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

Chapter 5.12, Cardrooms and Gaming Clubs, defines a cardroom or gaming club at § 5.12.010 as any space, room, or enclosure where card games or similar games are played and to which the public, or any portion of it, is invited to participate, with or without payment of consideration. Games of cards or similar games are defined as any game played with cards, dice, or any device for currency, check, credit, or other thing of value, resulting from the game, that is not otherwise prohibited under California law.

Section 5.12.020 then makes it unlawful for any person to own, engage in, carry on, maintain, or conduct any cardroom or gaming club, either independently or as a use incidental to any other business, anywhere within the city. It is separately unlawful for any person to deal, play, carry on, open, or cause to be opened, or conduct or cause to be conducted, as owner or employee, whether for hire or not, any game of cards or similar game in a cardroom or gaming club as those terms are defined in the chapter.

Rocklin adopted this prohibition by Ord. 686 § 2 in 1993, and the chapter has not been repealed since, meaning the city has never opted in to license cardrooms under the state Gambling Control Act framework that other California cities use to authorize them. This makes Rocklin's approach a full local ban rather than a licensing scheme, distinguishing it from neighboring jurisdictions that permit regulated cardrooms.