Agents with the California Department of Justice raided Towers Casino in Grass Valley on Tuesday, one day after the establishment declared on its website and social media pages that it was back. Towers Casino Grass Valley's Preferred Destination for Blackjack and Poker. 115 Bank Street, Grass Valley, California www.towerscasino.com.

All bets are off at one Northern California card room, whose attempt to open prior to the state lifting coronavirus-related restrictions on gambling establishments and other entertainment venues was cut short by state law enforcement.

Agents with the California Department of Justice raided Towers Casino in Grass Valley on Tuesday, one day after the establishment declared on its website and social media pages that it was back open for business, multiple videos of the incident posted to social media by guests and employees show.

“It won’t be a permanent closure. This is what’s called an emergency closure,” one of the agents who identifies himself as working for the state DOJ explains to patrons mid-poker hand, according to a video posted by one of the players to Instagram. “Just because (Towers) opened ahead of basically when they’re allowed to be open.”

Brandt Jeffrey, whose Facebook profile says he is a poker dealer at Towers Casino, posted two videos publicly Tuesday night to the social media site, where they have been viewed a few thousand times and commented on by dozens.

The videos show about a half-dozen agents, wearing black vests marked “police” and surgical-style masks over their faces, standing around the poker table and explaining to guests and management that the poker game in progress will have to stop and the room must be closed down.

A woman who appears to be Towers Casino owner Jamey Robinson loudly protests the shutdown, saying multiple times that her constitutional rights are being violated.

“This is unconstitutional,” says the owner, the only person in the room with her face uncovered, having pulled her mask down beneath her chin. “I’m shocked.”

The owner counts the agents — six of them — and argues that there were fewer than 15 total guests and employees at the card room, which she says has a max occupancy of about 180. She accuses the agents of increasing the virus transmission risk by showing up from out of town.

Towers Casino Grass Valley California Homes For Sale

“I was not given notice that I should close down by anybody,” she says, seconds later adding: “The Grass Valley Police Department requested that I close down. I denied them. That’s it.”

The woman claims she was cleared to open by Nevada County health officials and that she “logged into a seminar” in which business owners in the area were given guidance on reopening. She then asks the agents why the entire establishment must be closed — including the restaurant and bar areas — rather than just the poker tables. Their exact response cannot be heard in the video, but they provide staff with written copies of what appears to be the state’s stay-at-home order.

Towers Casino Grass Valley Ca

Towers, located just off of Highway 49 in the center of the Nevada County city, reopened for poker and California blackjack on Monday. Nevada County recently allowed its own countywide stay-at-home order to expire, but the state-level restrictions put in place by Gov. Gavin Newsom on March 19 are still in effect and mandatory.

The county has had 41 total confirmed cases and one COVID-19 death as of Wednesday, according to its public health website.

An announcement on the card room’s website visible Monday and Tuesday described social distancing and sanitation measures being taken, including “rigorous disinfecting” and “stringent sanitizing” of cards and casino chips “before and after usage.” The website’s message was changed Wednesday morning to one that simply reads “Temporarily closed (again).”

Photos posted by Towers Casino’s Instagram account showed poker games taking place Monday and Tuesday with all guests and the dealer wearing face coverings, but no social distancing measures appear to be in place, as roughly nine players and one dealer sit in close proximity at a standard-sized poker table. Towers has six poker tables.

Robinson on Tuesday responded to The Bee’s request for comment saying she would answer questions via email, but as of Wednesday morning she has not responded to a list of questions sent the previous afternoon, including requests for clarity on Towers’ social distancing measures and why she decided to reopen this week.

Towers Casino Grass Valley California Map

Unlike tribal casinos, which operate on land that is sovereign and thus not under Newsom’s or the state’s jurisdiction, California’s 70-plus card rooms are overseen by the licensing and policy-setting Gambling Control Commission, and the enforcing Bureau of Gambling Control. The latter operates within the attorney general’s office in the state Department of Justice.

The state AG’s office, in an emailed response to The Bee on Tuesday sent a few hours before the apparent raid, said it was “unable to comment on, even to confirm or deny, a potential or ongoing investigation.”

Newsom’s office has begun implementing a four-phase, gradual approach to reopening the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 3,300 in California and over 90,000 nationwide.

Newsom recently loosened criteria for counties to accelerate within Phase 2, the opening of businesses including dine-in restaurants and in-store shopping with modifications. No part of the state has yet been cleared to move on to Phase 3, which allows for the reopening of close-contact personal service businesses like barbershops as well as entertainment venues that bring large groups together, such as movie theaters.

A Nevada County news release from early May announcing its readiness to accelerate within Phase 2 makes clear that entertainment venues, “such as movie theaters, gaming facilities, and pro sports” are not included and therefore not permitted to reopen.

Because its local order has been rescinded, coronavirus-related webpages and FAQs on the Nevada County public health site now primarily tell residents and businesses to reference the statewide order for guidance.

Gambling Control Commission spokesman Fred Castano confirmed to The Bee on Tuesday that card rooms are categorized within Phase 3.

Elsewhere in the greater Sacramento area’s gambling scene, two tribal casinos have announced plans to reopen soon with social distancing and sanitation modifications. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Wheatland plans to open back up at 10 a.m. Thursday, while Red Hawk Casino in Shingle Springs says it will be back in business June 1.

———

©2020 The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.)

Visit The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.) at www.sacbee.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.