Newport Beach, CA Gambling & Gaming: Card Room Licensing (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing sections
- NBMC §§ 10.16.010, .020, .030
- Local card rooms
- Prohibited, no licensing path
- Premises ban
- Owners/tenants may not permit use (§10.16.020)
- Operator ban
- Operating a gambling place is unlawful (§10.16.030)
- Original ordinance
- 1949 Code § 4600-4602; Ord. 1119, 1297
Summary
Newport Beach bans card rooms outright: Municipal Code Section 10.16.020 makes it unlawful to let any building or room in the City be used as a place for playing cards, dice or billiards for money, and Section 10.16.030 separately bans operating such a gambling place.
§ 10.16.020. Use of Premises for Gambling. No person, either as principal, agent, employee or otherwise, shall knowingly permit any building, house, apartment, room or place owned or rented by him or under his charge or control in the City, to be used in whole or in part as a gambling house or place for playing, conducting, dealing or carrying on any game not mentioned in California Penal Code section 330 or 330a, which is played, conducted, dealt or carried on with cards, dice, billiard balls, pool balls, or cues, for money, checks, chips, credit, merchandise or any other representative of value.
Full Breakdown
16, Gambling, dates to the 1949 Code and was renumbered by Ordinance 2023-22 in 2023, with roots in Ordinances 1119 and 1297 from the 1960s. 010 bans any person from playing or betting at a game not listed in California Penal Code Section 330 or 330a when it is played, conducted, dealt or carried on with cards, dice, billiard balls, pool balls or cues, for money, checks, chips, credit or merchandise. 020 extends the ban to premises: no person, as principal, agent, employee or otherwise, may knowingly permit a building, house, apartment, room or place they own, rent or control in the City to be used in whole or part as a gambling house or place for such card, dice or billiard games played for value.
030 separately criminalizes operating, conducting or maintaining any building, house, apartment, place or room used in whole or part as such a gambling house. & Prof. 04 (which separately bans certain gambling devices) for a lawful card room, poker room or gambling house within city limits.
Violations & Fines
Operating, permitting, or playing at an unlawful gambling premises is enforced under the Municipal Code's general penalty section, 1.04.010: the City can charge an infraction with fines up to $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second within a year and $500 for further repeats, or prosecute a misdemeanor carrying a fine up to $1,000 and up to six months in the City Jail, with each day of continued operation counted as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a business open a licensed poker room in Newport Beach?
Is it illegal to let friends play poker for cash at my house?
What games does the Newport Beach gambling ban cover?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Newport Beach
California rules heatmap·Compare Newport Beach to another location·View the California gambling & gaming overview
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Card Room Licensing in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Orange County handle card room licensing.