Pierce County, WA Gambling & Gaming: Card Room Licensing (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- PCC 9.52.010
- Rule type
- Prohibition, not licensing
- Exemption
- Charitable/nonprofit orgs, PCC 9.52.020
- Penalty
- Misdemeanor, PCC 9.52.030
- Adopted
- Ordinance 99-80, 1999
Summary
Unincorporated Pierce County outright prohibits the operation of social card games, the category that covers commercial card rooms under state law. Only bona fide charitable or nonprofit organizations may run them, and any other operator is guilty of a misdemeanor.
9.52.010 Social Card Games Prohibited. The operation or conduct of social card games as defined by RCW 9.46.0282 is prohibited within unincorporated Pierce County. (Ord. 99-80 § 1 (part), 1999)
9.52.020 Exemption. Bona fide charitable or nonprofit organizations may operate or conduct social card games pursuant to RCW 9.46.0311.
Official source re-checked September 8, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: current through Ordinance 2026-515, and legislation passed through May 26, 2026).
Full Breakdown
0282, anywhere within unincorporated Pierce County. 0282 is the state definition covering games like panguingue, pinochle, hearts, whist, bridge, cribbage, and social card games generally played in commercial card rooms, so this chapter functions as a blanket local ban on the for-profit card-room model rather than a licensing scheme. 0311, the state provision allowing nonprofit gambling activities for fundraising. There is no county licensing track for a commercial card room: the ordinance does not create permit fees, table caps, or hours of operation because it forecloses the underlying business rather than regulating it. 030 makes any violation a misdemeanor. 295 rather than the authorization-and-licensing route some Washington cities and counties use for card rooms.
Violations & Fines
Operating or conducting a social card game in unincorporated Pierce County without qualifying as a bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization is a misdemeanor under PCC 9.52.030, exposing the operator to criminal prosecution rather than a mere licensing fine, since the county has not created a permit path for commercial operators.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you open a commercial card room in unincorporated Pierce County?
Is any card game exempt from Pierce County's ban?
What happens if someone runs an illegal card room in the county?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Pierce County
Compare Pierce County to another location·View the Washington gambling & gaming overview
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