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

Gilroy City Code § 16.6-1 sets out the city's full cardroom licensing scheme. An applicant must furnish the police chief a copy of its state gaming registration filed with the California Department of Justice, Division of Gambling Control under the Gambling Control Act, Business and Professions Code § 19800 et seq., submit fingerprints and a photograph, and pay permit fees set by council resolution. The police chief investigates the applicant's criminal history, the fire chief and other officials report to the city administrator, and the city council alone decides whether to grant, condition, or deny the permit after a noticed public hearing.

Subsection (d) caps the city at issuing no more than one cardroom permit at any time, and subsection (p) caps that single cardroom at twelve tables, all in one room visible from the entrance. Only games the council has approved by resolution may be played, under rules of play the police chief reviews. Players and employees must wear identification cards in plain view, and no one under 21, or obviously intoxicated, may play or remain on the premises. Lending money or chips to patrons and cashing second-party checks are both banned outright.

Cardrooms open between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. must keep all alcoholic beverages locked away during those hours. City officials may inspect a cardroom during business hours without a warrant and seize evidence of violations. The city administrator or council can suspend or revoke a permit for any violation, though emergency suspension tops out at ten days before a hearing is required. Absent a restriction in the permit itself, a cardroom may run 24 hours a day. Any violation of § 16.6-1 is charged as a misdemeanor.