California Online Gambling Laws

• California Online Gambling Laws Against
• California Online Gambling Laws
• California Online Gaming
• Internet Gambling In California

California boasts a rich and diverse land-based gambling industry, which is both a blessing and a curse for local gambling enthusiasts. On the one hand, they have access to 100+ card rooms, 60+ tribal casinos, race tracks, and state lottery products. On the other hand, there are many conflicts of interest preventing local businesses from forming a unified front that could lobby for new, favorable legislation and allow the industry to expand. For example, in November 2018, the local tribal casinos filed a lawsuit against the commercial card rooms, stating that they shouldn’t be allowed to offer casino-style games like blackjack or pai-gow poker.

Short Summary: California is fairly liberal when it comes to gambling laws. In addition to allowing players do whatever they want, (including playing online) the state has legal and regulated charitable gambling, live and simulcast racing wagering, card rooms and lottery. Is Online Gambling Legal in California? Yes, online gambling is legal in California. In fact, California laws don’t prohibit, regulate, or ban any type of online gambling. You can feel free to play on any online casino and enjoy your favorite casino or card games that you can’t find in the state. The only law regarding online gambling in California is the age limit. You must be 21 years or older to legally gamble online.

As a result, California doesn’t have a regulated online gambling market in the same vein as New Jersey or Nevada. What’s more, the Golden State isn’t likely to pass any iGaming legislation anytime soon. Politicians like Asm. Lloyd Levine, Sen. Roderick Wright, Sen. Lou Correa, Asm. Reggie Jones-Sawyer, Asm. Mike Gatto, Asm. Adam Gray, or Sen. Isadore Hall have attempted to legalize internet poker sixteen times since 2008, but each of those pushes has failed. It seems that 2018 marked the end of these efforts as no online poker bill was put on the agenda that year. The California sports betting bill, which is expected to be introduced in 2020, may share the same fate, especially if it ends up bundled with regulations that would allow local cardrooms to introduce more Vegas-style games. Even though the United Auburn Indian Community signed a partnership deal with MGM-GVC Interactive to provide sports betting in its casino, other tribes have already stated that their primary goal is to protect their established brick-and-mortar businesses, which could put them in opposition to any such legislation.

California regulations are convoluted in defining illegal gambling, and local judges tend to fall back on the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act when dealing with unregulated gambling sites. This was the case when the court shut down the Desert Rose Bingo site operated by the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel tribe. The tribe argued that it had the right to offer internet versions of all Class II games, including bingo and poker, because the 1999 gaming compact signed in accordance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act gave it complete authority over these forms of gambling. Ninth Circuit Judge Carlos T. Bea agreed with some of the tribe’s arguments but indicated that the patrons’ “act of placing a bet or wager on a game of Desert Rose Casino while located in California, violated the UIGEA, and was not protected by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.”

Gambling Age in California. The legal age to gamble at a casino on native land is 18, however many native gambling halls and all card houses have set the age at 21 to match the legal drinking age. Players of the lotto must also be 18 years old. California gambling laws are a mess of state regulations and town-level laws, but in most cases participating in an illegal game of chance would be considered a misdemeanor. Nevertheless, the California code does not mention online gambling specifically and the state doesn’t really have all that many broad regulations that could be applied to.

According to California Penal Code Sec. 330, “every person who plays or bets at or against any (…) prohibited games, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable by a fine not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.” Some casino games are listed as prohibited, but this status can be applied to “any banking or percentage game played with cards, dice, or any device, for money, checks, credit, or other representative of value.” The “any device” part is crucial here – in theory, this could allow the local authorities to punish an individual player for using an offshore gambling site, such as Bovada or BetOnline.

California Gambling Law Summary

California gambling laws are a mess of state regulations and town-level laws, but in most cases participating in an illegal game of chance would be considered a misdemeanor. Nevertheless, the California code does not mention online gambling specifically and the state doesn’t really have all that many broad regulations that could be applied to online gambling. Consequently, most experts agree that Californians are free to enjoy their favorite iGaming sites, as there’s no law that would directly criminalize doing so.

All laws related to gambling can be found in California Penal Code 330 et seq.; Bus and Prof Code 19400 et seq., and Gov’t Code 98001 et seq. The minimum gambling age is 18, but most casinos don’t accept customers who are younger than 21 in order to legally serve alcohol to all patrons.

California Casinos

Tribal casinos in California are spread across 30 counties, so residents enjoy fairly even access to them. The largest such venues are located in Temecula (Pechanga Resort and Casino), Highland (San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino), Lincoln (Thunder Valley Casino), Cabazon (Morongo Casino Resort and Spa), Brooks (Cache Creek), and Pala (Pala Casino Resort and Spa). In addition, certain card rooms offer casino-style card games, such as blackjack or pai-gow poker, but the tribes are doing everything in their power to shut those games down.

Californians don’t have access to any state-sanctioned online casino options, and playing on offshore sites likely constitutes a violation of California Penal Code Sec. 330.

California Poker

California is an important hotspot on the US poker map. Many of the tribal casinos operate large poker rooms that can host major tournaments, and poker is the main attraction at local cardrooms. For this reason, many local politicians have tried passing favorable internet poker laws since 2008, but each of the proposed bills has been abandoned due to the local gaming industry’s atomized nature and the opposition from powerful anti-gambling lobbyists, such as Sheldon Adelson. The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel tribe tried launching an online poker site under the existing regulations, but this attempt was shut down by the courts.

As a result, there’s no way for a California resident to play poker over the internet legally.

California Sports Betting

Sports betting in California is limited to on-site pari-mutuel horse race betting. Off-track betting is prohibited. When the Professional and Amateur Sports Betting Act, which banned sports betting in the United States on a federal level, was defanged by the Supreme Court, California lawmakers began working on a new sports betting bill, which is expected to be introduced in 2020. The new bill will likely include additional provisions expanding the array of games that can be offered by cardrooms. If this proves to be the case, the Indian tribes will fight it tooth and nail, which might prolong the legislative process or even sink the bill altogether. Still, the United Auburn Indian Community already signed a partnership deal with MGM-GVC Interactive to provide sports betting at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort.

The new bill might introduce online sports betting to California, but at the moment, local sports enthusiasts don’t have access to any state-sanctioned betting platforms. Using offshore sportsbooks is a risky proposition as it could constitute a violation of California Penal Code Sec. 330.

California Daily Fantasy Sports

These days, California lawmakers can’t seem to agree on anything regarding gambling, which is demonstrated by the 2015 DFS bill’s fate. Bill A 1437, was introduced in September 2015 by Asm. Adam Grey. It passed through all the committees and was approved by the Assembly in a 62-1 vote, but the Senate never took it up. Thus, the legal status of DFS contests remains undetermined. As usual, this doesn’t seem to bother DFS companies such as FanDuel or DraftKings, which continue to offer their services to California-based sports fans. However, this doesn’t mean that using these platforms is 100% legal – it merely means that this issue hasn’t been settled by a California court.

California Lotteries

The California State Lottery offers local and multi-state draw games, including Mega Millions and Powerball, as well as scratchers and Second Chance games. Unfortunately, the Lottery doesn’t sell any tickets online, so if you want to join the action, you need to visit one of the land-based retail shops.

California Bingo

Bingo is available both as a charity game and commercially in casinos. The Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel tribe used to operate an online bingo site called Desert Rose Bingo, which was shut down by a court decision in 2016. At the moment, California residents don’t have access to any legal online bingo platforms.

California Online Gambling FAQ

What types of gambling are available in CA?

California is a great state for poker enthusiasts and casino game fans, as the Golden State is packed with tribal casinos, card clubs and prestigious poker rooms. In fact, the Commerce Casino is believed to host the biggest live poker room in the world. If that wasn’t enough, California also has horse racing, a state lottery and bingo. However, when it comes to internet play, California is yet to follow in Nevada’s footsteps and introduce new laws that would create a regulated intrastate iGaming industry.

What laws cover online gambling in CA?

All of the laws that deal with gambling and games of chance are listed in the California code. The most important thing about California regulations is the fact that none of them apply specifically to iGaming services, which means that California-based players are pretty much free to join the action on Bovada or any other offshore site.

Is real money online gambling legal in CA?

In all likelihood, real money gambling conducted via offshore sites doesn’t break any California laws.

Which offshore gambling sites accept CA residents?

If you’re a California resident, you should be able to join all the important offshore gambling sites.

What are the most popular banking options supported by California-facing sites?

In many cases, the only available deposit method is debit/credit card payment. MoneyGram or Western Union is sometimes an option with the biggest sites, such as Bovada. Offshore sites offer cash-outs via a wire transfer and via a check by courier.

Does CA offer any intrastate online gambling?

No. While California lawmakers don’t really care about individual players, they do care about keeping all the local gambling operations in check. Consequently, the current regulations make it impossible for local businesses to operate iGaming sites and to offer internet gambling services.

Is it likely for CA to regulate online gambling?

California is guaranteed to regulate online gambling in 2015 or 2016, as the local lawmakers are more than interested in creating a new source of income for the state that way. However, negotiating the shape of the new bill is very hard and time-consuming, as the Californian land-based gambling operators and other interest groups proved to be unwilling to compromise and reach an agreement that’d be acceptable for every party involved.

California online gambling is not yet legalized and regulated within state borders. However, there are real money gambling sites available in CA. They’re just based elsewhere.

So if you’re wondering you can gamble online for real money in California, the simple answer is yes. We go into more detail in this guide to CA online gambling, which also includes our recommendations for the best California gambling sites currently available.

The legal situation regarding gambling online in California is, at best, a little confusing.

With a few exceptions, it’s the same in most American states. Although some have legal online gambling that is regulated by the relevant state government, most do not have legislation in place that directly relates to betting and gaming over the internet.

All this means, for the most part, is that gambling sites can’t actually base themselves within states that don’t have the appropriate laws and regulatory framework in place. They can still accept customers from those states, providing they’re licensed and operating legally where they ARE based.

So, if you’re looking to gamble online from CA, your search is over. We’ve analyzed all the sites available to players in the state, and ranked them based on various criteria. Our list of the best California online gambling sites is all you need to get started.

How can we contend that the sites we recommend stand above the rest? That’s a good question, and the answer is that we measure all of the important factors point by point when we’re engaged in the rating process.

Read on to find out more about how we identify the top California gambling sites.

Assessing Online Gambling Sites for CA

Our process for ranking real money gambling sites is extensive and effective. We look at all the factors that can affect your overall online gambling experience in one way or another, and apply ratings to sites accordingly. The sites that perform the best in key areas are the ones that we rank the highest.

We won’t cover every aspect of our ranking process here, as there’s too much involved. But here are a few details on some of the areas we considered when listing the best online gambling sites for CA.

When you’re gambling online for real money, you’re naturally going to be concerned about the safety of your funds. This is fully understandable, because it’s a bit unsettling to start a financial relationship with a company that has no physical presence.

This being stated, a measured look at the big picture should inspire confidence. Internet-based gambling sites are widely utilized by players around the world. So, in a very real sense, online gambling is firmly established as a completely legitimate industry with a solid foundation.

Of course, there are always going to be a few bad actors in any business niche. Our job is to provide our readers with SAFE California gambling sites, so of course we make sure that the rogue operations get nowhere near our recommended list.

An important part of our ranking process is to research the history of sites, and gather feedback from others who have used them. Although we thoroughly test themselves, this additional research can be very enlightening.

We have to be completely convinced that a site is reputable and treats its customers well before we recommend it.

Financial companies that hold your funds, like banks, brokerages, and insurance companies, hammer home the fact that they’ve been around forever. They know people want to be reassured that the company will be in business and solvent when they need their money.

To a lesser extent, the same principle applies to online gambling sites. The operators that we rank as the top-rated California gambling sites stand on very firm footing. We look for websites that have been around long enough to establish a reputation for absolute reliability.

The best CA gambling sites roll out the red carpet when it comes to financial incentives for their players. Our recommendations all offer eye-catching bonuses for new players, and we’re talking about hundreds of dollars or more.

Most businesses don’t give you free money to express their appreciation for your patronage, but the real money gambling sites are notable exceptions. In addition to the initial bonuses, there are ongoing promotions, so the rewards don’t necessarily stop after the initial sign-up.

While we’re on the subject of bonus money, after you collect your welcome offer from one site, you can register an account as a new player on another site to take advantage of their new sign-up cash promotions.

Safety, an established reputation, and generous bonuses offers are at the cornerstone of what makes for a top online gambling site. There are many, many more things to consider, though. Here are some more examples.

• Banking options
• Speed of payouts
• Customer service
• Range of gambling options

The best gambling sites for California all offer a choice of ways to deposit and withdraw your funds. They also make sure that any withdrawals are paid out in a reasonable timeframe.

They provide top-notch customer service on every level, too. Telephone customer support is there for you, and some sites have call centers operating around the clock. You can contact them by email, and live chat is available as well.

California Online Gambling Laws Against

A range of gambling options is important, as people have different preferences for what they like to play and bet on.

Again, this is really just scratching the surface of what we look at. We’ll move on now, though, and look at reasons why you might want to gamble online from California in the first place.

Californians can engage in a few forms of real money gambling at physical locations throughout the state. There are more than 60 Native American casinos, and there are horse racing tracks and poker rooms.

It’s nice to have these options available, but there are several reasons why online gambling is the better choice in just about every instance.

If you’re fortunate enough to live in one of the major metropolitan areas where there are horse racing tracks, you can fight traffic and eventually bet the ponies. The only problem is, they’re hours away from most residents of the state.

There are poker rooms in all parts of California, but a relatively small percentage of people that like to gamble are live poker players. The Native American casinos offer some traditional casino games, but they’re usually spread out on tribal lands in more remote areas.

So, yes, there is gambling in-state, but it’s quite limited. On the other hand, when you open an account at one of the leading CA gambling sites, there are absolutely zero geographic limitations. You can dive into the action from anywhere, and this is a quantum leap that changes the playing field.

Even if there’s some type of betting or gaming venue relatively close to your home, the facility may not be all that inviting after you have visited it once or twice. The drive is inconvenient, and in some instances, there are parking fees. Once you make your way inside, another set of hassles greet you.

Large crowds and unruly behavior are commonplace in casinos, for example. This can be uncomfortable in a general sense, but you may also find it hard to snag a seat at the tables and slot machines.

There can be prohibitive rules with regard to drinking alcohol while gambling at Indian casinos. And refreshments are going to be overpriced at the gaming halls because of the “only game in town” factor.

You have the freedom to gamble at home in complete peace when using the best California online gambling sites, with all the affordable refreshments you could ever want just a few steps away.

The sites are designed for mobile adaptability, so if you want to place wagers while you’re in a coffee shop or a local watering hole, you’re good to go.

We know that many of our readers are interested in the future of online gambing because they have heard about the changing attitudes among government officials in many parts of the country. One huge development has definitely accelerated the shift that we are seeing in more and more states.

During the 1980s, the sporting world was rocked by a number of scandals that involved inappropriate gambling by participants for dishonest purposes. This culminated in the revelations about baseball great and former Reds manager Pete Rose betting on games that he managed (among others).

There was a congressional response presented in the form of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 1992. This made gambling on sports in the United States illegal in all parts of the country except Nevada, a state that already had numerous sportsbooks in place.

This statute remained unchallenged for the next two decades or so, but finally, New Jersey decided to throw down the gauntlet.

The court battle raged on for a few years, and it eventually reached the highest court in the land. On May 14 in 2018, the Supreme Court decided that the PASPA law violated the 10^th Amendment, and this effectively opened the door to all 50 states legalizing sports gambling.

Though US gambling laws now allow states to license sports betting facilities, it is up to each respective state to decide how to proceed. They can also choose to legalize and regulate online gambling.

There are some states that will likely never even give the possibility any consideration because of their overall stance toward gambling.

California doesn’t fit into this category, but there isn’t much momentum toward legalization and regulation right now. They’re planning on placing a referendum on the ballot in the near future to let the voters decide on the matter.

Even if they do vote in favor of the measure, it will take a significant length of time for the parameters to be established by the government. It should also be noted that state-sanctioned brick and mortar sports betting facilities are one thing, but online gambling is another.

Since the state is moving very slowly toward the regulation of sports betting at physical locations, it will probably take even longer for them to license online casinos and sportsbooks.

People that live in the Golden State don’t have to cross their fingers and wait for a miracle with regard to safe, trustworthy, regulated online gambling. The best California gambling sites that we listed are always open for business.

They’re licensed in reputable jurisdictions, and there are strict requirements for applicants. These operators are well-financed, managed by vetted industry professionals, and required to offer safeguards for players.

One of the factors we take into consideration when rating sites is the particular geographic focus. As an American, you want to frequent a site that’s designed for US players.

People that live in the Golden State don’t have to cross their fingers and wait for a miracle with regard to safe, trustworthy, regulated online gambling. The best California gambling sites that we listed are always open for business.

We have an entire page dedicated to gambling laws in California. It’s worth a read if you want to know the details of all the current gambling legislation in the state. For a quick overview, see below.

Most of the top online gambling sites for California that offer just about every form of gambling that you would find in the world-class casino resorts that tower over the Las Vegas Strip.

The exact offerings vary a bit from site to site, but you can definitely find a resource on our approved list that has what you want.

Although each site typically offers multiple forms of gambling, some sites are better at one thing than they are at others. That’s why we also rank the best California gambling sites on other, more specific, categories.

Now that you know so much about California online gambling, and the sites available to you in the state, we wanted to leave you with a few concise takeaways.

Our research team puts all of the best gambling websites for California players under a microscope. We look at relevant factors and aim to provide you with a world-class gaming experience at the sites we listed.

And when you establish an account at our recommended sites, you never have to drive to a physical betting or gaming facility. These sites are always up and running, so you don’t have to worry about rude people, long waits, or distance.

California Online Gambling Laws

There’s also no shortage of betting options when you enter the online universe. If you like casino games, table games, slots, and video poker, they’re all readily available. And these CA gambling sites accommodate bettors of all bankroll sizes.

California Online Gaming

Sports betting is also another possibility, and you’ll find favorable odds here. You can bet on horses or dogs with all the standard types of wagers.

Internet Gambling In California

Anyone that has an interest in gambling should take full advantage of this exciting entertainment option.