News Reporter

Ezra Wallach

A social club dedicated to the 5,000-year-old-game has spread to the city.

The city wants to shut four Tenderloin businesses that are "magnets for substantial illegal activity."

With break-ins, shootouts, and shady late-night crowds, these spots finally got the boot. Here’s how the city shut them down.

A lawsuit claims that card rooms like Lucky Chances and Artichoke Joe’s are illegally offering blackjack and other “banked” casino games.


It’s an only-in-San Francisco story that includes obsessive nerds, bureaucratic obstacles, and a bit of serendipity. 