State Shutters Sacramento's Casino Royale, Alleging Card Room Couldn't Cover Its Chips

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The California Department of Justice shut down the card room at Sacramento's Casino Royale, leaving dozens of workers hanging in the balance.

CBS13 has video showing uniformed, armed officers shutting down the gambling business and seizing financial records for allegedly not having enough money to cover its bets.

Employees learning about the state's emergency shutdown weren't sure if they'd be out of work.

A woman who is a dealer at the card room and her husband came to see if they could collect her paycheck. Someone inside told her to come back in a few days.

At the home of majority owner James Kouretas, a woman opened, then closed the door and never returned.

The state filed court documents showing that in the past month, two inspections showed the casino was underfunded by at $268,000 and $55,000 another day.

The state also alleged a $60,000 jackpot winner was unable to collect his winnings last month, and the casino paid him over several days.