Fountain Valley, CA Gambling & Gaming: Card Room Licensing (2026)

Chapter 8.40, Games of Chance, is the City of Fountain Valley's gambling prohibition. A search of the code text finds no card room, cardroom or poker room licensing chapter. Section 8.40.010 makes it a misdemeanor for anyone who, for profit, for anything of value or for commercial purposes, keeps, operates, conducts or maintains in the city any house, room, apartment, dwelling place or other place where any game, gambling or gaming not mentioned or included in Section 330 or 330A of the Penal Code is played or dealt, whether with cards, dice or any other device, for money, checks, credit, merchandise or other representative of value.

The second paragraph of the section treats a person as running the game if the person collects a fee or anything of value for the privilege of participating, or gains any financial profit from the play, and it reaches owners, lessors, lessees, principals, agents, employees and participants. Section 8.40.020 makes a property owner who knowingly permits prohibited games on premises the owner owns or rents punishable in the same way, and § 8.40.030 reaches anyone who visits, frequents or participates. Punishment is a fine of not more than $500, up to six months in the county jail, or both.

The printed text of §§ 8.40.030 and 8.40.040 refers to Section 8.04.010 rather than 8.40.010, a cross-reference slip in the code. The chapter dates to Ordinance 11, adopted in 1957. Charitable bingo is handled apart in Chapter 4.80: it requires a city permit, applicants agree to conduct games in strict accordance with Penal Code § 326.5, and an organization whose permit is revoked cannot reapply for one year.