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

Chapter 5.24 of the Gardena Municipal Code, one of the city's signature ordinances, sets the framework for licensing draw poker, panguingue and other card games the state permits and the City Council has separately approved by resolution. Section 5.24.020 fixes the citywide ceiling at two card club licenses and 500 playing tables total, with no single licensee allowed more than 250 tables; a licensee may add up to two non-wagering instructional tables and must get the city manager's administrative approval before expanding table counts. Section 5.24.021 layers on a location restriction: no card club may open, and no existing club may expand, within 500 feet of the "unsuitable areas" listed in Business and Professions Code Section 19852(a)(3), or any greater distance the state's Division of Gambling Control sets by regulation, and every card club must sit in a zone specifically approved for gambling use.

Under Section 5.24.030, operating any card game business for compensation without a written city license is unlawful, and Section 5.24.040 requires applicants, including every officer, shareholder and partner, to be fingerprinted and photographed by the police department and to file a sworn application disclosing ownership, finances and the number of tables sought; the council will not even accept an application proposing fewer than 40 tables. The police chief investigates every application and reports to the City Council, which under Section 5.24.060 has final and unreviewable discretion to grant or deny any license and to attach conditions.