The Casino M8trix, a reinvention of the old Garden City Casino card room, has a long and storied history in San Jose. A brief timeline: 1946 Nick, Chris and Louis Dalis buy an old billiard hall on South Market Street and move it to the corner of South Market and Post streets. In the early 1950s, the Dalis brothers secured one of the city's 15 original card room licenses and replaced billiards with a cafe and package liquor store. They remodeled a few years later and turned the cafe into the Garden City Hoffbrau. 1976 The Garden City card room moved to Saratoga Avenue, where it would remain for more than three decades. 1990s City leaders crack down on card rooms, limiting them to two existing permits and requiring voter approval for expansion. 2000 Dozens are indicted at both city card rooms for various alleged crimes including loan sharking and extortion. Card rooms spend years fighting city efforts to end 24-hour gaming operations. A settlement allowed 24-hour operations but not for individual gamblers. 2007 Eric Swallow and Peter and Jeanine Lunardi buy the Garden City Casino out of bankruptcy. 2010 Owners seek city approval to relocate to Airport Parkway to a new building with a 165-foot tower. The City Council approved the land use that May, and construction on the new building was completed in March 2012. In June 2010, city voters approved a measure allowing more gaming tables at San Jose card rooms and raising tax on operations. 2012, Casino M8trix opens in August, four months after owners had planned, but without permission for eighth floor gaming. In November, San Jose voters reject measure sponsored by the city's other card room, Bay 101, that would have allowed considerable expansion. 2013, Police Chief Chris Moore denies permit in January for eighth-floor gaming at Casino M8trix.
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