At its Monday meeting, the city council supported allowing
”
No Bust 21st Century Blackjack 5.1
”
to be played at least for the next six months on a trial basis.
The council also made changes to its massage ordinance and held off
on amending an adult entertainment ordinance to allow more time to
view hundreds of pages on case study regarding adult entertainment
businesses.
At its Monday meeting, the city council supported allowing “No Bust 21st Century Blackjack 5.1” to be played at least for the next six months on a trial basis. The council also made changes to its massage ordinance and held off on amending an adult entertainment ordinance to allow more time to view hundreds of pages on case study regarding adult entertainment businesses.
The council accepted city staff’s recommendations to require cameras at individual blackjack tables and to limit bets to $100 per person, with only one allowable split of the original hand. Garlic City Casino sought to add three tables of the game to its card room, and the council approved a resolution that added the form of blackjack to its approved list of games on June 8. However, city staff later learned that the added game violated a city ordinance that prevents banking games. As a result, wording about banking had to be removed from the ordinance to allow No Bust 21st Century Blackjack.
Sgt. Kurt Ashley interviewed several people, including Garlic City Casino owner Ky Phuon, officials from various cities and counties that allow the game, and Herman Garcia, who helped the city come up with Gilroy’s gambling ordinance.
Ashley said that Garcia expressed concern that the game would attract addicted gamblers and worried that even a winning player will eventually lose money to the house just for the table fee. He also feared that people involved in organized crime would serve as the banker for the game, Ashley said.
Department of Justice of Gambling officials said that some Asian gangs have acted as bankers at a few casinos, but they indicated that was rare, Ashley said.
He noted that the Department of Justice control does not consider No Bust 21st Century Blackjack 5.1 to be a banking game under state guidelines, although it still qualifies as a banking game by city guidelines. Various other city and county law enforcement agencies said they have not received complaints about the game, according to police.
Ashley also noted that Garlic City Card Room has received very few calls for service since October 2008, and he said it did not appear that adding three tables that feature the game would cause problems.
Still, Ashley also recommended that casinos only be allowed to operate from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. rather than 24 hours to help curb gambling addiction. However, a few local residents spoke up against that idea. The council ultimately opted not to include those restrictions.
The council also amended city regulations so that massage therapists can get state certification rather than going through the city licensing process. The City Council approved an ordinance regulating massage therapists and practitioners in October 2003. However, the new state law allows massage businesses to get certification under the California Massage Therapy Council. As a result, the council decided that massage practitioners can get their license through the state in lieu of getting a city license, although they still must obtain city business licenses. The council decided pedicurists and manicurists who massage hands and forearms and feet as part of their business do not need to be licensed for massage.
