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

Section 10.750.130 states flatly that, except as specified by Chapter 10.750, any person operating or maintaining a card room within the city is guilty of a misdemeanor. Chapter 10.750 defines a card room in Section 10.750.120 as a business establishment featuring games of chance consisting of poker or other card games lawfully conducted under California law. The chapter's only carve-out for continued operation is Article 2, Annexed Card Rooms: Section 10.750.210 lets a card room that legally operated in the County of Ventura before an island annexation under Government Code Section 35013 continue as a legal nonconforming use, but Section 10.750.220 immediately terminates that nonconforming status if the card room transfers ownership without city council approval or if the council finds, after notice and a hearing, that the operation repeatedly or continuously violated federal, state or local law.

Any card room that does continue to operate under that narrow exception is still bound by Article 4's business procedures: a 22-table cap under Section 10.750.430, expandable only by city council resolution subject to referendum, council-set hours of operation under Section 10.750.420, a police-approved security plan under Section 10.750.440, council-set wagering limits under Section 10.750.450, and posted rules under Section 10.750.480. Employees also need a work permit from the chief of police under Section 10.750.510. In practice, the only lawful path into the card-room business in Ventura is the annexed, legal-nonconforming route created by Article 2, since Section 10.750.130 forecloses licensing a wholly new card room.