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

Section 52-3.117 ties the countywide cardroom license count to population: the number of licenses cannot exceed the population of the unincorporated area divided by twenty thousand, though an existing license survives even if the ratio later drops. Section 52-3.509(c) separately caps every cardroom at nineteen tables and allows only one cardroom per address. Section 52-3.107 limits the games that may be played to draw poker, lowball, panguingue, Texas Hold'em, and pai gow poker, plus any other game the sheriff approves in writing after a review that must be completed within ten business days of a $500 application.

Cardroom owners apply for a license through Sections 52-3.301 to 52-3.319; the sheriff investigates, the board holds a hearing, and the board can attach conditions before the license issues. Section 52-3.320 sets the price of that privilege: 13.5% of the cardroom's total monthly gross revenue, paid by the 15th of the following month, with a $60,000 advance deposit from a new licensee and a $100,000-a-month minimum once a cardroom has operated for a year. Section 52-3.503 bars any cardroom activity within a half mile of a city that itself prohibits cardrooms, unless the board grants a written exemption after a hearing. Section 52-3.507 bars anyone under twenty-one or visibly intoxicated from playing, and Section 52-3.505 caps wagers at table stakes and requires the cardroom to post the house rules.