Tulare County, CA Gambling & Gaming: Card Room Licensing (2026)

Tulare County adopted its own gambling ordinance to implement the state Gambling Control Act, and the local license is a separate requirement on top of the state one: Ordinance Code section 6-17-1060 says any person who operates a gambling establishment in the county must hold a valid state license under the Gambling Control Act and "also a valid license issued by the County," with a copy of the state application and license filed with the license collector before opening. Cardrooms may run around the clock: section 6-17-3010 sets hours of operation at 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no curfew.

Section 6-17-3060 caps the total number of gambling tables permitted countywide at sixteen and limits any single licensed establishment to twelve tables; increases require Sheriff sign-off that added tables will not generate additional law-enforcement demand. New establishments and expansions are barred within 500 yards of a school, place of worship, playground, hospital, or convalescent facility under section 6-17-3040, and must sit in a zone where the County Zoning Ordinance allows gambling uses. Every person under 21 is barred from playing, loitering in a gaming area, or working in a gaming capacity, and 18-to-20-year-old non-gaming employees must wear a badge marked "Non-Gaming Employee: Under 21" under section 6-17-3000.

Wagering limits are set only by the house, since section 6-17-3050 states there are no County limits on the amount wagered, but the licensee must post house and table limits conspicuously. This chapter binds unincorporated county territory only; a card room in Visalia, Tulare, or Porterville answers to that city's own licensing code, not this one.