Kirkland, WA Gambling & Gaming: Card Room Licensing (2026)
Key Facts
- Card room commercial stimulants
- Prohibited citywide
- Penalty
- Gross misdemeanor, per day violation
- Grandfathered exception
- House-banked games operating since 6/1/2011
- New house-banked rooms
- None allowed
- Tax on lawful social card games
- 11% of gross revenue
Summary
Kirkland bans social card games run as a commercial stimulant to boost food or drink sales, a gross misdemeanor punished as a separate crime each day, with only one grandfathered house-banked card room allowed to keep operating.
Except as authorized in Section 7.48.018, the conduct of a social card game as a commercial stimulant is prohibited within the city of Kirkland. The term “commercial stimulant” means an activity operated in connection with an established business, with the purpose of increasing the volume of sales of food or drink for consumption on that business premises, whether for profit or charitable purposes, except as authorized in RCW 9.46.0351. This section is an exercise of the city’s authority under state law to prohibit gambling activities (see RCW 9.46.295). In turn, a license issued by the state to engage in gambling activities is not legal authority to engage in the conduct of social card games as a commercial stimulant anywhere within the city of Kirkland.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 4945, passed July 21, 2026).
Full Breakdown
295 to prohibit gambling activity the state otherwise allows. 0351. 070(2). 018 carves out a single narrow exception: any house-banked social card game business already operating in the city on June 1, 2011, and licensed by the Washington State Gambling Commission before July 26, 2009, may keep operating, but no new house-banked card room business is allowed to open in Kirkland. 020(a)(5) taxes them at 11 percent of gross revenue, one of the higher rates in the city's gambling tax schedule alongside bingo, raffles, punch boards and amusement games.
Violations & Fines
KMC 7.48.017(b) makes running a prohibited social-card-game commercial stimulant a gross misdemeanor, with each day of operation treated as a separate crime. KMC 7.48.015 makes it a gross misdemeanor to violate, or knowingly aid, abet or conspire to violate, any provision of Chapter 7.48, and KMC 7.48.010(d) separately makes it a gross misdemeanor to begin any nonprohibited gambling activity without first filing a notice of intent and a copy of the state gambling license with the city.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a new card room open in Kirkland?
Is running a prohibited card room in Kirkland a criminal offense?
Does holding a state gambling license let a business run card games as a commercial stimulant in Kirkland?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kirkland
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Card Room Licensing in Nearby Cities
How other cities in King County handle card room licensing.