When it comes to gambling and interactive live dealer casinos, the state of California is fairly liberal. It allows players to enjoy a variety of betting activities offline, and the state law does not have clear wording regarding virtual casino lobbies.

The body in charge of regulating gambling in this state is the California Gambling Control Commission and the Bureau of Gambling Control. Under the local laws, the following forms of gambling are allowed:

• Tribal land-based casinos
• Card rooms
• State-regulated lottery (commercial is prohibited)
• Race tracks
• Commercially-operated bingo
• Pari-mutuel horse wagering

Gambling machines and commercially operated lotteries fall under strict prohibition, as does interactive poker. In 2015, the local judiciaries went as far as to banning sweepstakes games from Internet cafes by recognizing them as games of chance.

The official age for gambling in California is 18 years for lotteries, bingo, and pari-mutuel horse wagering; 18 to 21 years for casino games, and 21 years for interactive gambling.

The speculations about California becoming the next state in America to fully legalize and regulate interactive gambling have been circulating in the media for the past few months. Based on the states that we have, the total gross win for Californian players gambling online reached 455 million USD in 2020, as opposed to 122 million USD that same year.

One would argue that the year 2020 was hardly the best year to look at the stats of land-based casinos. However, the prognosis for the next five years shows the online industry would still beat the land-based one by at least 100 million USD in gross wins.

If we’re looking at the Californian gross gambling turnover, it reached 60,502 million in 2020 and is estimated to grow to 125 million USD by 2025.

Live poker in California-Friendly Online Casinos

Poker is the most popular game in the state. Its interactive version has also had the most dramatic history of going back and forth between the state legislature and judiciary systems for the purpose of being legalized.

So far, the lobbyists have not been successful.

The first bills to regulate interactive poker came to life back in 2014 and did not receive enough votes from the local legislature. Since then, the bill has passed numerous iterations and amendments but never received the status of the law.

By 2017, the lobbyists partnered with the tribal casinos and tried to at least make interactive poker legal with these operators but did not succeed.

Our database has quite a few great California-friendly online casinos that offer premium live dealer poker games. Among others, definitely head to CyberSpins Casino. Its live lobby is powered by Fresh Deck Studios, which in its turn hosts Casino Hod’em in its collection.

Popular Payment Methods for California Online Casinos

Depositing and withdrawing in USD may be a bit of a hassle when it comes to the USA and offshore casinos. Many cashiers list Visa, American Express, and Master Card cards among accepted payment methods. At the same time, the issuers of the cards, the USA-based banks, may in many cases block deposits and will most likely not accepts withdrawals from the gambling sites.

All things considered, cryptocurrencies become one of the best options for Californians who would like to wager real money. Our database has an extensive study on playing real money games from the USA, as well as filters for cashiers accepting Bitcoins, Litecoin, Ethereum, and other variations of digital payments.

Main Live Dealer Studios Available to Californians

Just five years ago this would’ve been a tiny section with a notion “No live dealer providers available for the USA”. Luckily, the market changes and the niche fills in with quality content providers.

The common factor for all of these USA-friendly studios available, among other states, in California is the fact that they have small portfolios. So, don’t try to compare them to the i-tech giants like Evolution Gaming or Ezugi. Instead, think of them as the studios that offer small sets of quality games specifically for the United States.

Among them, Visionary iGaming stands out for its awesome roulette streams from the land-based venues. The team of Fresh Deck Studios is among the few to deliver live pokers to Californians. In the portfolio of Arrow’s Edge, you will find awesome live blackjack games.

California has a peculiar gambling industry. Unlike their neighbors in Texas, another big state where gambling is prohibited, California maintains a balance between keeping certain activities legal and regulated while also working on legalizing and controlling the rest of the betting services. The laws penalize operators, not players. The wins on games of chance are subject to a 28% tax.

Interactive casinos are currently in the spotlight, with thousands of players expressing massive interest in this form of gambling, while legislators are still on the fence as to how to legalize and regulate it.

Statistics show that when gambling online at offshore venues, Californians favor casino games the most. The gross win on them reached 253 million USD in 2020. Following them in terms of popularity is sports betting, an activity heavily regulated and limited offline. Online, the gross win in 2020 reached 150 million USD. The third place is given to poker with a gross win of 29 million USD, and bingo places fourth, indicating a gross win of 24 million USD.

Tribal Casinos in California

This state has the biggest tribal gambling industry, with up to 60 online casinos operating across California. By 2020, the gross gambling turnover for Native casinos was 55 million USD. This means that tribal gambling contributed 96% to the global gross gambling turnover of the state. By 2025, this contribution is estimated to grow to 113 million USD. The biggest battle this niche is yet to win is the legalization of interactive pokers. The initial bill was introduced in 2017 and has been going back and forth since.

Card Rooms

Card rooms are a unique form of gambling typical to California. This activity emerged in 2007 when the state legislature decided to expand charitable gambling (also legal in the state) for its definition to include not only bingo and raffle contests but also poker and other casino games.

In California, card rooms can refer to themselves as “casinos”. They have no house edge and instead, will request a flat fee per hand.

By 2020, the gross gambling turnover for Californian card rooms was 5.5 million USD. By 2025, it is predicted to grow to 11.5 million USD. This comprises about 4% of the global gross gambling turnover across the state.

Sports Betting Online and Offline

Regulated by the California Horse Racing Board, the state has under 15 racetracks that operate every day, even on days when there is no racing activity. Live and simulcast wagering is allowed.