Santee, CA Gambling & Gaming: Card Room Licensing (2026)
Key Facts
- General rule
- Playing any game of chance for money is unlawful
- Card rooms
- No licensing chapter; banned by general prohibition
- Only exception
- Nonprofit bingo in City parks, Sec. 7.14.010(B)
- Bingo permit
- Required from Director of Community Services
- State law referenced
- Penal Code Sec. 326.5 for bingo
Summary
In the City of Santee, playing any game of chance for money or anything of value is unlawful under Santee Municipal Code Section 7.14.010, so the City has never authorized a licensed card room. The chapter carves out only permit-holding nonprofit bingo games in City parks under Penal Code Section 326.5.
A. No person is permitted to play any game of chance for money or anything of value. B. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, and pursuant to Section 326.5 of the Penal Code, bingo games may be conducted in a City park by the following organizations, if such park facilities are leased to and used by the organizations for the purposes for which the organizations are organized, and provided that the proceeds of such games are used only for charitable purposes relating to the operation of recreational programs on such park facilities: ... ... D. No person is permitted to play bingo in City parks except with a permit issued by the Director of Community Services and on payment of a special use fee in an amount authorized by resolution of the City Council.
Full Breakdown
Santee Municipal Code Chapter 7.14 contains the City's only gambling provision, and it is a flat, general ban rather than a card-room licensing scheme: Section 7.14.010(A) makes it unlawful for any person to play a game of chance for money or anything of value anywhere in the City. Because a card or poker room's business model depends on charging players to participate in games played for money, the general ban leaves no path for the City to license one; Santee has adopted no separate card-room chapter comparable to the gambling ordinances some other California general-law cities maintain under the Gambling Control Act.
The only carve-out the chapter allows is narrow and nonprofit: subsection B permits bingo games in a City park, run under a lease of park facilities, by tax-exempt organizations under specific Revenue and Taxation Code exemptions, mobile home park associations, senior citizens' organizations, and school-district-affiliated charities, and only where proceeds fund the organization's recreational programming on those facilities. Subsection C requires that carve-out bingo comply with Penal Code Section 326.5 and Santee Municipal Code Chapter 4.06. Subsection D adds that no one may play park bingo without a permit from the Director of Community Services and payment of a special-use fee the City Council sets by resolution, and it excludes dance pavilions, picnic ramadas, portable enclosures and open-space areas from bingo use even under a permit.
Nothing in Chapter 7.14 distinguishes skill games like poker from chance games, so a for-money card game falls under the same general prohibition as any other game of chance.
Violations & Fines
Operating or playing in a game of chance for money, including a card or poker game, outside the narrow nonprofit-bingo carve-out violates Section 7.14.010 and is enforced as a general Municipal Code violation subject to the criminal, civil and administrative remedies in Chapters 1.04, 1.08, 1.10 and 1.12. Running unpermitted bingo, or bingo outside a Director-issued permit's designated location, violates subsection D on its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are card rooms legal in Santee?
What is the only gambling the City of Santee allows?
Does Santee treat poker differently from other gambling games?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Santee
California rules heatmap·Compare Santee to another location·View the California gambling & gaming overview
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