James;
Per the Eastman Catalog of Calif. Chips the cardrooms started up at the time of the 1849 gold rush but the card room law dates back to 1882.
Modern California card rooms started up in the 1960's and 1970's. By 1982 the law required state licences.

To see pictures of lots of card room chips go to John Kallmans site at:
http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Plaza/2835/gamingchipsCalifornia/CaliforniaCardRooms.html