Hey folks, I figured I'd offer an ama for people unfamiliar with how casinos work in California.

I'd planned on making this account sooner (and planned for the name to be 'Different_Kind_of_Banker, but here we are) but better late than never right?

Here are some bits of info that may help get the ball rolling on questions

  • California has specific laws against Nevada style gambling (Where the house keeps the money if you lose)

  • Tribal land is exempt from those laws due to a court case over bingo halls on reservations in the 1980s (yes people were that aggressive about the small bits of money people got)

  • Casinos in California and not tribal lands are technically called card rooms. No slot machines are allowed and instead of getting the money from losses, it goes to a third party person called a banker. These third parties came up to circumvent the laws against Nevada gambling. So in the eyes of the law, card rooms aren't taking people's money. They are just hosting a place where they can gamble with each other's money and they have to pay for the space to use.

  • This workaround uses third party workers called bankers who offer up the money of the corporation to allow for gambling to take place. Players can play without a banker, but they have to use their own money.

  • I am a banker and I hate everything about the environment and feel like a gross person every time I come into work.

  • The customers are usually small business owners who want a chance to complain about losing.

With all that info, I welcome any sorts of questions you might have and hope you have a beautiful rest of your day.

  • half_giraffe [comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Thanks for doing this, I do have a few questions:

    1. What games are allowed inside the "card rooms?" Poker doesn't need a house in order to operate, but something like blackjack or roulette need a dealer to collect losses, so is that where bankers come in?

    2. Have you ever had to cut someone off from gambling? Do you even have that authority?

    3. Do you ever get compared to the banker in monopoly?

    • Different_Kind_Of_Ba [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Poker doesn't need a house to operate, but players come in to have a professional dealer handle the game and manage chips.

      I've seen a lot of blackjack, baccarat, pai gow, and some forms of poker.

      Customers can pay collection if they don't want to use a banker to play, but a banker has to be available at the table just in case. And the dealer has to make it known that anyone can be a banker. Dealers show the camera this by hand gestures.

      I wish I could cut people off, but that's under the purview of the casino itself which is its own company. Though I'll offer players to convert their chips into larger denominations to encourage them to gamble less and get out.

      Never been directly compared to Monopoly outside of training. Folks tend to take out all of their hostility on the dealer and don't seem interested in why I'm sitting at the end of the table.