The story of casino gambling in USA and specifically in California is a wild one, with many ups and downs and a few twists. The fact of the matter is that the majority of aspects when it comes to online casino gaming are not legal in California as per California Gambling Law.
However, some forms of betting are still allowed and Californian casino gaming enthusiasts have some options.
Let us review California’s online casino gaming world and even some land-based options.
The Question of Land-Based Casinos
Over the course of the last hundred years, California’s views on casino gaming have developed into a much more positive outlook than before. In 1987, Native American casinos have been legalized as per the United States Supreme Court intervention.
Besides the standard lotteries and card houses, these tribal casinos have been the only way for Californian casino enthusiasts to enjoy traditional slot and other casino games.
Of course, with Nevada being such a prominent region for casino gaming, California has been getting influenced too. However, though land-based casinos have been increasingly permitted and legalized, California’s views on online gaming have remained adamant up until the early 2000s.
Online Casino Gaming in California
Today, online casino lovers in California do indeed have some options such as Daily Fantasy Sports online. Californians can play these types of online casino games as providers argue that this game is mostly skill and not luck.
This constitutes the game as skill-based and therefore not gambling, meaning it does not violate the law. However, this puts Daily Fantasy Sports in a legal gray area due to the nature of interpretation.
The Californian Assembly attempted to legalize it fully in public during their 2016 bill. Subsequently, due to the highly controversial nature of this question of luck vs skill, the bill was not acted upon. California remains to have the broadest market for Daily Fantasy Sports, however.
There are over 120,000 active players making up a tenth of the population. This just goes to show California has a decent percentage of casino gaming enthusiasts who would wish to have this hobby fully legalized.
Furthermore, Online Horse Race Betting is fully legal in California. This is a unique betting system that you may have not heard of before but it is a viable option in a state that forbids other forms of gambling.
Californians can freely bet online on their favorite races and horses on sites such as BetAmerica, TwinSpires, and TVG. These sites offer a popular remote gambling game similar to other casino game options.
Online Casino Games That May Get Legalized Soon in California
At the current moment, online casinos offer the option for Californians to create an account and deposit money legally. However, the illegal part is in placing bets and actually gambling.
Still, this is a good step in the right direction and seems to showcase the future legalized changes in California’s online casino world.
In the US and worldwide poker is one of the most popular card games. Even though poker is currently illegal in California, there is still some hope for this casino card game.
As of 2020, a bill to legalize online poker has been started following the pandemic as lovers of the game sought to play it with people remotely.
This is looking to be a true argument worthy of reconsidering legalizing casino sites in general as isolation is crucial in these times. Therefore, making casino games legal to play online will allow people to enjoy them from the comfort of their homes.
This is not that far-fetched as casino games like poker, blackjack, and slots are already legal in California in land-based casinos.
The case is similar for fully luck-based games like the Lottery and Bingo. Though, they will be harder to legalize precisely for this reason of them being luck-based and not skill-based games.
For now, there are free-to-play versions of these games available in California over various apps. This is again a good sign that online Lottery and Bingo may get legalized after more common games like poker, slots, and blackjack.
Summary
Online casino games in California are mostly illegal, but there are still a few options for gambling enthusiasts. Daily Fantasy Sports and Horse Racing are among the scarce casino-like options fans of the hobby have for now.
Having covered these, the views toward skill-based responsible gambling are improving in California which is a good sign for the hobby.
Online casino games like poker and blackjack might be on their way to legalization soon. Time will tell but the more responsibility and safety are introduced into online casino sites, the sooner the chance for them to be legalized in California.
