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
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California has specific laws against Nevada style gambling (Where the house keeps the money if you lose)
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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)
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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.
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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.
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I am a banker and I hate everything about the environment and feel like a gross person every time I come into work.
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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.
That's pretty much it. The casinos are usually owned by corporate chains and banker corporations are even bigger chains. It's all just a money-laundering scheme because California capitalists want to get in on the profits. The casino owners basically buy franchises.