California Online Betting

If the gaming industry has to settle for state-by-state legalization, California signifies the Holy Grail of online gambling in the united states. It’s the most populous state in the union with a $2 trillion economy that could rank number 8 on earth if it had its own country. International gambling sites have gone out of their way to obtain licenses in countries much smaller than California.
All eyes are on California as states mull legalizing a variety of types of online gaming. If California does go the way of legalization, it would by default be the standard by which gaming is measured in the United States. If the state does eventually regulate gaming and it is successful, other states will certainly follow suit. We may even see something finally happen at the national level.
Different pieces of legislation have been released, taken down and reintroduced in recent decades. We don’t have anything major to report however, but most observers are cautiously optimistic that California will sooner or later make a serious move toward legalization. Here’s why:
The country already has a pro-gambling culture The state has lawful casinos and card rooms
It is home to many Indian tribes who are experienced in gambling California has a spending problem and the potential tax revenues must surely be tempting for state lawmakers
Current List of Betting Sites in California
We’ll discuss the different gaming choices in California in greater detail below, however I’d like to start with a fast list of betting sites which are available at this time in California. If you’re here searching for a place to bet online, these are the websites which will let you play with and bet real money now.
Sports Gambling:
RankBetting SiteBonusRatingVisit
1
100% up to $50
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Fantasy Sports:
RankBetting SiteBonusRatingVisit
1
Up to 4 Free Entries
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2
Free Contest Entry
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Horse and Greyhound Betting:
RankBetting SiteBonusRatingVisit
1
$20 Free + 100% up to $100
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2
100% up to $100
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3
Wager $500, Get $100
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Online Lottery Tickets:
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1
No Bonuses Offered
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Games of Skill:
RankBetting SiteBonusRatingVisit
1
Daily Offers and Specials
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Sports Betting in California
Lawmakers in California have shown some interest in legalizing sports gambling of late. A bill introduced in the 2017/18 session suggested amending existing gaming law to allow the California legislature to authorize sports gambling contingent upon the Supreme Court overturning the federal sports gambling ban (which it did).
ACA 18 itself did not seek to legalize wagering; it rather offered a constitutional amendment that would allow lawmakers to legalize and regulate sports betting in the future. When he introduced the bill, Assemblyman Adam Gray stated,»The decision is not’if we have sports wagering or not have sports wagering.’ We all do have sports wagering.»
The point he was making is that sports betting is already a huge black market in California and across the USA. The American Gaming Association estimates Americans bet at least $154 billion each year on sports with online sportsbooks and local bookies in contrast to regulations. The current state prohibition is not working, the logic goes, so the wise thing to do is legalize it, regulate it and tax it.
A report by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming published in 2017 considers California is likely to legalize sports betting in five years from the date of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn PASPA. California has plenty of potential to turn into a significant sports betting market, but as you’ll read in another section, competing interests in the country have a propensity to complicate matters.
Assemblyman Gray introduced the same legislation again in 2018 and 2019 as he continues to push the situation. Finding the tribal groups board has been exceedingly hard since they control an $8 billion gaming industry and therefore are highly reluctant to get on board with sports betting at risk of opening their profitable compacts with the state to negotiation once more.
Online Poker at California
The pursuit for internet poker in California has been fought in the courtrooms because you read these words. Bills seeking to regulate internet poker have been released every year since 2007. None of those bills have made it all the way through the legislative process due to vying factions on either side of the matter, but each year brings us closer to finding an agreement that satisfied all interested parties.
In fact, much of the difficulty can be attributed to competing interests in the nation. It seems everybody has an agenda and it is difficult to find consensus among the Indian tribes, Cuban operators and present online brands. One group or another always feels left out or concentrated by the wording of laws. And to be fair, that’s often a valid concern.
To add to the problem, there continue to be strong lobbying groups that actively fight the legalization of poker or any other kind of internet gambling in the united states. Casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson has vowed to fight legalization throughout the country. In California alone, he spent over $300,000 to lobby against poker.
Not a single one of those bills introduced over the last decade-plus has made significant progress due to the various competing interests in the nation. The next bill is Only One of many efforts to make something happen in California, but it serves as a Normal example of how complex and difficult It’s to make progress in California:
AB 2291: Promising Start but Died in Committee
Assembly Bill 2291 was first introduced way back in February 2014 but not made it beyond the committee phase. It was reintroduced in 2015 and 2016, but was still unable to gain the traction it had to make it far in the legislative procedure.
The bill sought to legalize online poker only and issue 10-year licenses . The suggested fee for licensing was initially set at $5,000,000, with this charge being used to offset future taxes. Lawmakers bumped that fee up several times until the fee hit a high of $12,500,000 without offsetting taxes.
Early versions of AB 2291 contained several clauses that have caused tension between various factions competing for a piece of this poker pie. Most contentious among them is a»bad actor» clause. AB 2291 originally sought to require prospective licensees to have a minimum of five years of gambling experience in California. It also required every facet of a procedure, from its own workers to its equipment to its bank account to be held in state.
Essentially, AB 2291 would have prevented all present online poker providers and newer neighborhood casinos in California from competing. The wording of this bill very clearly preferred a few established California casino classes at the cost of fair competition.
Another issue with AB 2291 was that it would have banned California from entering arrangements with other states to unite player pools and improve liquidity. In other words, you’d only see other Californians at the table no matter how many sates legalize poker. To top it all off, the bill will require the country to opt out of any legislation passed at the national level allowing online poker.
Some progress was made in 2016 with a proposed amendment that could significantly alter the bad actor clause. Previously, the bill would have barred all online poker firms which operated after the passing of the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Such restrictions would have prohibited established brand for example PokerStars from entering the market.
The previous amendment proposes to instead move the cut-off date for the awful actor clause up to the end of 2011. To put it differently, sites such as PokerStars that functioned after the UIGEA but subsequently left the market following the Black Friday indictments in 2011. This could stop the most egregious violators from entering the sector but afford PokerStars a chance to offer online poker lawfully in California. You can read more about the proposal here.
Looking Back at 2018: The Good and Bad
The Poor Lawmakers and tribal groups have been stuck in stalemate for going on four decades now. It’s wonderful to see some improvement on this front, but it’s also discouraging to find the stubbornness on the part of varying factions. Poker players are better served through an open and competitive market and player-sharing arrangements with other nations.
Worse than that, online poker appears to have taken a step back in 2018. For the first time in more than a decade, no invoices seeking to legalize online poker were introduced. Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sayer advised Online Poker Report he’s giving up on internet poker laws for this year because there is just no progress being made in reaching a compromise between the tribes, local card rooms and other interested parties.
The Good There are some positive things to say about most of this. If poker is really legalized in California, the possible player pool will much larger than that which we have seen in other nations that have legalized online poker. Besides the fact that 38 million people call California home, the country has a poker civilization already as a result of its many brick-and-mortar card rooms.
California is likely to have fewer problems with geolocation of players due to the sheer size. New Jersey had all sorts of problems verifying players were actually located within the state. This ended up with loads of possible players being unfairly barred in the state-sanctioned sites there. California does not have to contend with congested cities piled up on country boundaries.
Fantasy Sports
Whenever the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) has been passed in 2006, it provided two notable exceptions to internet gaming: horse racing and fantasy sports. The UIGEA didn’t just exempt these forms of gambling; it basically gave operators the go-ahead to offer their games to customers right here in the US.
Some states have since passed legislation banning online fantasy sports but California is not among those. If you have a thing for sports betting but prefer to do it at a protected and regulated fashion, fantasy sports is your thing to do. You draft a staff just like in regular fantasy leagues except now you get paid actual money if you win.
FanDuel.com and DraftKings.com will be the two biggest players in this marketplace. They accept clients from CA and offer single-day fantasy leagues for your NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, college basketball and college football.
One of the nice things about online fantasy sports is each contest only lasts for a week or week in the most. You’re not stuck with one team all season. Rather, your team racks up stats over the duration of one week. You can play in heads-up competitions against other gamers or test your ability in enormous tournaments which occasionally give away more than a thousand dollars to the first place winner.
You may read more about fantasy sports gambling here.
Legislative Efforts for Daily Fantasy at California
2016 was a significant year for its daily fantasy sports industry in California. In January of 2016, lawmakers introduced AB 1437 in an attempt to create a regulatory framework for daily fantasy sports websites. If enacted, the bill would require DFS websites to obtain a permit, apply a minimum age of 21 for many clients, hold all clients’ funds in a segregated account and offer self-exclusion applications for players.
The bill advanced previous three important votes with a total of 101 for and two against. This is a significant bill for California and it appears increasingly likely to be passed to law. On the other hand, the bill itself will not actually legalize online fantasy sports contests; it only sets the conditions where the industry would be controlled.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris is expected to issue a judgment on whether fantasy contests constitute illegal gambling under law. If she rules favorably, AB 1437 will have all set up to license and regulated fantasy sites instantly. The AG’s ruling was anticipated for at least a year now. In the meantime, California fantasy sports websites continue to operate freely.
As of 2019, advancement on the bill seems to have completely stalled. The fantastic news is fantasy sports websites are still active through the state. Legalizing dream sports in California would essentially be a formality at this point.
Online Casinos
There aren’t yet any legal online casinos in California. The state has not even tried to pass legislation in this respect so it will likely be years until we see legitimate gaming websites open to CA residents.
Do not be fooled by the countless other websites that are currently recommending»legal» internet casinos. All these are actually offshore gaming sites that have no legal presence whatsoever in the United States. They are unlicensed and completely unregulated.
Although to be honest, there aren’t any state or national laws that prohibit playing at offshore casinos. If you do choose to play with online, nobody will come kick in your front door. The biggest risk is financial — you never know for certain who you’re working with on the other side of the display. Some offshore casinos may be secure while some are clearly outright scams. But no matter where you play, you don’t have any legal recourse when things go belly up.
Your very best option would be to look at any of the other legal, licensed and secure forms of gambling that are available right now in California. Between horse racing, fantasy sports and many likely online poker quite soon, there are still plenty of other ways to play real money games online at safe, accredited sites based in the US.
Horse Betting
Online horse racing is alive and well in California. The horse gambling situation here isn’t nearly as complicated as the poker situation. California does permit residents to perform at US-licensed horse wagering websites for example TwinSpires, BetAmerica and TVG.
All the significant US-based horse betting sites accept clients from California. The country also enables off-track betting (OTB) facilities. OTB facilities function as brick-and-mortar gaming stores where people may walk in, put bets on races and collect their winnings in person.
Five racetracks run across the country and they too allow for real cash wagering. In total, you are able to bet online at any of the accepted horse betting websites, off-track with an OTB place or in-person at any of the monitors listed below. California is also home to county and state fairs that hold races in various times annually.
The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) manages all horse racing and wagering within the country. The CHRB’s mission is to guarantee the integrity, ethics and security of the nation’s horse racing industry. They oversee wagering, breeding, bodily safety and the marketing of horse racing.
California Racetracks
CalExpo:
The California Exposition and State Fair operates a yearlong harness racetrack that runs daily at around 5:20 PM.
1600 Exposition Drive
Sacramento, CA 95815
Site Golden Gate Fields
This track is located in Berkley with races and simulcast events every week.
1100 Eastshore Highway
Berkley, CA 94710
Site Santa Anita
Santa Anita is one of the most widely recognized racetracks from the United States and home to major events such as the Santa Anita Derby, Santa Anita Handicap and occasionally the Breeder’s Cup.
285 W. Huntington Drive
Arcadia, CA 91007
Site Del Mar
Del Mar opened in 1937 with a famous race between Seabiscuit and Ligaroti. Seabiscuit barely took the race became a legend of his own. Now, Del Mar plays host to racing festivals, events, family fun days and much more.
2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd..
Del Mar, CA 92014
Site Los Alamitos
Los Alamitos Race Course is home to daytime thoroughbred racing and night quarter racing. The trail is home to some of the largest quarter horse bets races in the US.
4961 E. Katella Ave.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
Website OTB Locations
There are 31 off-track betting facilities in California. OTB centers can be seen at fairgrounds, racetracks, specialty OTB stores, casinos and fairgrounds. You may see a complete list of addresses and locations here.
Internet Bingo
There appears to be no motivation to specifically legalize online bingo in California. The only realistic chance I see of online bingo coming to California is whether it gets caught up in some future online casino legislation.
Lottery Games
Ca lottoThe California state lottery is not licensed to sell tickets online or via phone. For years, the federal Wire Act prohibited states from selling lottery tickets on the net. This may not be the case forever. In 2009, New York and Illinois requested the Department of Justice to clarify its stance on the Wire Act and explain exactly which types of online gambling were illegal.
The DOJ responded in 2011 with a choice that had far-reaching effects beyond just the lottery. Back in September of 2011, the DOJ issued an announcement the official interpretation of the Wire Act only applies to sports gambling on the internet. This gave states the go-ahead to sell tickets on the internet if they choose.
Lottery Subscription Sites California has not yet joined the growing list of states that sell lottery tickets on the web. However, there are a range of messenger services that can go buy lottery tickets at face value for a monthly subscription fee. You can log into all those websites, pay attention for your tickets and the corporation will go and buy tickets in your name.
As an example, LottoGopher.com is a California-based membership website that provides this exact support. The website is registered in California, its owners have been background-checked by lottery commission officers also it abides by all state and federal legislation. They aren’t legally allowed to sell lotto tickets for more than face value, so that they rather charge users a subscription fee.
A membership at LottoGopher lets you buy tickets online, select certain amounts and even form lottery pools along with different members. If you win less than $600, Lotto Gopher will credit the winnings into your account that you may then draw right to the bank. If you win more than $600, Lotto Gopher will claim the prize on your behalf in person and then send you a check for the full amount.
The site doesn’t require a cut of your winnings. They only way that they make money is by charging clients a flat subscription fee. At this moment, LottoGopher is only available in California. You can learn more and give it a try here:
www.lottogopher.com
lotto gopher
Is Lotto Gopher legit?
Yes. They are located in California and state lottery officials understand who they are. It is good that you ask though since there are tons of online lotto websites that feel and look untrue but aren’t. Lotto Gopher really is lawful and 100% legit.
They have been all over the press in the past few decades as well. Forbes and ABC have written articles about the ceremony.

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