My question involves civil rights in the State of: California
I have always wanted to open up a small poker club and restaurant. Poker is legal in California, by legal decree going back many years -- poker is considered a "game of skill." And it is okay to place wagers.
So a lot of poker clubs sprang up in certain cities in California, especially in the city of Gardena California (and why Gardena I have no idea).
I used to play poker a lot, where the clubs had tables that sat 8 people, and the players would shuffle the cards themselves, and deal themselves, and it was really quite fun. Moreover, the house only charged a nominal fee to sit at the tables, proportional to the stakes. At the $1-2 tables it was $2 per hour. At the $2-4 tables the fee was $4 per hour, etc. Basically, at the $1-2 tables (where I played the most) the house only took in $16 per hour (total from all 8 players).
Then comes the advent of the "house dealer," and the "pot rake," and no players can really win at the game any more, only the house and the dealer wins. Between the pot rake and the tips given to the house dealer the house is taking over $100 per hour (conservatively) from even the low stake tables (and much more than that from the high stakes tables). Franky, I am surprised that anyone would be stupid enough to continue to play poker knowing they will only come out a loser (e.g. sit at the table for 4 hours and $400 or more is going to the house -- and that money came from the players pockets).
I long for the good old days of poker, like the way they used to play it in Gardena before the advent of the "house dealer" and the "house rake."
Thus I want to start a poker club for those who just want to get to some tables and compete with their fellow lovers of poker. I want to recreate that "deal-em' yourself" way of playing the game -- at least for the low stakes tables.
BUT HERE IS THE PROBLEM: The state of California has created a "poker commission." The poker commission has put a freeze on the issuance of any new "poker club licenses." (But before I go on; you might have heard about Larry Flint attempting to win the right to do casino style gambling in California, please do not confuse this issue with that issue -- totally different.) Thus, I cannot start a poker club.
What is the "rational basis" for this "freeze?"
They tell us that poker is detrimental to the welfare of the People of California so they do limit the number of poker clubs, by enforcing a "freeze" on the issuance of poker club licenses...
... sounds like a load of B.S. to me. How bout' to you?
Without going on about the "irrationality" of the reasoning behind the "freeze" I would like to ask you good folks about any apparent "VIOLATIONS" of my "RIGHT" to conduct an otherwise lawful business practice? I would also like to ask you to consider the "CONSTITUTIONALITY" of this discriminatory "freeze" in terms of "EQUAL TREATMENT" -- where some are provided with a monopoly on the otherwise lawful business of running a poker club (not a casino) but others have absolutely not opportunity to do that now!!! And this is for the "protection" of the people of California? (Quite obviously, the California commission on gambling is playing the role of the "morality police" for the people of California -- which I personally don't like very much as a person who believes in freedom. Actually, I don't believe that is the real reason for the "freeze" at all. I really believe that these people on the gambling commission are secretly working for the present poker club owners, and some sort of "pact" was created between the poker club owners to stop others from competing with them, and so the "freeze" was invented so that they could monopolize the poker business in California.)
BASICALLY; how would you approach this if you wanted to start your own small poker club? How would you overcome this phony "freeze" and all the bureaucracy? I realize that all the commission probably needs is a "rational basis," but I really don't even see any good statement of a "rational basis."
Comments please!!!

