1. Is Online Sports Betting Legal In California
2. Can You Do Online Betting In California
3. Online Betting Sites In California
4. Sports Gambling California

Looking for legal gambling in the Golden State? You have options when betting in California. California is home to 73 tribal casinos, 88 cardrooms, 6 horse racing tracks, 30 off-track betting facilities, and 21,000 lottery retail locations.

The state has a rich history of gambling that can be traced back to the Gold Rush era. California’s Constitution originally prohibited some forms of gambling activities in the state but ultimately left room for executive and legislative rebuttal.

Under the state constitution, the governor can make compacts with local Indian tribes allowing them to operate casinos. The California Constitution also grants the state legislature the authority to regulate horse racing, charitable bingo games, the California State Lottery, and charitable raffles.

All of these loopholes were exercised in the mid 80s to bring a major new industry into being. California gambling operations now employ over 20,000 people and have contributed over one hundred million dollars (pg. 21) to the state budget.

There are currently four primary forms of legalized gambling establishments in California:

Jan 04, 2021 California Online Gambling Laws and History No laws prohibit, ban, or regulate online gambling in California. Residents are not arrested or prosecuted for gambling online. California requires residents to be 18 years of age to play the lottery. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Coalition to Authorize Regulated Sports Wagering has suspended its efforts to gather signatures for its California sports betting initiative, introduced in November. OTB California Betting Sites When you're unable to make it to the track, online racebooks provide an easy way to get in on the action for all of the biggest horse racing events in California. The best betting sites cater to their patrons by offering a solid array of bonuses and rebates, in addition to secure racing services.

• Card rooms
• Native American casinos
• Race tracks
• State lottery

Each category covers one or more forms of gambling (such as casinos offering slots and poker) and each establishment is governed by unique rules and regulations.

California has yet to legalize and regulate online single game sports betting. For now, the best bet for Californians wishing to wager on sports is through daily fantasy sports sites such as FanDuel and DraftKings.

California Sports Betting

Single game sports betting still remains unregulated in California. If you must scratch your sports betting itch in Cali, fantasy sports are your best bet.

Sen. Bill Dodd and Assemblyman Adam Gray introduced legislation in late June 2019 that would give California voters the opportunity to green light sports betting in the state. The legislative vehicle would be a constitutional amendment that voters could approve in 2020.

Previously-proposed sports betting laws have tried to expand the California Legislature’s ability to allow and regulate sports betting operations. This new proposed amendment would bypass the legislature and let sportsbook operations begin after approval.

The finer points of Dodd’s and Gray’s new legislation has yet to be laid out and the two want to hear from California’s varying gambling interest groups before such details are given.

The proposed amendment is currently known as ACA 16 and it will require a two-thirds majority in both California’s Senate and Assembly 180 days before the election.

In a statement, Bill Dodd said this:

“I look forward to working with stakeholders in a collaborative effort to help bring this out of the shadows. By legalizing sports wagering, we can avoid some of the problems associated with an underground market, such as fraud and tax evasion, while investing in problem gambling education.”

Online Sports Betting in California

As for the full array of online betting, Californians wait with bated breath. With online gambling regulations now occurring on a state-by-state, California’s massive population and economy represent the largest chunk of untapped market in the nation. Third largest state by size, California has more residents than any other state in the U.S.

The American Gambling Association estimates that online sports betting brings in $154 billion worth of wagers annually nationwide via offshore betting operations. California contribution to this figure is vast and there have been several legislative efforts to authorize, regulate and tax online betting in the state.

Assemblyman Adam Gray said it best in an interview with KCRA:

“The choice is not ‘should we have sports wagering or not have sports wagering.’ We do have sports wagering.”

A frequent proponent of gambling legislation, Gray continued:

“You could see tax revenue as high as a $100 million or $200 million a year to the state general fund if we authorize sports wagering.”

The Supreme Court’s overturning of PAPSA represents one less hurdle in making online betting and legal sports betting a reality in California.

With that being said, the state’s legislative climate for online betting reform is not as sunny as California’s weather. A report published prior to the PAPSA decision predicted California would legalize sports betting by 2023. More on these efforts below.

Political and market indicators are mixed when it comes to potential reform. On one hand, the state has a history with regulated gambling and the tribes within its borders are considered experts in implementing public safety and integrity provisions.

On the other hand, these established entities and operators frequently fail to come to a consensus on proposed gambling legislation. The state’s everlasting need for tax revenue factors heavily on the minds of state lawmakers and could ultimately drive the issue.

Fantasy Sports in the Golden State

Operators such as FanDuel.com and DraftKings.com operate by way of federal exemptions written into the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). Beyond these exemptions, the UIGEA also gave states the authority to legalize and regulate online horse racing and greyhound betting.

States still have the option to ban fantasy sports operations within their boundaries although California has not done so. As such, Californians are allowed access to the nation’s safe and regulated fantasy sports markets.

All major fantasy sports sites allow California gamblers to draft fantasy teams and wager real cash money on virtual teams. The major fantasy sports sites operating in CA offer wagering on NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, college basketball and college football.

Always on the crest of new technological waves, California was one of the first states to propose legislation to regulate daily fantasy sports back in 2015. These efforts have completely stalled out since this time (e.g. AB 1437), DFS operators have served the California market nonetheless for years.

There is no law that explicitly makes DFS operations legal in California, but neither is there a law against contests of skill. The legal teams of the nation’s major DFS operators have analyzed CA gambling code and determined it is safe to offer fantasy contests.

As for California’s regulatory efforts of DFS, AB 1437 survived committee hearings and an assembly vote but ultimately died in the Senate. For California to achieve full realization of tax revenues from DFS, these regulatory efforts must be continued.

Horse Racing Betting in CA

California is home to 6 major racetracks and roughly 30 off-track betting facilities. Off-track betting facilities, or OTBs, are brick-and-mortar operations that allow for betting on races held in-state and out-of-state via simulcasting agreements with other tracks.

Casinos and the occasional state fair may also operate OTBs. What’s more, Californians can also bet on horse races online and via mobile devices through sites such as TwinSpires, BetAmerica and TVG.

Horse racing has been a part of California’s makeup since 1933 when voters passed a constitutional amendment that allowed for the regulation of pari-mutuel horse-race gambling.

Also established in 1933 was the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) which currently oversees all horse racing and wagering within the state. The CHRB’s mission is to, “ensure the integrity, viability and safety of the state’s horse racing industry,” and they do so by overseeing the, “wagering, breeding, physical safety and the promotion of horse racing.”

The power of the CHRB was recently expanded when the California State Legislature unanimously approved to give the regulatory agency the authority to suspend or move races without the requisite 10-day public notice period.

“We must take action now to protect horses and jockeys, ensuring safety is always paramount in California horse racing,” said the bill’s co-sponsor, Sen. Bill Dodd. “Because clearly, there is a problem here, and we can’t sit back and do nothing.”

Dodd was referring to the record number of horse deaths at Santa Anita race track during the 2019 season. When the CHRB asked Santa Anita to cancel its last scheduled races, the race track denied the request and continued the scheduled races. Under CHRB’s new authority, there would be legal recourse for such defiance.

California Card Rooms

California’s card rooms are some of the oldest legal gambling institutions in America. These days, larger cardrooms are not the norm. Most of California’s roughly 89 cardrooms are now smaller operations as publicly owned corporations are prohibited (pg. 4) from investing in card clubs.

Regulations of card rooms were historically a local affair and state regulation really took hold in the mid-80s. With the flow of information really taking off in this period, it made sense to crack down on criminal gambling activity on a statewide level. These efforts solidified in 1998 with the passage of Gambling Control Act.

Under the Gambling Control Act, the California Gambling Control Commission oversees operation and supervision of card rooms. According to the CGCC website, the agency is responsible for:

• Taking reasonable actions to ensure that no ineligible, unqualified, disqualified, or unsuitable persons are associated with controlled gaming activities;
• Assessing and acting upon certain restricted transactions including ownership changes and lending arrangements;
• Taking reasonable actions to ensure that gambling activities take place only in suitable locations;
• Granting temporary/interim licenses, permits or approvals on appropriate terms and conditions;
• Developing and implementing regulations pursuant to the Gambling Control Act; and,
• Adjudicating recommendations concerning license denials or revocations, or disciplinary actions.

Tribal Conflicts with Proposed Sports Betting Legislation

Any future sports betting legislation will have navigated the California’s varying interest groups. As it stands, California’s tribes have the exclusive right to operate casinos and therefore any new sports betting or online gambling legislation would have to come terms with the 109 federally recognized tribes within California’s borders.

California Nations Indian Gaming Association Chairman Steve Stallings made it clear where his organization stands on the issue:

“California voters have, on numerous occasions, confirmed the exclusive right of California tribal governments to operate casino-style games. Legalization of sports betting should not become a backdoor way to infringe upon exclusivity.”

Proposed sportsbook legislation would essentially have to be an expansion of the tribes’ existing operations to get the fast track in Sacramento. But who better than the California tribes, with almost 2 decades of modern gambling management and operations experience in the state, to implement the state’s first sportsbooks?

When it comes to online gambling, the tribes have been much more reluctant to embrace change. They have seen advances as direct competition to their brick-and-mortar operations. With heightened geo-location tracking coming online, California tribes with casinos will likely push for legal online and mobile options that can only be utilized when somehow tied with the existing physical casino.

Again, it cannot be overstated enough, no new legislation will pass without the cooperation of the California tribes that have relied on gambling for 19 years. A right-of-first refusal could also address the exclusivity issue and still leave room for the potential of future commercial operators.

One rising tension is between California’s tribes and card room owners. The tribes claim California card rooms are given more enforcement leeway in terms of the games they offer. In turn, the tribes say this is cutting into their operations and the exclusivity agreements found in the compacts they have signed with the state.

The feud between California’s tribes and cardrooms culminated in multiple tribes suing the state over what they claim are infringements of tribal exclusivity agreements.

CA Online Poker

Unfortunately, there is no regulated online poker in California at this time – but not for a lack of trying. Since 2017, bills seeking to allow internet poker have been an annual fixture in the state’s legislature. The vying interest of anti-gambling groups, commercial gambling entities, and the tribes have combined to stall all progress on these bills.

These efforts ceased in 2018 when, finally, no internet poker bills were introduced in the state legislature. Whether these efforts have ceased or evolved is a trickier question. Many believe the road to online poker in California will only come up after sports betting has found a rightful home in the state.

CA Lottery

The California Lottery now has over 10 draw games and dozens of scratchers that it sells at over 21,000 locations across the state. California does not sell ticktes online at this time.

Established in 1984 by a ballot initiative that passed by 58%, the California Lottery was created for the sole purpose of providing supplemental dollars to public schools in the state.

By law, the CA Lottery is required to return 87% of the total annual revenues to public school systems. In the 2017 fiscal year, the CA lottery have $1.69 billion towards public education in the state. This was the eighteenth consecutive year that the lottery had generated over $1 billion dollars to the states school systems.

CA Gambling FAQ

No, but efforts are underway to legalize sports betting in California. While many state residents choose to bet with illegal offshore sportsbooks, the only legal alternative to sports betting in California is daily fantasy sports.

Daily fantasy is not regulated in California, but the state does not prevent users from entering the contests and playing. All major DFS operators are live in CA.

Yes, at multiple racetracks and via licensed horse racing betting sites.

Since the turn of the century, California Lottery has sent over $1 billion dollars annually to K-12, Community Colleges, CSU and UC campuses within the state.

The CA Lottery neither sells tickets online nor endorses third-party services that purchase tickets on behalf of out-of-state players. The only way to buy lottery tickets in CA is to visit an authorized retailer.

Under California law, specifically Subdivision (e) Section 337j of the Penal Code the state allows home card games because they are not technically gambling. “Games played with cards in private homes or residences, in which no person makes money for operating the game, except as a player,” are allowed in California.

California allows nonprofit organizations to have controlled charity gambling for fundraising purposes. State law dictates that, “Nonprofit organizations provide important and necessary services to the people of the State of California with respect to educational and social services and there is a need to provide methods of fundraising to nonprofit organizations so as to enable them to meet their stated purposes.” Therefore, charity games serve the public interest in funding said nonprofits.

If you’ve been trying to identify the best California sports betting sites, your search is over.

Here, we’ve established the leading online sportsbooks for players from the Golden State.

Compiling our rankings for the top CA betting sites is a team effort. And we have a great team. We’re all passionate sports bettors with lots of experience of gambling online. We know exactly what to look for when trying to find the best sports betting sites, and you can benefit from that.

Betting with the best online sportsbooks and bookmakers is a great experience. The same cannot be said for some other sports gambling sites on the web. So, if you want to get the best from your online sports betting, our list of the best sports betting sites for California is exactly what you need.

Pick one or more of these sites for placing your real money sports wagers and you can’t go wrong. They’re all top quality. Importantly, they’re also very reputable and completely trustworthy.

Our Method For Ranking CA Sports Betting Sites

We’ve developed an advanced system for ranking online sports betting sites that allows us to recommend only those sites that meet the highest of standard.

We evaluate numerous gambling sites in a number of key areas, and the sites that receive the highest marks across the board are ranked accordingly.

This is something of a simplified explanation, but that’s it in a nutshell. Here are a few more details on some of the things we look at and why.

As you might imagine, many gambling sites are specifically designed for residents of certain countries. When we are looking for the best California betting sites, we seek out operators that actively cater for people in the United States.

This isn’t as much of a no-brainer as it may seem, because there are online gamblers in other English-speaking areas like Great Britain and Australia. While it’s true that you can understand the content perfectly, the website’s sports betting opportunities might not be consistent with your preferences.

Punters in these countries are primarily interested in gaming options that are popular there. And the preferences for Americans are quite different in some instances.

There’s also the matter of currency. Exchange rates are different, so a player in California should wager on a site that primarily uses the US dollar.

Keep in mind, also, that there are various service providers that facilitate financial transactions over the internet but don’t offer banking methods for certain locations.

We take all of this into account when we develop our ratings. It’ll be easy for Americans to deposit funds at any of the best California sports betting sites that we have identified.

There are multiple different options, including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. They may also accept gift cards and ACH transfers.

It’s just as easy to withdraw your winnings, and most methods provide fast turnarounds on withdrawal requests. If you use Bitcoin, the transfers are usually instant.

You might be wondering if there’s anything that stops an online sportsbook from simply disappearing with your money. This is a legitimate concern, because a site could easily engage in sketchy practices.

But when you stick to the sports betting websites on our list of preferred operators, you won’t have to worry.

We stay up to date on the requirements for online gambling licenses around the world. This is one of the most important factors we consider to determine the legitimacy of a given site.

Sometimes you need to discuss an issue or concern with a representative of your chosen sports gambling site. This is another of the great strengths of the online bookmaker and sportsbooks that we recommend. They all provide good customer service

You can speak with a representative by phone. Some are even available to take calls around the clock. Live chat is another great option, along with email correspondence. These sites respond to inquiries very quickly and focus on timely and efficient resolutions.

Because it’s costly to obtain a reputable online gambling license, the people behind betting sites have to think in terms of long-term profit. Of course, you don’t start a business because you expect to hang around for a year or two then shut down.

As we all know, a lot of businesses with passionate, motivated owners simply fall by the wayside every day. The online sports betting industry is no different in this regard.

Having the right license is a huge factor for us to consider, but the test of time may be even more important. When an online sportsbook has been holding its ground for an extended period of time, you know that they’re likely doing everything they can to retain their customer base and build on it.

An established reputation is also a key indicator. When people share their opinions about a site, you can come away with a profound impression.

There are message boards designed to serve the online gambling community, and our people visit them regularly to keep up. We also have several professional connections within the industry, and all relevant information is shared within our network.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you were given hundreds or thousands of dollars after walking into a brick and mortar casino for the first time? That sounds like a far-fetched notion, but it’s routinely done at the CA betting sites we listed above.

After receiving your sign-up bonus, the extra incentives don’t disappear. The best sports betting sites continue to post promotions that center around upcoming tournaments or events.

You don’t have to limit yourself to a single bonus as a new player. If you make deposits at more than one online sportsbook, you can rake in several bonuses.

Online Betting Options for Different Sports

When you make a deposit and place your bets at one of the top California betting websites, you’ll have a wide range of sporting events and wagering options. Though it’s a virtual environment, the offerings are pretty much identical to the general scheme you would find at any Las Vegas sportsbook.

Of course, some people have never ventured into a physical sportsbook. If you’re one of them, you wouldn’t know what to expect, so we will provide the rundown.

In the US, the sport that takes the most betting action is American football. Nearly 40% of people polled named football as their favorite sport, with basketball as a distant second.

Most people make their football bets against the point spread, but this is not your only option. You could bet on the point spread, the moneyline, or totals.

At the best California sports betting sites there are also teaser bets, in-game wagering, and futures bets. Proposition bets may be available over the course of the season.

Typically, you’re able to wager on all the NFL games, and the majority of NCCAA football games.

Once you review and understand the different types of wagers, you have a solid foundation, you’ll notice that the same options are offered for other sports with some variations.

College and NBA basketball bets are identical to football with just a small tweak. In basketball, there are 6-point, 6 ½-point, and 7 ½-point teasers available. The fewer points you take, the higher the potential payout.

In basketball, the teaser points you can choose from are not that high, typically between 4 and 6 points.

There are some similarities and a few differences when it comes to Major League Baseball betting conventions. Straight bets on sides are traditionally made on the moneyline, but when there’s a very big favorite, you’re looking at a negative value.

One way to get around this would be to play a parlay with multiple teams that are very likely to win their games. Even if all of the teams are laying big minus money individually, when you combine multiple betting interests, the payout odds become much more palatable.

While there’s no betting against a variable spread that is determined based on the matchup, there’s a run line option. This will always be set at 1 ½ runs, so the favorite must win by at least two runs, and a bet on the underdog would be a winner even if they lose by a single run.

As for the anticipated payout on a winning run line bet, sportsbooks set a moneyline that varies depending on the perceived strength of each side.

Basketball and football are pretty much right in line when it comes to betting structures, and the same could be said for baseball and hockey.

NHL options mirror the Major League Baseball wagers that are available. This would include the run line, but for hockey it is called the “puck line.”

The best California sports betting sites post lines on a number of different sports outside of the “big four.” NASCAR fans are as passionate as it gets, and online sportsbooks post odds on each driver to win the respective events. You can also place wagers on major IndyCar races.

Odds on the winner of major tennis tournaments and golf tournaments are posted, along with boxing, MMA fights, and soccer. It’s interesting to note that any site that calls the sport “soccer” rather than “football” is almost certainly designed for the US market.

State-Regulated Sports Betting in California

Unless you’ve been living under the proverbial rock, you should be aware of the fact that a Supreme Court ruling on sports gambling was handed down in 2018 that had a profound affect on gambling laws in the United States.

To refresh your memory, it started with the state of New Jersey legalizing the practice in 2012. The voters decided they were in favor of sportsbooks in the existing casinos in Atlantic City along with the state-licensed horse racing tracks.

The major sports leagues and the NCAA have always been adamantly against sports gambling, because they are concerned about game fixing and point shaving.

These entities filed a lawsuit to prevent sportsbooks from opening in the Garden State. As a premise, they used the federal law that prohibits wagering on sporting events that was enacted in 1992. They were victorious in the lower courts, and the state’s attorneys filed appeals.

That’s how the matter made its way to the highest court in the land, where the Supreme Court found it to be unconstitutional.

They specifically cited the 10^th Amendment that ensures the rights for states to make their own laws as long as there is no constitutional infringement.

Since New Jersey already had a law spelling out the regulatory parameters, they had sportsbooks up and running shortly after the landmark ruling. Several other states followed their lead, but the vast majority of them have not taken advantage of this opportunity.

Is Online Sports Betting Legal In California

California is not at the top of the “next up” list for legalization of brick and mortar sportsbooks, but many legislators are supportive. There’s going to be a sports gaming referendum on the ballot in 2020, so voters will decide if their state should move forward.

If they pass the referendum, there will be another time-consuming phase that will delay the opening of sportsbooks. All the regulatory details must be hashed out and agreed upon by the legislature and the governor, so Californians will not be visiting local sportsbooks any time soon.

Can You Do Online Betting In California

There’s a lot to digest on this page, so we will leave you with some summarized takeaways. We conducted in-depth research to evaluate all of the contenders while evaluating the best California sports betting sites. Our list has been carefully prepared based on relevant data.

Online Betting Sites In California

You can trust the sites on every level, and they go the extra mile to provide world-class customer service. All of these online sportsbooks are specifically designed to suit the needs of American players.

Sports Gambling California

States have the right to regulate and license sports betting facilities, and California is slowly moving in that direction, but it will take a while. And in the meantime, our approved sites will always be available to take your real money sports wagers.