How to Start a Card Room or Gambling Business in Washington: Gambling Commission Fees From $11,000 and the 15-Table Cap

Washington does not allow private casinos. Under RCW 9.46, gambling is limited to a short list of licensed activities: card rooms, charitable and nonprofit games, commercial stimulant venues such as pull-tab and punch board operations, and tribal casinos. Every non-tribal option is licensed by the Washington State Gambling Commission, and the Commission's annual fees will shape your budget more than any other single cost.

This guide covers the steps in the order you will most likely face them. It is informational content, not legal or tax advice. Gambling licensing is technical and mistakes are expensive, so have a gambling attorney and a CPA review your structure before you sign a lease or buy equipment.

Confirm Your City or County Allows It First

Start here, before you form an entity or pay any fee. Under RCW 9.46.295, a city or county may prohibit any licensed gambling activity inside its borders, and a Commission license does not override a local ban. Washington has 39 counties and 281 incorporated cities and towns, and local rules vary.

Ask the city clerk, or the county if the site is unincorporated, whether card rooms are permitted in the zone you are considering. Get the answer in writing, and ask for the current gambling ordinance and zoning text, since local rules can change.

What You Need Before You Start

Gather these items before you file anything. A missing item usually means a rejected filing or a stalled application.

• A written answer from your city or county confirming the activity is allowed at the site
• A target address or a short list of candidate sites, with zoning confirmed
• A one-page budget covering the Commission's annual fee, employee license fees, filing fees, and tax registration
• Owner and officer information: legal names, addresses, ownership percentages, and roles
• A Washington registered agent with a physical street address in Washington, an email address, and written consent to serve. PO Boxes and private mailbox addresses are not accepted
• Your proposed business name, checked against the Secretary of State's business search
• A list of any trade names (doing-business-as names) you plan to use
• An IRS employer identification number (EIN) for payroll and bank accounts
• A bookkeeping system that tracks gross receipts by month, since the Commission's annual fee is calculated on them

Step 1: Choose Your License Type and Budget

Washington's gambling categories are not interchangeable. The category sets your annual fee, your staffing costs, and which games you can offer.

• House-banked card games. The establishment banks the game and is a party to the wagers. This carries the highest annual fee, and employees who need a Commission license are licensed under the Class B schedule.
• Nonhouse-banked card games. The house does not bank the games. Employees are licensed under the Class A schedule.
• Commercial stimulant. Pull-tabs and punch boards, under a separate annual fee schedule.
• Social card games. Limited to 15 tables per establishment under RCW 9.46.0282. Social card games under that statute include house-banked and player-funded banked card games, so the 15-table cap covers a card room. The Commission sets the number of tables it authorizes for your establishment, so confirm that number with the Commission before you design the floor plan.

Fee	Amount	Citation
House-banked card games, annual	$11,000 base plus 1.550% of gross receipts, maximum $64,000	WAC 230-05-160 and -165
Commercial stimulant (pull-tabs and punch boards), annual	$770 base plus 1.516% of gross receipts, maximum $20,800	WAC 230-05-160 and -165
Class A card room employee, new / renewal	$200 / $95	WAC 230-05-175
Class B card room employee, in-state new / renewal	$275 / $170	WAC 230-05-175

Here is how the house-banked formula works. At $1,000,000 in annual gross receipts, the percentage portion is $15,500 (1.550% of $1,000,000), so the total annual fee is $26,500 ($11,000 plus $15,500). The percentage portion reaches the $53,000 needed to hit the $64,000 maximum at roughly $3.42 million in gross receipts, and the fee stops growing above that level. This example is illustrative only. Confirm with the Commission how gross receipts are defined and when the fee is payable before you rely on the numbers.

Step 2: Form the Business Entity

Your entity choice affects liability, taxes, and filings. Most owners choose a limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation. Expect the Commission to review owners and key people as part of licensing, so keep your ownership records clean and complete.

To form an LLC, file a Certificate of Formation with Initial Report through the Corporations and Charities Filing System (CCFS) at ccfs.sos.wa.gov. The filing fee is $180. The name must include Limited Liability Company, Limited Liability Co., L.L.C., or LLC, must be distinguishable from every other business name on record, and cannot contain restricted words such as bank, banking, trust, or cooperative. You can reserve a name for 180 days for $30.

A corporation files Articles of Incorporation with Initial Report for the same $180 filing fee. Sole proprietors and general partnerships do not file with the Secretary of State.

Every domestic entity and registered foreign entity must designate a registered agent in Washington under RCW 23.95.405. The agent may be commercial or noncommercial, and there is no fee to change it. The Secretary of State does not publish a standard turnaround for online filings. Expedited service costs $100 per entity and is generally processed within three business days.

Step 3: Register With the Business Licensing Service

Even with an LLC, you need a Washington state business license. The Department of Revenue's Business Licensing Service (BLS) issues your 9-digit Unified Business Identifier (UBI) and handles city and state endorsements in one application. Corporations, LLCs, and partnerships must file with the Secretary of State before submitting the Business License Application. A state license is also required if you plan to hire employees within 90 days.

Trade names are registered with the BLS, not the Secretary of State or the county. Each trade name costs $5, plus the Business License Application processing fee: $50 to open or reopen a business, or $10 when the filing is for another purpose, such as adding a trade name to an existing business.

Timing depends on the route. Online applications take about 10 business days, and 2 to 3 weeks longer when city or state endorsements need approval. Mailed applications can take up to six weeks. If your business needs a city or state endorsement, plan for the longer timeline. Apply at dor.wa.gov/open-business/apply-business-license.

Step 4: Apply to the Gambling Commission

This is the step that defines your business. Apply to the Washington State Gambling Commission for the license category you chose in Step 1, using the current application package from the Commission's official website. The fee schedules summarized here do not include the Commission's application or investigation charges, so ask the Commission for the current amounts and whether anything is due at filing.

Prepare for a background review of owners and key employees. Have complete financial records, prior business history, and your ownership structure ready. Incomplete or inconsistent answers slow down applications, because the Commission cannot approve what it cannot verify.

Step 5: License Your Employees

Each person who works in the card room may need an individual Commission license, and the fee depends on the category. A Class A employee costs $200 for a new license and $95 to renew. A Class B employee costs $275 for a new in-state license and $170 to renew. Build these numbers into your payroll plan, and schedule hiring so that no one works a game before their license is issued. Confirm with the Commission which job titles require a license.

Step 6: Clear Premises, Local Permits and Health Requirements

Your city or county may require zoning approval, building and fire permits, and food permits if you serve food. Health district permits may also apply. The BLS license does not cover these, so check each with the relevant local agency before you commit to a lease or build-out.

Step 7: Register for Taxes

Washington has no corporate income tax and no personal income tax on wages. It does have a business and occupation (B&O) tax, a gross receipts tax with more than 50 activity classifications and no deduction for labor, materials, or other costs. That means the tax applies to what comes in, even when margins are thin. Confirm with the Department of Revenue at dor.wa.gov which classification fits your receipts.

About 54 cities add their own B&O tax. Many cities levy a separate local B&O tax that the Department of Revenue does not administer, so check your city's rules as well. If you sell food, drinks, or merchandise, the state sales tax rate is 6.5%, and local rates vary, so confirm the total with the Department of Revenue.

If you hire employees, also check the current registration requirements with the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) and the Employment Security Department (ESD).

Step 8: Build Your Annual Calendar

Washington compliance is a yearly routine. The annual report for an LLC or corporation is $70 and is due by the last day of the month in which the entity was originally formed or registered. You can file it up to 180 days early. A late filing carries a delinquency fee, for a total of $95. The Commission's annual fee, your employee license renewals, and your B&O filings run on their own schedules. Put every date on one calendar and assign an owner to each.

What Results You Can Reasonably Expect

A careful, complete application package is more likely to move through the process without avoidable delays. You may be able to keep the entity, BLS, and local steps on a predictable schedule. The Commission's review time is outside your control, however, and no filing can guarantee a license or a particular level of revenue. Build your budget from the fees in this guide, and treat any revenue projection as an estimate that a CPA should test against your actual site and market.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Signing a lease or buying equipment before confirming that the city or county allows the activity
• Assuming Washington allows a private casino. It does not, and only the licensed categories are available
• Registering a trade name with the Secretary of State or the county. Trade names go through the BLS
• Using a PO Box or private mailbox as the registered agent address
• Missing the annual report due date, which turns a $70 filing into a $95 filing
• Forgetting that gross receipts drive the annual Commission fee, so the fee rises with revenue up to the $64,000 maximum for house-banked games
• Budgeting for the entity fee but not for employee license fees
• Assuming there is no state tax because Washington has no income tax. The B&O gross receipts tax applies

Practical Tips

• Ask the Washington Small Business Development Center for planning help at wsbdc.org before you commit to a site.
• If you are in the Seattle area, the SBA district office page is at sba.gov/district/seattle.
• Pay for expedited service only when a deadline requires it. It costs $100 per entity.
• Track gross receipts from day one, and reconcile them monthly so the Commission fee is never a surprise.
• Keep a file of local ordinances and Commission rules, and check it before each renewal, since both can change.

If You Are a Charity, Not a Business

Small charities may run bingo, raffles, and amusement games without a Commission license if they do so no more than twice a year, gross no more than $5,000 a year, and give local police five days' notice under RCW 9.46.0321. That exemption covers bingo, raffles, and amusement games only. It does not authorize a for-profit card room.

Next Steps

Start with the local permission question, then work through the entity, BLS, and Commission steps in order. Begin entity formation at ccfs.sos.wa.gov, review the Secretary of State's corporations and charities guidance at sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities, and confirm tax registration with the Department of Revenue at dor.wa.gov.

Disclaimer: This article is informational content only. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Gambling licensing, entity formation, and tax obligations depend on your specific facts. Consult a qualified Washington attorney and a CPA before making decisions, and confirm current fees and forms with the agency that administers them.