California Card Rooms

California Card Rooms

State law requires that every owner, lessee or employee of a gambling establishment obtain and, thereafter, maintain a valid state gambling license. The Bureau of Gambling Control Bureau investigates the qualifications of individuals who apply for state gambling licenses to determine whether they are suitable and to ensure that gambling is conducted honestly, competitively and free from criminal and corruptive elements.
Gambling License

An owner of a gambling establishment must apply for and obtain a valid state gambling license from the Bureau and the California Gambling Control Commission. The Bureau's Licensing staff will conduct in-depth background investigations on applicants to determine whether they are suitable to hold a state gambling license. Suitability is determined by a number of factors including but not limited to the applicant's honesty, integrity, general character, reputation, habits, and financial and criminal history.
Additional Tables

The owner of a state-licensed gambling establishment who wishes to operate additional tables on a temporary or permanent basis must submit a request to operate additional tables to the Commission. The number of tables requested cannot exceed the total number of tables authorized under local and state law for the gambling establishment.
Game/Gaming Activity Approval

All controlled games pai-gow, poker, etc. and gaming activities jackpots, bonuses, tournaments, etc. must be approved by the Bureau and must comply with local gaming ordinances prior to their play at a licensed gambling establishment within California.

Pan

Pan is short for Panguingue

Playing Pan

Panguingue is a rummy-type game played with eight standard 52-card decks with the 8's, 9's, and 10's removed, for a total of 320 cards. No jokers are used. Cards in each suit rank king (high), queen, jack, seven, six, etc. with aces being low. The cards are dealt counterclockwise

Players strive to meld eleven cards in valid sets of three or more cards. There are two kinds of melds: a rope which must be string of cards of matching suits, squares consisting of the ranks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Jack or Queen. Squares must be either all cards of different suits or all the same suit. Squares consisting of Kings or Aces qualify regardless of suit. There are no betting rounds in the game.

Each player is dealt 10 cards to meld into sets and sequences with certain cards having special values. Each player, in turn, draws either a card from the top of the remaining deck or from the top of an adjacent discard pile. This sequence of play continues until one player goes out with a total meld of eleven cards, including the card(s) just drawn. Melds (or spread) must be at least three cards, and it may be as many as eleven. The melds are classified as ropes and squares. The rope is any three cards in sequence of the same suit. A square is a set of three cards in the same rank and of different suits or of the same suit. All 3s, 5s and 7s are valle cards (cards of value). Cards of other rank are non-valle. Any three aces or any three kings form a set, regardless of the suit.