Santa Ana, CA Gambling & Gaming: Card Room Licensing (2026)
Key Facts
- Prohibited
- Any house/room/place used for card, dice gaming
- Exception
- State-authorized games under Penal Code § 330
- Origin
- Code 1952 § 4210
- Local licensing
- No card-room license exists
- Related program
- Nonprofit bingo licensed, Sec. 10-55 et seq.
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor, up to $1,000/6 months
Summary
Santa Ana outlaws running any house, room, apartment or place used as a gambling house, or where cards, dice or similar devices are used to play for merchandise, property or anything of value. The only carve-out is for games covered by Penal Code Section 330, the state's authorized-gambling exemption, so there's no local licensing path for a private card room.
No person shall conduct within the city any house, room, apartment or place used in whole or in part as a gambling house or place where any game is played, dealt or carried on with cards, dice or other device for merchandise, property or anything of value; provided, however, nothing in this section shall apply to the games played for money, checks, chips, credit or any other representative of money, defined or mentioned in Section 330 of the Penal Code of the state.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 32).
Full Breakdown
Sec. 10-54, titled 'Gambling, Conducting within a house,' states: no person shall conduct within the city any house, room, apartment or place used in whole or in part as a gambling house or place where any game is played, dealt or carried on with cards, dice or other device for merchandise, property or anything of value; provided, however, nothing in this section shall apply to the games played for money, checks, chips, credit or any other representative of money, defined or mentioned in Section 330 of the Penal Code of the state.
The section, carried over from the 1952 Code (§ 4210), draws its exception directly from state law: Penal Code Section 330 defines which card and dice games are unlawful statewide, and anything falling outside that state definition, plus any activity the state separately licenses, is not swept up by the local ban. Santa Ana has not adopted a companion ordinance licensing card rooms or poker rooms the way some California cities have under the Gambling Control Act; instead, this section functions as a blanket local prohibition on operating a gambling house, leaving only state-licensed activity, and, separately, the city's own nonprofit bingo licensing program in Sec.
, as lawful gaming in the city. A commercial card room open to the public would fall squarely within 'a place where any game is played, dealt or carried on with cards,' and Santa Ana's code does not offer a permit or license to operate one.
Violations & Fines
Sec. 10-54 has no stand-alone penalty, so the citywide general penalty in Sec. 1-8 governs: operating a gambling house is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine, up to six months in jail, or both, with each day of operation a separate offense; the city attorney may instead prosecute the offense as an infraction, or the city can pursue an administrative citation under Sections 1-21.1 through 1-21.9.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I open a card room or poker room in Santa Ana?
Is any gambling legal in Santa Ana?
Does this ban apply to home poker games?
What's the penalty for violating this section?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santa Ana
California rules heatmap·Compare Santa Ana 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.