If the gambling industry must settle for state-by-state legalization, California represents the Holy Grail of online betting in the united states. It’s by far the most populous country in the union with a $2 trillion market that would rank number 8 on earth if it had its own country. International gambling websites have gone out of the way to acquire licenses in countries much smaller than California.
All eyes are on California as states mull legalizing a variety of forms of online gaming. If California does ever go the way of legalization, it would by default become the standard by which gambling is measured in the United States. If the state does finally dominate gambling and it is successful, other states will surely 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 important to report yet, but many observers are cautiously optimistic that California will sooner or later make a significant movement toward legalization. Here is why:
The country has a pro-gambling civilization The country has lawful casinos and card rooms
It’s home to many Indian tribes who are experienced in gambling California has a spending problem and the potential tax earnings must surely be enticing for state lawmakers
Present Collection of Betting Sites in California
We’ll discuss the different betting options in California in greater detail below, but I’d like to begin with a fast list of gambling sites that are available at this time in California. If you’re here looking for a place to bet online, these are the sites which will let you play with and wager real money today.
Sports Gaming:
RankBetting SiteBonusRatingVisit
1
100% up to $50
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Fantasy Sports:
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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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Wager $500, Get $100
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Online Lottery Tickets:
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No Bonuses Offered
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Games of Skill:
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1
Daily Offers and Specials
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Sports Betting at California
Lawmakers in California have shown some interest in legalizing sports gambling of late. A bill introduced at the 2017/18 session proposed amending existing gambling law to permit the California legislature to authorize sports betting determined by the Supreme Court overturning the federal sports gambling ban (which it did).
ACA 18 itself did not seek to legalize wagering; it rather provided a constitutional amendment that would enable lawmakers to legalize and regulate sports gambling later on. After he introduced the bill, Assemblyman Adam Gray said,”The choice isn’t’if we have sports wagering or not have sports wagering.’ We do have sports wagering.”
The point he was making is that sports gambling is currently a huge black market in California and throughout the United States. The American Gaming Association estimates Americans bet at least $154 billion per year on sports with internet sportsbooks and local bookies in contrast to regulations. The present condition prohibition is not working, the logic goes, so the smart thing to do is legalize it, regulate it and tax it.
A report by Eilers & Krejcik Gambling published in 2017 considers California is likely to legalize sports gambling within five years from the date of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn PASPA. California has lots of potential to turn into a significant sports betting market, but as you’ll read in another section, competing interests in the state have a tendency to complicate matters.
Assemblyman Gray introduced the exact same legislation in 2018 and 2019 as he continues to push the situation. Getting the tribal bands board has been exceedingly difficult since they dominate an $8 billion gaming industry and are highly reluctant to get on board with sports betting at risk of opening their profitable compacts with the state to negotiation once again.
Online Poker in California
The pursuit for internet poker in California is being fought in the courtrooms because you read these words. Bills seeking to control internet poker have been introduced annually since 2007. None of those bills have made it all the way through the legislative process due to vying factions on all sides of the matter, but every year brings us closer to finding an agreement that satisfied all interested parties.
In fact, a lot of the problem can be attributed to competing interests in the state. It appears 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 targeted from the wording of laws. And to be honest, that’s frequently a legitimate concern.
To add to the problem, there are still powerful lobbying groups that actively fight the legalization of poker or any other form of online gambling in the united states. Casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson has pledged to fight legalization throughout the nation. In California alone, he spent more than $300,000 to lobby against poker.
Not one of the bills introduced during the last decade-plus has made considerable progress thanks to the various competing interests in the nation. The next bill is just one of many attempts 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 introduced way back in February 2014 but never made it beyond the committee phase. It was reintroduced in 2015 and 2016, but was unable to achieve the traction it had to make it much in the legislative process.
The bill sought to legalize online poker just and issue 10-year licenses . The proposed fee for licensing was initially set at $5,000,000, with this fee being used to offset future taxes. Lawmakers bumped that fee up several times before the fee hit a high of $12,500,000 without offsetting taxes.
Early versions of AB 2291 contained several clauses which have caused tension between various factions competing for a piece of this poker pie. Most controversial among these is a”bad actor” clause. AB 2291 originally sought to require prospective licensees to get at least five decades of gambling experience in California. Additionally, it required every aspect of a procedure, by its employees to its equipment to its bank accounts to be kept in condition.
In essence, AB 2291 would have prevented all present internet poker suppliers and newer local casinos in California from competing. The wording of this bill very clearly preferred a few established California casino classes at the cost of honest competition.
Another problem with AB 2291 was that it might have banned California from entering arrangements with other nations to combine player pools and enhance liquidity. To put it differently, you’d only see different Californians in the table no matter how many sates legalize poker. To top it all off, the bill would require the state to determine of any laws passed at the national level allowing online poker.
Some progress was made in 2016 with a proposed amendment which could significantly alter the bad actor clause. Formerly, the bill would have barred all online poker companies that operated after the passage of this federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. Such restrictions would have prohibited established brand for example PokerStars from entering the marketplace.
The last amendment proposes to rather transfer the chalk date for the bad celebrity clause up to the end of 2011. To put it differently, sites like PokerStars that functioned after the UIGEA but subsequently left the marketplace after the Black Friday indictments in 2011. This could stop the most egregious violators from entering the sector but manage PokerStars an opportunity to provide online poker lawfully in California. You may read more about the suggestion here.
Looking Back at 2018: The Good and Bad
The Bad Lawmakers and tribal groups are stuck in stalemate for about four decades now. It is nice to see some progress on this front, but it’s also discouraging to see that the outright stubbornness on the portion of varying factions. Poker players are better served by an open and competitive marketplace and player-sharing arrangements with other nations.
Worse than all 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 told Online Poker Report that he’s giving up on internet poker laws for this year because there’s just no progress being made in reaching a compromise between the tribes, local card rooms and other interested parties.
The Good There are a number of positive things to say about most of this. If poker is really legalized in California, the possible player pool will much larger than what we have seen in other states that have already legalized online poker. Besides the fact that 38 million people call California home, the country has a poker culture already as a result of its numerous brick-and-mortar card rooms.
California is very likely to have fewer problems with geolocation of gamers because of the sheer size. New Jersey had all kinds of issues verifying players were actually located within the nation. This ended up with plenty of potential players being barred in the state-sanctioned websites there. California doesn’t have to contend with congested cities piled up on country borders.
Fantasy Sports
When the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in 2006, it provided two notable exceptions to internet gambling: horse racing and fantasy sports. The UIGEA did not just exempt these kinds of gaming; it essentially gave operators the go-ahead to provide their games to clients right here in the united states.
Some countries have since passed legislation banning online fantasy sports but California isn’t one of those. In case you’ve got a thing for sports betting but would rather do it at a protected and controlled manner, fantasy sports is your thing to do. You draft a staff like in regular fantasy leagues but now you get paid real cash if you win.
FanDuel.com and DraftKings.com are the two biggest players in this market. They both accept customers from CA and offer single-day fantasy leagues such as your NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, college basketball and college football.
One of the nice things about online fantasy sports is every contest only lasts for a week per week in the most. You’re not stuck with a single team all season. Rather, your team racks up stats over the duration of a single week. You can play in heads-up contests against other players or test your ability in massive tournaments which occasionally give away more than a thousand bucks to the first place winner.
You may read more about dream sports betting here.
Legislative Efforts for Daily Fantasy at California
2016 was an important year for the daily fantasy sports business in California. In January of 2016, lawmakers introduced AB 1437 in an attempt to make a regulatory framework for daily fantasy sports websites. If enacted, the bill would require DFS sites to obtain a permit, enforce a minimum age of 21 for all customers, hold all customers’ funds in a segregated account and offer self-exclusion applications for problem gamblers.
The bill advanced previous three important votes with a total of 101 for and 2 against. This is an important bill for California and it looks increasingly likely to be passed into legislation. On the other hand, the bill itself does not really legalize online fantasy sports contests; it only sets the conditions by which the business would be regulated.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris is expected to issue a ruling on whether fantasy contests constitute illegal gambling under state law. If she principles favorably, AB 1437 will have all in place to license and regulated dream sites instantly. The AG’s ruling was expected for at least a year now. In the meantime, California dream sports sites continue to function freely.
As of 2019, advancement on the bill seems to have fully stalled. The fantastic news is fantasy sports websites continue to be active through the state. Legalizing fantasy sports in California would basically be a formality at this point.
Online Casinos
There aren’t yet any legal online casinos in California. The nation has not even tried to pass legislation in this regard so it will likely be years before we see legitimate gambling websites open to CA residents.
Do not be tricked by the hundreds of other sites that are currently recommending”legal” online casinos. These are actually offshore gaming sites without any legal presence whatsoever in the United States. They are unlicensed and completely unregulated.
Although to be fair, there aren’t any state or national laws which prohibit playing offshore casinos. If you do decide to play with online, nobody will come kick in your front door. The largest risk is financial — you never know for certain who you are dealing with on the other side of the display. Some offshore casinos may be secure while others are clearly outright scams. But regardless of where you play, you don’t have any legal recourse if things go belly up.
Your best option would be to look at any of the other authorized, accredited and secure forms of betting that are available right now in California. Between horse racing, fantasy sports and also most likely online poker quite soon, there are still lots of other ways to play real money games online at safe, licensed websites based in the US.
Horse Betting
Online horse racing is alive and well in California. The horse gambling situation here is not nearly as complicated as the poker scenario. California does permit residents to play at US-licensed horse wagering sites for example TwinSpires, BetAmerica and TVG.
Each of the major US-based horse betting sites accept clients from California. The state also enables off-track betting (OTB) facilities. OTB facilities function as brick-and-mortar betting shops where people can walk in, place bets on races and collect their winnings in person.
Five racetracks run upon the country and they too allow for real cash wagering. In total, you can bet online at any one of the approved horse betting websites, off-track with an OTB location or in-house in any of the monitors listed below. California is also home to state and county fairs that maintain races at various times annually.
The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) oversees all horse racing and wagering within the country. The CHRB’s mission is to guarantee the integrity, viability and security of the nation’s horse racing industry. They oversee wagering, breeding, bodily security as well as the promotion of horse racing.
California Racetracks
CalExpo:
The California Exposition and State Fair functions a year-round harness racetrack that runs daily at approximately 5:20 PM.
1600 Exposition Drive
Sacramento, CA 95815
Site Golden Gate Fields
This track is situated in Berkley with races and simulcast events weekly.
1100 Eastshore Highway
Berkley, CA 94710
Site Santa Anita
Santa Anita is among the most widely recognized racetracks from the USA and home to major events such as the Santa Anita Derby, Santa Anita Handicap and sometimes 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 hardly took the race became a legend of his own. Today, Del Mar plays host to racing events, concerts, family fun days and more.
2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd..
Del Mar, CA 92014
Website Los Alamitos
Los Alamitos Race Course is home to daytime thoroughbred racing and nighttime quarter racing. The trail is home to a number of the largest quarter horse bets races in the US.
4961 E. Katella Ave.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
Website OTB Locations
You will find 31 off-track betting centers in California. OTB facilities can be found in fairgrounds, racetracks, specialty OTB shops, casinos and fairgrounds. You can see a full list of addresses and locations .
Internet Bingo
There appears to be no motivation to especially legalize online bingo in California. The only realistic chance I see online bingo coming to California is whether it gets caught up in some future internet casino legislation.
Lottery Games
Ca lottoThe California state lottery is not licensed to sell tickets on the internet or via phone. For many years, the federal Wire Act banned states from selling lottery tickets on the net. This may not be the case forever. In 2009, New York and Illinois asked the Department of Justice to clarify its stance on the Wire Act and clarify exactly which forms of online gambling were prohibited.
The DOJ reacted in 2011 with a decision that had far-reaching effects beyond just the lottery. Back in September of 2011, the DOJ issued an announcement that its official interpretation of the Wire Act only applies to sports gambling over the internet. This gave states the go-ahead to sell tickets online if they select.
Lottery Subscription Sites California has not yet joined the growing list of states that sell lottery tickets online. However, there are a number of messenger services which will go buy lottery tickets at face value for a monthly subscription fee. You can log in to all those sites, pay attention for your tickets and then the company is going to go and buy tickets on your name.
As an instance, LottoGopher.com is a California-based membership website that offers this specific support. The site is registered in California, its owners have been background-checked by lottery commission officials also it abides by all federal and state legislation. They aren’t legally allowed to sell lotto tickets for more than face value, therefore that they instead charge users a subscription fee.
A membership at LottoGopher allows you to buy tickets online, pick certain amounts and even form lottery pools along with different members. Should you win less than $600, Lotto Gopher will charge the winnings into your account which you can then withdraw straight to the bank. Should you win more than $600, Lotto Gopher will maintain the prize on your behalf in person then send you a check for the full amount.
The site doesn’t require a cut of your winnings. They only way 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’re located in California and say lottery officials understand who they are. It’s great for you to ask though because there are tons of online lotto sites which look and feel untrue but aren’t. Lotto Gopher actually is lawful and 100% legit.
They have been all over the media in recent years too. Forbes and ABC have both written articles about the ceremony.
Read more: todaysportsnews.org