Card Clubs May Continue Pai Gow, Judge Rules
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled that Los Angeles County card clubs may continue to play pai gow, a form of Asian poker whose legality has been the center of a dispute between card club owners and law enforcement officials.
Judge Philip M. Saeta ruled that the game may be offered at the Eldorado Club and the Normandie Casino, both in Gardena, and at the Bell Gardens Bicycle Club and the California Commerce Club in Commerce.
The Sheriff’s Department had sought to have the game declared illegal. In December, 1988, the department staged a series of raids at card clubs that offered pai gow and other popular forms of Asian poker on the basis that the games violate the state gaming law.
Deputy County Counsel Kevin Brazile said the Sheriff’s Department will appeal.
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