue people, however, they can only sue for a decision on the legality of what the card rooms are doing rather than for damages.

On what the tribes want to gain from the suit, Jess explained that they don’t have a desire for the card rooms to close and instead, they want them to return to offering true peer-to-peer poker games as first intended. 

She added that if the tribes are successful, it would be a “substantial hit” to the business of card rooms. 

“You’re taking their main product and really making it difficult for them to continue and expand in the way that they have,” said Jess. “A lot of these rooms have remodelled, redesigned and expanded. So it would be a pretty big detriment to the card rooms’ economy if these games were changed back and they were not allowed to use the prop players anymore.”

Elsewhere in the episode, Jess and Charlie delved into the latest legislative news from across the US, including efforts by Maryland and Virginia lawmakers to introduce online casinos to their respective states.