Vancouver Poker

1. Is Online Gambling Legal In California
2. Legal Online Gambling In California

• Year California Regulated Gambling: Poker (1850), Horseracing (1933), Lottery (1984), Casinos (1992)
• Estimated Tax Revenue from Gambling: $280 million
• Estimated Gambling Revenue (from casinos): $1.3 billion from slots and card clubs; Non-taxed tribal gaming unknown
• California Gambling Age: 18 for lottery and bingo, 21 for casinos and racing
• Smoking ban: Smoking not permitted indoors except at tribal casinos, which are not covered by state smoking bans.
• California Online gambling: Horseracing is the only form of legal online gambling

California gambling has a long and complicated history. It is home to some of the largest poker rooms in the world. There are also more than 60 Indian California casinos. Poker is not considered gambling, according to the state constitution and future court rulings. Horse racing dates back to the Great Depression. There is also a state lottery and charitable gaming. The California Legislature is currently discussing the expansion of legalized gambling in the state. Online poker, sports betting, and daily fantasy sports are all segments under consideration.

With such a large amount of California casinos and poker rooms, you can look through our map of the top California casinos.

Paying Gambling Taxes in California

If you set up an online sports betting account in California, you can only use it to make bets inside the state boundaries. Online gambling is regulated at the state level, not the federal level, so California law no longer applies when you leave the state. California is well-known for its liberal laws. Strangely, officials here have been somewhat reluctant to begin opening up the online gambling industry. At the moment, only tribal casinos are legal throughout the state. Lawmakers in California passed Proposition 1A in the year 2000. Currently, the state of California has no strict laws that prohibit online gambling. On the other hand, the governing bodies of California haven’t yet introduced a law that regulates the industry. What this means is that, legally, you won’t get into any trouble if you choose to play online casino games. Legal Status of California Online Casinos While it is illegal to own and operate real money online casinos while living in California, there are no laws stating that it is illegal to play at California gambling sites. However, any online casino you play in must be legally licensed and regulated.

Do you have to pay taxes on your gambling winnings? Yes! OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos has gathered everything you need to know about paying taxes on your gambling winnings straight from a Certified Public Accountant. For more information please visit our exclusive Gambling Taxes article.

Types of California Online Gambling Allowed

The only legal California online gambling according to the law is horseracing. TVG is the main provider in California. It operates many simulcasts betting sites in the advance deposit wagering industry in the state. Other major providers accept Californians, including TwinSpires and BetAmerica.

Daily fantasy sports site’s like DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo! accept California players. These companies claim an exemption under California’s skill game laws. No action by the state has questioned this opinion.

There have been attempts to legalize online poker. The potential market participants cannot agree on the terms to move the idea forward. A bill has died in California every year in the legislature since the late 2000s because all sides care unable to come to a compromise. Some tribes do not want the horseracing industry or PokerStars, the largest poker site in the world, involved in California gambling. Other major players partnered with PokerStars fight to approve them, creating an impasse.

Types of California Live Gambling

• Slots: Yes
• Blackjack: Yes
• Poker: Yes
• Craps/Roulette: No
• Horses: Yes
• Lottery: Yes

There are many options that California gambling has to offer. Horseracing is legal. It is operated through pari-mutuel pools. Bettors can wager on live races or one in a race book at the track.

The California Lottery was created to fund education. Instant tickets and lotto drawings are available to players. Bingo and raffles are permitted through registered charities.

Card clubs date back generations in California. This is where poker is played. Card games traditionally considered to be banked by the house were later added. California card clubs use an unusual twist in table games. Blackjack, Pai Gow Poker, Pai Gow Tiles, and others are banked by propositional players. Others at the table have the ability to bank a hand on their turn.

There are currently over 150 California casinos operating today, most of them thanks to their card and poker rooms.

California Gambling Laws

All forms of California gambling laws must be approved by voters through a constitutional amendment. Every form of legal gambling in California went through this process that includes a statewide referendum. Most forms of illegal gambling are guilty of a misdemeanor.

Horseracing was the first form of betting permitted in California. Bets enter a pari-mutuel pool. Bettors may also participate in off-track betting at race books. These must be located at California racetracks. Racing is regulated by the California Horse Racing Board.

The California Lottery was created to fund public schools. It is permitted to sell scratch-off tickets for instant games and lotto tickets that involve number drawings. The California Lottery is permitted to enter interstate lotto drawings that include Powerball and Mega Millions.

California permits charities to operate games of chance. The proceeds may not exceed 20% of the prize pool or $2,000, whichever is greater. Only volunteers may operate the game. The games may not be spread in a commercial establishment, even if operated by the charity. There can be no commercial influence in charitable gaming. Charitable games may be operated by Native American reservations.

Card clubs are legal throughout California. The roots of this business date back to poker. Operations expanded to casino games that use cards over the years. Stud and draw games were the original offerings of California card clubs. Pan, Pai Gow Tiles, and Pai Gow Poker were other games popular in California card clubs in the early days. Baccarat, blackjack, and other games that are typically banked by the house emerged in the 2000’s when California casinos started to pop up.

The card club games that are not traditionally poker have a California twist. The house may not bank bets in card clubs. This created what is known as a prop banker. Players often refer to this person as the corporation. The prop banker pays a commission to the house for its action. Any player may also book the action in turn. Like prop bankers, a player that assumes the role of the house for a hand must pay the house commission from the play. Some card clubs frown upon players taking an active role in banking the action but it is perfectly legal.

California casinos operated by Indian tribes may offer slots, video poker, live poker, off-track betting, bingo and table games. The difference is that California casinos do not have to pay taxes on games permitted at card clubs, charities or racetracks. There are also different rules with table games that make the atmosphere closer to that of Las Vegas. Craps and roulette are not legal in California. There are unique alternatives to these games that use cards and machines instead of standard dice and wheels.

List of California Casinos

There are more than 150 casinos in California between the card clubs and reservations. Most are located in Southern California near San Diego and Los Angeles. The largest card clubs are Hustler, Bicycle, Commerce, and Hawaiian Gardens. These are all near Los Angeles. Large casinos in Southern California include Morongo, Pechanga and Harrah’s Rincon.

Most residents are no more than a half-hour drive of a card club or tribal California casino. All major cities have somewhere to play poker. The number of California reservations means that slots and video poker are never farther than a 30-minute drive. These California casinos offer players all of the same services and games that you may find in Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

There are many California casinos and poker rooms spread throughout the state. This is great for poker players, as the locations and websites are found below.

There are seven live horseracing tracks in California. The major venue is Del Mar Racetrack. Santa Anita and Fresno Race Track are others. Each offer live and simulcast racing.

California Gambling History

Poker has always enjoyed an exemption under California gambling law. It is not considered gambling under the California Constitution.

Voters approved Proposition 5 on June 27, 1933. This legalized pari-mutuel horseracing in the state. The exacta was pioneered at the Hollywood Park track in 1971. Off-track betting became legal in 1985.

Voters approved a constitutional amendment in November 1983 that created a state lottery. The top two lottery retailers are located along the Nevada border. One is just across the state line from Primm, NV. This gives access to Las Vegas gamblers about 45 miles away. The second highest grossing lottery retailer is convenient to Reno and Lake Tahoe players. Nevada does not have a competing state lottery.

Proposition 1A approved tribal casinos in California in November 2000. This permitted slots and video poker for the first time in the state. Gaming compacts between the tribes and the governor.

Online poker proponents have tried to legalize the game every year since the late 2000’s. Only online poker has been proposed. Casino games are not a part of any online gaming expansion proposals.

There have also been attempts to legalize sports betting. There has been little progress on that front. Sports betting expansion is specifically prohibited under the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. Daily fantasy sports are experiencing more traction in the state legislature. A bill that would legalize and regulate the game first passed out of committee in January 2016.

California Casinos & Gambling FAQ

There are more than 100 poker rooms in California.

Online poker is not legal in California. Bills have failed every year in the legislature this decade.

Dice games are illegal in California. Some reservation casinos offer California Craps where cards are used in place of dice.

No, but video versions of the game are considered allowable slots when on tribal land.

Sites like DraftKings and FanDuel assert that daily fantasy sports are legal in California. A bill that would regulate these sites is circulating the state legislature.

The only form of online gambling explicitly legal in California is off-track betting on horse racing.

Card clubs are permitted to offer poker and card games that are not house banked. Native American casinos may spread these games, as well as slots and video poker.

California does not permit card clubs to act as the house that banks casino games. Card clubs employ outside prop bankers. These people book the action and pay a commission to the house on the action. Other players may book action when the button is placed on their spot at the table.

This is another name for the prop banker in a California card club.

The California Lottery was approved by voters in 1983.

The California Lottery sells scratch-off tickets and lotto drawings. These include Powerball and Mega Millions.

The minimum California gambling age is 18 for lottery and bingo, and 21 for casinos and racing.

With a population of nearly 40 million, the largest in the United States,
it’s no surprise that California has a massive gambling fanbase. Land-based
gaming laws here are a little stricter than states such as Nevada, yet
California’s online gambling market continues to grow. Today, our team of
experts is looking at some of the very best California casino sites currently
operating.

It shouldn’t come as a major surprise to find that some of the best online
casinos in the world are available here. To make things a little easier for new
players, we’re listing five of our favorite casino sites in California directly
below!

We’re going to be breaking down some of the most important features that
California online casinos should always provide. Finally, we’ll be going over the
current laws and restrictions over internet casino gambling in this state.
There’s a lot of information to unpack!

California Casino Sites: What Should I Be Looking For?

With so many amazing options to choose from, it can be a little difficult
finding where to play casino games in California. Allow us to help you out! Our
analysts have looked through hundreds of different sites over the years.

We have come up with a unique system to determine whether a CA casino site is
worth playing at or not. There are a few simple things that every online casino
should provide. Below are the four most important features that all casino sites
in California should offer.

Safe and Simple Payment System

There’s nothing more important than safety when betting online. The first and
most important feature you should always look into is the website’s cashier
system. If the online casino you’re looking at doesn’t provide you with a
range of quick and secure payment options, we don’t recommend signing up.

Finding information on different websites’ payment options should be easy.
One quick way is to head over to our list of
online casino reviews. In
each of these reviews, we dive deep into the different payment options of every
website.

Another easy option is to simply check out these websites for yourself! At
the top of this page are the top-five California casino sites that we recommend.
You can head over to these sites today and look at their cashier systems
straight from the source. All reputable California online casinos will clearly list the
accepted payment methods.

We recommend playing at sites that allow deposits to be made using both debit
and credit cards. Withdrawal options differ from site to site. The majority of
California casinos online only allow payouts to be made using Bitcoin.
Fortunately, this is one of the best withdrawal methods available today.

Don’t be worried if you aren’t familiar with how Bitcoin works. Many CA
casino sites will easily walk you through each payout. Some sites such as
Bovada even provide
entire pages that explain how you can use Bitcoin to collect your winnings.
Spend some time looking at a few different sites’ payment options and choose one
that’s safe and easy.

Great Functionality and Design

The design and functionality of the CA casino website you choose to play at
will affect your entire gambling experience. A site could provide hundreds of
games with an amazing cashier system, yet if it crashes or makes if difficult to
actually place bets, it’s probably not worth playing at. For this reason, it’s
important to always look for great overall functionality and design.

This is another easy thing to look into. All legit US casino sites in
California will allow you to scroll through them before you’ve decided to sign
up. You can check out the various aspects of these sites to decide if it offers
a design you enjoy. Some sites even allow you to place some sample bets!

Everyone has a different design preference. Perhaps you’ll want to play at a
website that features hundreds of games and different bonus offers directly on
the homepage. It’s also possible that you prefer simple websites that make it
extremely easy to find the games you want to play.

The most important thing when you playat California online casinos is to find a design that fits your needs. There are
many different online casinos in CA right now, and you’re sure to find one that
offers the functionality you’re looking for. Check out the sites that we’re
recommending at the top of this page!

Casino Games That You Want to Play

This may seem completely obvious. Unfortunately, many players new to online
casino gaming sign up to a website, only to find that it doesn’t actually offer
the games they want to play! Don’t let this happen to you!

Always check through a few different California casino sites and look at
which games are provided. Do you love slots? Find a website offering hundreds of
slot games from the top software providers. Are you a blackjack fan? Make sure
to sign up to a website providing a wide range of different table gaming
options.

It’s also a good idea to see if any unique gaming features are provided. Some
sites, including the ones we recommend, offer fun features such as live dealer
games. These games make it feel as if you’re actually playing games inside a
land-based casino.

It’s incredible how many casino games are available online. Different sites
often provide their members with different gaming options. Spend some time
finding a website that offers the games you want to play.

Helpful Customer Support System

The last feature you will want to find in California online casinos is a
helpful customer support system. If you have any questions during your gambling
experience, it’s important to know that the site you play through will help you
out. More often than not, the better a website’s customer service, the better
the entire site actually is.

Good websites will usually provide a live chat feature. This form of customer
support allows you to speak with a website representative instantly over chat.
It’s a very useful tool to have your questions answered.

Other California online casinos will let you speak with employees over the phone.
This is another great customer service feature you should look for. Don’t settle
with a site that only allows email support. This can often take weeks to answer
any questions you need answers for.

There’s a very good chance you will never even have to utilize these site’s
customer support systems. If, however, you have any issues that come up with
making bets or collecting payments, it’s important to know you have a site that
will help you. Never disregard the importance of customer service!

California Online Casinos Are Growing in Popularity

Many people in California are realizing how great online casino gambling can
really be. There was a time when only a few casino sites operated in this state.
Today, players here have access to some of the best gaming companies in the
world.

We’ve asked many Californians why they choose to gamble online, rather than
inside of a local casino. There are two factors that continue to pop up. Below
are the two most common reasons that are contributing to the rise in California
casino sites right now.

Convenience of Making Bets From Home

California is a big state. There are over 160 land-based tribal casinos
operating here, many of which provide players with a wide range of different
gambling options. Even with the many brick-and-mortar gaming options, many
people here prefer the ability to simply make bets from home.

California online casinos allow you to make bets from anywhere with an
internet connection. Many of these online casinos even let you play on-the-go
using a smartphone! There’s nothing better than playing your favorite games,
anytime you want.

California casino sites are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You
will never have to worry about whether or not the games you want to play are
available. If you enjoy placing bets on your own time without the need to drive
miles to a casino, online gaming is probably for you.

Wide Range of Different Gaming Options

Another reason why so many people love casino websites is the massive amount
of different games offered every single day. The top CA casino sites provide
literally thousands of different gaming options to members. You can find just
about every slot and table game through these websites.

Generally speaking, California casinos online will always offer more games than even the
biggest land-based casinos. As we just mentioned, these games are available
24/7. You’ll never have to worry about making the trip to a casino, only to find
that the game you wanted to play is not available.

Some casino sites in California will focus more on certain games than others.
One website may provide hundreds of different slots, while others focus
primarily on their table gaming options. Check out a few different websites to
see just how many different games are available online right now.

Is Online Casino Gambling in California Actually Allowed?

California is well-known for its liberal laws. Strangely, officials here have
been somewhat reluctant to begin opening up the online gambling industry. At the
moment, only tribal casinos are legal throughout the state.

Lawmakers in California passed Proposition 1A in the year 2000. This allowed
tribal casinos to offer traditional casino games such as slots and blackjack. In
2014, bills AB 2991 and SB 1366 were presented. If passed, these will allow for
the regulation of online poker throughout the state.

There have been no steps taken to begin regulating the online casino industry
in California. Fortunately, there are no laws that specifically prohibit
individuals from playing through California casino sites. The legality may lie
in somewhat of a gray area, yet most agree this market is completely open.

Is Online Gambling Legal In California

It’s extremely unlikely. As we just mentioned, there is nothing in
the state’s criminal code that specifically bans playing California online casinos.
We have not come across a single case of any individuals facing legal trouble
for playing casino games online here.

How Do I Stay Safe Playing Online Casino Games in CA?

Online casino gambling in the US is generally very safe. Word spreads quickly
in the internet gaming industry, and any websites caught withholding payment
from members or charging unusual fees will be called out. For that reason,
casino sites in California work hard to always provide their members with
safety.

Oftentimes, the best way to stay safe online is by monitoring your own
gambling activities. Our experts are listing five of the best tips that will
help to keep you perfectly safe while playing internet casino games in
California.

Play Through Reputable Websites

The easiest way to protect yourself is to only play through
legit US casino websites
that have solid reputations. And all the safe California casino sites will take
steps to protect your gambling experience. Head back up to the top of this page
to see the California online casinos that we highly recommend.

Track How Much You Are Gambling

One of the best things about casino sites in California is that they are just
so fun! Unfortunately, this can lead to some gamblers betting more than they
should. To make sure this doesn’t happen to you, always keep track of how much
money you are actually wagering.

Only Bet on Games That You Understand

Many players who are new to online casino gaming will jump right into games
before they even know the rules. We don’t recommend this. It’s always a good
idea to only play games that you understand. It will significantly lower your
chances of losing.

Legal Online Gambling In California

Read the Details of Every Promotion Before You Use Them

Promotions, in case you are unaware, are simply bonus offers that different
casino sites in California will offer to their members. These can be a fantastic
way to boost the amount of money into your betting account. Occasionally, they
can also make it difficult to actually withdraw your winnings. Make sure that
you read the terms and conditions of every promotion before you decide to
utilize them.

Always Be Willing to Reach out to Customer Service

A good customer support system is hugely important when you play online casinos games in California. We
highly recommend reaching out to customer service representatives if you ever
need to. It’s the easiest way to always have your questions answered.

California Online Casinos FAQ

What Are the Most Important Features of California Casino Sites?

Casino sites are better now than ever before. When it comes to where to play casino games in California, we highly recommend making sure
that any website you plan to join provides safe payment options, a great design,
the games that you want to play, and a helpful customer support system.

Are Casino Sites in California More Popular Than Land-Based Casinos?

The popularity of California online casinos is growing rapidly. California
has a particularly large online casino fanbase. Most people state that the
convenience of betting from home and the wide range of different betting odds
are what push them to gamble online.

Do Casino Sites in CA Offer Online Poker Games?

For the most part, yes. Many online casino companies recognize that poker is
extremely popular throughout the state. These California casino sites will often
provide different poker gaming options to their members.

Certain lawmakers in California are pushing to regulate the online poker
industry. Until this happens, poker fans will need to play through the various
casino sites currently available. Many of these websites put on major poker
tournaments offering huge payouts.

How Can I Stay Safe Playing Online Casino Games Here?

Casino sites in CA are safer now than ever before. The best ways to protect
yourself while casino gaming is to only play through reputable sites, track how
much you’re betting, bet on games that you understand, read the details of every
promotion offer, and always reach out to customer support if you need it.

Conclusion

California has one of the biggest gambling markets in the world. Strangely,
lawmakers here have not taken any steps to begin regulating this industry. Laws
surrounding online gambling are always changing.

To stay up-to-date on internet gambling laws in California, make sure to
follow our industry news page. Don’t forget to check out the top California casino sites that we’ve recommending at the top of this page. Good
luck making your bets.