CA Tribal Casino Rules?

In the summer of '98 I visited a tribal casino outside of Los Angeles. It was probably the closest tribal casino to LA. It ran under rules I have never seen in any other casino. As it was explained to me, the tribe just ran the casino. To cover their costs and make a profit, the tribe charged players a fee for each bet. I do not recall if it was a set fee, or a percentage of your bet. At the start of each blackjack hand, the players placed their bets, and also placed another chip on the layout that went straight to the tribe win or lose. In essence the players were all playing against each other. If the casino "won", took in more cash than they paid out, they had to return this amount to the players through special bonuses and other promotions.

Am I imagining things, or is this really how CA tribal casinos operate? Can anyone give me specifics on how the fee works? Is it a percentage or a fixed fee?

As I recall this casino also had a bingo hall and slots. I do not recall if they had other table games. Any info is appreciated. And I don't think this place is a toilet.

The fee you wrote about was because they were not allowed to have a house banked game I believe. Anyway, about 4 or 5 years ago the law was changed and the casinos one by one have just about eliminated this (there may be a few that still have collections) and basically are running a house game. Rules vary from bad to OK, a few casinos with S-17, LSR and the usual, many with H-17 and NLSR, for the shoes. Not very many good DD games, I think Barona may have in their high limit room the only decent single deck game. Not really too different from the strip and you have to search for penetration. The collections are gone for the most part.

Finally, I think (never played there) in the poker clubs (which are not Indian owned) they still have a non house banked game with loads of weird rules.

The San Miguel Casino in San Bernadino is the closest to the LA Downtown. I have never been there myself...

I am not sure if they still charge a collection fee/table rent.

The other casino's closest to Los Angeles are in Palm Springs, and there are a few there...and you will find some playable games there.

Sounds like you were in this casino, and you're right, it is the closest tribal casino to the LA Metro area. It is in San Bernardino. The last time I popped in there, they were still using the old collection format.

The collection is not a percentage, it is one flat fee for bets under $100, I believe, and another higher flat fee for bets north of $100.

Players don't play against each other, they play against the casino. The casino pays its expenses with the house collection, and as you say, returns game profits in the form of bonuses and promos. Example: When I visited in September, they were running a promo where 2 BJs in a row paid $100, 3 BJs in a row paid $500, 4 BJs in a row paid a progressive jackpot, 7-card charlie paid $100, etc. I'm not sure if this was every day, or just on Mondays.

Hope this helps.

Linus
In my madness, I roam the desert...

This fee, or commission as it was called where I saw it at one place in Northern Ca., is rare. When I saw it, it was similar to commissions charged at Pai Gow Poker. It was something like 0.25 flat fee for dollar bets up to five. $1 for bets five up to ten... (or something like that) Normal blackjack rules applied otherwise. But the commission, wiped out any edge that could be had at the games. I would recommend not wasting time at where commissions are charged. The casino that had this charge has since removed it when they expanded their operation.