Gardens Casino
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Occupying less than one square mile of land just east of the 605 Freeway at Carson Street, Hawaiian Gardens is the smallest city in Los Angeles County.
But it has a big problem.
Nearly 70 percent of its tax revenue comes from one business: The Gardens Casino. And since the coronavirus shutdown, the loss of casino income is costing the city about $1.1 million a month.
'I've been in this business for 20 years and I've been at six other cities, and there's just really nothing like it,' said City Manager Ernie Hernandez.
'The bottom line is, nobody depends this much on one source.'
FAKE VOLCANO
The first thing you see as you drive up to the casino is the fake volcano.
'The theme here is Hawaiian. So it has a volcano and has music and smoke and fake lava that lights up,' Hernandez said as he led a tour of the exterior.
Under the massive shaded portico out front, there are lanes for valet parking — a stretch limo is at the curb for the high rollers. This place is open 24/7, and it's normally jumping, with boxing matches, weddings, tournaments.
More than 2,000 cars can park in the lot. But it's quiet and empty now. The double doors don't even have locks on them, so are held closed with chains and padlocks.
Security Manager Dan Sanchez is not used to the quiet.
'We're so used to the hustle and bustle of it,' Sanchez said. 'And just seeing it closed is kind of just really odd.'
Inside are 200,000 square feet of space with 225 gaming tables, the second largest card room in California. No slot machines or video poker like in Las Vegas or tribal casinos, just card players sitting elbow-to-elbow, face-to-face. Or at least, there used to be.
SECURITY BARS AND SWIMMING POOLS
Hawaiian Gardens is home to nearly 15,000 people, so it's one of the more densely-populated cities in the area. Most families speak Spanish at home, and nearly one-quarter of the population is poor.
While police, fire and road repair services are safe for now, with the casino money slashed, many other free services Hawaiian Gardens provides to its residents to improve quality of life and reduce crime could be cut. They are possible only because of the revenue that comes from the casino.
One program encourages homeowners to remove security bars from their windows. The city offers free bar removal, new windows or home security cameras. That's on hold for now, along with other non-essential services.
'We have some recreational and quality-of-life programs that really nobody else has,' Hernandez said. 'I mean, we have a tattoo removal program. We have most of everything, our service, especially to the seniors, at zero costs. And most cities can't afford to do that.'
The city's only public pool, at Lee Ware Recreation Center, is closed during the coronavirus outbreak, but when the health precautions abate, the pool might remain closed if the city cannot pay lifeguards and swim teachers.
Free public events, like a popular car show, Independence Day celebration, Halloween and Christmas tree lighting gatherings will also likely be canceled, Hernandez said.
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BIGGEST PLAYER IN TOWN
The city of Hawaiian Gardens, incorporated in 1964, is named for a Prohibition-era thatched roof fruit stand where, local legend has it, you could get some illegal moonshine in your soda if you knew how to ask for it. The city developed as a bedroom community, nearly all single-family homes. But over the years, as the housing stock aged and large nearby employers such as the Long Beach Naval Shipyard and big factories closed, the population got poorer and crime rose.
For years, the city budget was bolstered by fees from a big bingo hall, but by the mid-1990s the city was in dire financial straits. So voters approved a proposal for the operator of the bingo game to create a card club.
The card club operated out of a big tent back when it started in 1997. But that was replaced in 2016 by a $90 million gambling hall.
The casino is controversial — partly because the money doesn't all stay local, some goes to a political cause in Israel. The casino also recently admitted to violations of the federal Bank Secrecy Act and agreed to nearly $6 million in settlements.
But as the casino grew, so did its share of the tax base. The city's fortunes rise and fall on the casino's daily take. And now it's too big to fail.
REOPENING HEADACHES
For now, city manager Hernandez has no easy answer to the casino's continued closure.
Los Angeles County has other shuttered card clubs in small cities, including Commerce, Bell Gardens, Gardena and Inglewood. Hernandez said, together, the card club cities have laid off about 7,000 workers, adding to the region's sudden unemployment problem.
The city and casino are pushing state and local health authorities to permit the cardroom to operate in Phase 2, which is when lower-risk businesses can open with physical distancing precautions. But the California Gambling Control Commission places cardrooms such as the Gardens in Phase 3, when higher-risk businesses may reopen with distancing measures.
'We've taken note of the reopening plans put forth by other states and the gambling industry,' said Commission spokesman Fred Castaño. 'We can't go into specifics because it's not finalized, but we are studying the plans closely and will work to incorporate the best practices that arise from these plans.'
That slower re-opening plan puts The Gardens and Hawaiian Gardens officials at a competitive disadvantage to California's tribal casinos, which began reopening this week.
Tribal casinos have more flexibility under their sovereign nation status to set their own rules. They have installed physical distancing measures, such as separating players and gambling machines with plexiglas dividers.
Card rooms like The Gardens are likely to also adopt similar safety measures, said Sanchez, the casino security chief. But, stuck in Phase 3, they have no projected date to reopen.
'And so not only does that present an immediate danger to our revenues, but from a consumer standpoint, it puts us at a great disadvantage if [tribal casinos are] gonna open up already and we're not making these decisions,' Hernandez said.
The immediate worry for Hawaiian Gardens is the loss of revenue while the casino is closed. But a longer-term worry is whether its customers will be fickle and move their gambling habits to tribal casinos that are opening up — and whether they will ever return.
Hawaiian Gardens Casino
Privacy Policy
A. INTRODUCTION
We are committed to protecting Your privacy. Thank You for visiting Hawaiian Gardens Casino and its website (www.thegardenscasino.com, www.hgcasino.com, or the “Site”). Hawaiian Gardens Casino, including all of its affiliates (“The Gardens” “We” “Our” “Us”) is committed to providing you (“You” “Your”) with a secure and enjoyable online and casino experience. We respect Your privacy and understand the importance of Your Personal Information. This Privacy Policy describes how We collect, use, and protect the Personal Information that You share with Us at The Gardens and on the Site. If You have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Us.
If You choose to share information, You accept Our privacy practices as described in this Privacy Policy. In addition, Your visit to this Site constitutes Your agreement to this Privacy Policy. If You do not agree with Our Privacy Policy, please do not visit The Gardens or use this Site.
B. COLLECTION AND USE OF INFORMATION
We collect information from you that identifies, describes, or is reasonably capable of being associated with you or your household (“Personal Information”). Personal information does not include publicly available information in government records or any data that has been deidentified, aggregated, or otherwise anonymized.
Personal Information We Collect
If You visit The Gardens or this Site, We may collect these categories of Personal Information:
- Personal identifiers, such as Your name, date of birth, address, contact information, or government-issued ID;
- Visual or electronic data, such as Your image captured though video surveillance;
- Financial information, such as Your payment or billing information;
- Commercial information, such as the products or services purchased or considered;
- Internet or network activity, such as data collected through Cookies as described in the section below on Cookies; and,
- Inferences drawn from this data to perform analytics to personalize and continually improve Your experience.
How We Collect Personal Information
The Gardens collects Personal Information from You when You:
Voluntarily provide it to Us;
- Apply for a free Players Card with Us;
- Use Your Players Card while You play at The Gardens;
- Visit our restaurant;
- Participate in promotions, track tournaments, rate hours played;
- Contact us about Your visit or for customer service; or,
- Otherwise interact with Us.
How We Use Personal Information
We process all Personal Information fairly and lawfully. This means that We only use Your Personal Information for the purposes that We identify, such as to:
- Provide You the services or products You request;
- Ensure that You are of legal age to enter The Gardens (21);
- Enhance Your experience by issuing Player Cards;
- Inform You about promotions, alerts, and relevant information that may be of interest through text or email;
- Detect fraudulent or illegal conduct; and,
- Gain insights about Your experience to evaluate and improve Our offerings.
We will not use your Personal Information for materially different purposes without first taking reasonable steps to notify you.
Cookies
Our Site uses basic cookies to enable the website to function, analyze trends, improve services, and resolve problems. Cookies may automatically collect internet or network information, such as device identifiers, Your IP address, and information about how You interact with the website.
How to control cookies: If you wish to prevent cookies from tracking your activity, you can set your browser to block certain cookies or notify you when a cookie is set. If you block cookies, certain features of websites may not work. For more information on how you can customize your browser’s cookie setting please visit the link to your web browser below:
You may opt-out of interest-based advertising in general by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s, or Network Advertising Initiative’s websites. We are not responsible for the completeness, effectiveness, or accuracy of any third party opt-out options or programs.
C. DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Gardens Casino
We do NOT sell Personal Information to third parties.
We share Your Personal Information to provide the services You request and operate our business. For example, We rely on vendors to help us process Your payments or support our Site’s development and maintenance.
If You choose to participate in a promotion or tournament, We may share Your Personal Information with other companies who are involved in the event.
D. YOUR CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS
California residents may have additional rights over their Personal Information. If we have collected your Personal Information in the course of your employment for one of our vendors, service providers, or other business partners, this California Privacy Rights Section does not apply to you. If you are not a California resident, this section also does not apply to you.
The Right To Request More Information
You may have the right to request more information about how We treated Your Personal Information in the past 12 months, including:
- The categories of Personal Information we collected about you;
- The categories of sources from which we collected that information;
- Our business or commercial purpose for collecting that information;
- The categories of third parties with whom we shared that information; and/or
- The specific pieces of Personal Information we collected about you.
The Right to Request Access
You also may have the right to request access to Your Personal Information.
The Right to Request Deletion
Under certain conditions, You may have the right to request that We delete Your Personal Information. Please note that simply leaving the Site or closing your Player Card does not delete the Personal Information We may have collected about You.
Third-Party Marketing and Selling
We do not provide Your information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. Nor do We intend to sell your Personal Information to third parties without providing You notice and an opportunity to opt out.
How To Exercise These Rights
To submit a request to exercise these rights You may contact Us at:
- 562-860-5887
- Or questions@hgcasino.com
Please clearly state that You would like to exercise your California privacy rights and briefly describe Your request. You must also provide Your full name, current address, telephone number, email address and player card number.
If You make a request, We will acknowledge We have received it within ten (10) days. If You do not receive a response, please ensure Your request was submitted properly or contact Us.
Verification
Before We can respond to Your request, we must verify Your identity. If We are unable to verify Your request, We will contact You for more information. If We are still unable to verify Your identify after a good faith attempt, We may deny the request and, if so, We will explain the basis for the denial.
Designating an Authorized Agent
You may designate someone to submit requests and act on Your behalf (an “Authorized Agent”). To do so, You must provide Us with written permission to allow Your Authorized Agent to act on Your behalf.
Do Not Track Requests
Some web browsers or smartphones have the ability to set “Do Not Track” requests to block user activity from being tracked across web pages or devices. We do not recognize “Do Not Track” signals as there is no industry-standard way to do so.
E. REGARDING CHILDREN
This Site and the Gardens are not intended for Children.
We do not intentionally gather Personal Information about visitors who are under the age of 13. It is possible that by fraud or deception We may receive information, which may include Personal Information, given to Us by or pertaining to children under 13. If We are notified of this, as soon as We verify the information, We will delete it from our servers.
F. SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We take security of your Personal Information very seriously. We employ appropriate measures to protect the security of Your Personal Information by using industry-standard security technologies and procedures to guard against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. We also safeguard Your Personal Information with physical, electronic, and managerial processes. Except as provided elsewhere in this Privacy Policy, We limit access to Personal Information to the greatest extent possible.
We highly recommend that You take every precaution to protect Your Personal Information when You are on the Internet. One way You can do so is by making sure You are using a secure Web browser.
Even though We have taken steps to protect Your Personal Information from being intercepted, accessed, used, or disclosed by unauthorized persons, You should know that We cannot fully eliminate security risks associated with Personal Information.
G. OTHER WEBSITES
Gardens Casino Poker Atlas
The Gardens’s Privacy Policy only applies to the Site and to The Gardens. Our Site may provide links to third party websites. Since We do not control those websites, The Gardens is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third party websites. We encourage You to review the privacy policies of these third party sites to learn about their practices or what rights you may have.
H. QUESTIONS AND UPDATES
The Gardens welcomes questions about this Privacy Policy. We are dedicated to Your privacy and make every reasonable effort to keep Your information secure. If You have questions contact Us.
We may update this Privacy Policy, and reserve the right to do so. All revisions will be posted to this Site, and We will indicate the date of the revision below. You will be subject to any revision that occurs before Your next visit to the Site.
Gardens Casino Los Angeles
Last Revised: 6/30/2020