With a solid real money online casino in California, you can look forward to all the entertainment of a B&M gambling hall but with the added convenience of playing at home on your computer. With any good California online casino, real money is at stake, just as in terrestrial gaming halls, but with limits as low as $1 on table games and a few cents on slots, you can choose the bet size you feel most comfortable with rather than one selected by a pit boss to maximize profits.
Among those who enjoy games at an online casino, California residents represent a sizable contingent. With the greatest population in the United States and a vibrant economy, the California online casino market is a lucrative one for gaming corporations, meaning that there are plenty of choices for the individual player.
Significant disagreements among various gambling stakeholders have led to a situation where there's no instate mechanism for regulating online casinos for real money in California just yet. However, there are countless offshore brands that have stepped into the gap to serve those looking for a real money online casino in California.
We'll go into more detail about this topic in a moment, but for now, if you want a shortlist of the best online casinos for California, check out these fine operators:
You can play at California online casinos for real money because there's nothing in federal or state law making it illegal for you to do so. Neither the UIGEA nor the Wire Act contains any enforcement provisions against ordinary players.
Anyone trying to set up an unlicensed online gambling business within the borders of California or the United States would indeed run afoul of the authorities. However, the major internet casinos that we recommend are located offshore, which means that neither the state government in Sacramento nor federal officials can really do anything against them.
The fact that these organizations are operating in a legal gray area does mean that certain consumer protections and adherence to fair gaming standards are not guaranteed. That's why it's important to do your homework and select only trustworthy and reliable entities while steering clear of those that are underhanded or dishonest.
We've compared and contrasted the most prominent online casinos for Californians against each other to identify the best of the best. Among the criteria we considered are bonuses, payout speeds, game selection, promotions, and cashier methods. When you select from the trusted operators below, you can be assured that you will benefit from a smooth gaming experience and dependable cashouts of your winnings with no funny business.
This is a trusted member of the Bodog group of companies, and we have negotiated a special 350% up to $5,000 bonus for crypto first-time depositors with Cafe Casino bonus code CCBTCVIP. This is double the size of the standard bonus. In addition, there's a 250% up to $3,000 bonus for credit card users (also twice the normal bonus) unlocked by the code CCVIP. Going forward, you can claim weekly mystery reload bonuses and rewards from the Perks program.
Cafe Casino boasts close to 100 slots, mostly from Rival and Realtime Gaming, along with several exclusive titles and a handful of table games and video poker. There's a Live Dealer section too, and leaderboard tournaments give you the opportunity to win more prizes at no additional cost.
Wild Casino grants you a total of $9,000 in bonuses on your first five crypto-currency deposits or up to $5,000 if you elect to use a legacy payment method. Then get ready for multiple reloads every week, a 10% rebate on your weekly losses, occasional free bonuses on top of your Bitcoin deposits, and other time-sensitive promotions.
Among the gaming diversions at Wild Casino are more than 250 slots, several dozen table games, about a dozen video poker titles, and a Live Dealer section. You can make deposits and withdrawals via seven different crypto coins and a few old-school payment channels.
Slots.lv promises you a bonus of 300% up to $1,500 on your initial crypto-currency deposit (only 200% up to $1,000 if you deposit via other methods). However, what sets this California online casino apart is the string of bonuses you can claim on each of your next eight deposits: 150% up to $750 (100% up to $500 for non-crypto users). Not only that, but you can grab two reload bonuses every day for 150% up to $500 as long as you deposit with crypto (100% up to $100 only a single time per day with other payment methods).
Slots.lv is part of the Bodog/Bovada group, and so you will benefit from the more than 100 games available and the speedy payments that are a hallmark of this organization.
Most internet casinos for Californians these days reserve their most lucrative bonuses for those who deposit with crypto-currency, but this is not the case at SuperSlots.ag. Regardless of the payment channel you opt for, you can get a 250% bonus up to $1,000 on your initial deposit and 100% up to $1,000 on your next five deposits for a total of up to $6,000 for free. Actually, there is a BTC welcome bonus at SuperSlots of 400% up to $4,000, but you can use this in conjunction with the normal welcome bonus for up to $10,000 in complimentary funds.
Super Slots has more than 300 games for you to sample along with many promos, like reload bonuses every week, $1,000,000 in monthly tournament prizes, and a 777 progressive Live Blackjack jackpot.
BetOnline is perhaps the place to go if you relish Live Dealer games. There's not just a single Live Dealer area at BOL but rather two of them. This means more games and more variety in terms of table stakes/limits. There are a few Live Dealer-specific promotions here too, like the weekly Live Blackjack and Live Roulette leaderboards and a jackpot that you can win if you get three 7 of diamonds in one hand at the Live Blackjack tables.
BetOnline provides its new players with a 100% up to $1,000 bonus that can be redeemed up to three times. Sadly, though, this bonus is not for use in the Live Dealer section. Besides the casino, there's also a sportsbook and poker room.
Ignition is not only a fine place for casino gaming, but it also has the largest online poker room available in The Golden State. You can get a casino bonus of 150% up to $1,500 with your first crypto deposit, and in addition, you will also qualify for a similarly sized poker bonus at the same time. If you deposit via non-crypto methods, then both bonuses will shrink to just 100% up to $1,000. On all Bitcoin redeposits, you will also be able to redeem a 25% up to $1,000 bonus, and there's a weekly reload of 100% up to $100 on all deposit methods.
Both your casino and poker action will count toward Ignition Rewards, which pays out cash rewards for the points you earn while playing.
Sportsbetting Casino is where you want to be if you relish the latest and greatest in online slots technology. There are hundreds of titles powered by game supplier Betsoft's Slots3 engine, which allows for smooth animations, richly detailed character models, and stunning background graphics. It's not just the appearance of the games that's superb: They also have exciting bonus rounds, free spins, wild symbols, and everything else you would expect of modern video slots. On each of your first three deposits, you will get a 100% up to $1,000 bonus, which you can use to check out the slots on offer.
Other advantages of opening an account at SB Casino include a 10% weekly loss rebate, monthly reload of 20% up to $500, and tournaments with valuable prizes. There's a poker room and sportsbook to check out as well.
Bovada is a sister site of Cafe Casino, Ignition, and Slots.lv, but unlike these brands, it has the combination of a casino, sportsbook, racebook, and poker room. As a new player, you qualify for bonuses in all of these products: 75% up to $750 for sports and racing, three bonuses of 125% up to $1,250 apiece for the casino, and 100% up to $500 for poker. These figures drop to 50% up to $250, 100% up to $1,000, and 100% up to $500 respectively if you deposit via any non-crypto method.
All your action, regardless of the product vertical you're betting in, contributes to your standing in the Bovada Rewards program. This will see you collect points, which you can trade in for free money credits.
Everygame has three separate casino platforms for you to partake in, offering titles from Betsoft, Realtime Gaming, WGS Technology, Nucleus Gaming, Tangente, and several other software houses. This means that the game selection is truly impressive particularly compared to competitors in the California online casino real money market. There's up to $5,555 in bonuses and 25 free spins awaiting your first four deposits. Moreover, there are many reloads, tournaments, free spins, no deposit bonuses, and other offers every month.
Everygame is a prominent sportsbook in addition to being a casino provider. There's also an attached poker room in case you like to play cards too.
Juicy Stakes is part of the Everygame family, and so it benefits from its elder brother's penchant for fast payouts and honest gaming. Although the welcome bonus is a fairly banal 25 free spins, things get better over time as you remain a loyal Juicy Stakes customer. There's usually a casino tournament every month where you can win up to $400, multiple reload bonuses, occasional free spin opportunities, cashback weekends, and other valuable promotions to pad your bankroll.
If you fancy a break from the slots and table game action, then you can head over to the poker room, which also tends to have a variety of promos every month.
Nitrobetting (formerly Nitrogen Sports) is a sportsbook, casino, and poker website that uses bitcoins for all deposits, gameplay, and withdrawals. Most every other online casino California residents can play at supports BTC to one degree or another, but Nitrobetting is relatively special in that you bet in crypto as well whereas most sites make you convert your BTC back and forth into dollars before wagering. The selection of games here is somehwat limited, but there are compensatory advantages, like the lightning-fast, same-day payouts.
Many of the games at Nitrobetting are provably fair, meaning that you can verify, with the help of an external site, that every round is fair and uses real random numbers.
Once you have determined the best online casino in California for your personal preferences, it would behoove you to pay some attention to the payment method you will use to make your deposit. These methods vary a bit from operator to operator.
Credit cards are widely supported by almost every real money online casino in California, but some card issuers tend to block transactions related to gaming. Furthermore, there are sometimes fees associated with credit card deposits.
For the best results, we recommend that you deposit with a crypto-currency, like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, or Ethereum. Bitcoin deposits are allowed at every recommended online casino for real money California players, and other digital coins are gaining in popularity too.
Cryptos tend to have lower fees than other payment processors, and the transactions are generally faster as well. This is especially true on the cashout side of the equation. If you use old-school payment options, like checks or bank wires, then you might have to wait longer than a week to get your money whereas crypto withdrawals are usually paid in full within a couple of days.
You might be wondering what the differences are between the game selection you might encounter in a terrestrial gaming establishment and what you can find online. In most cases, there's not much difference in the types of games that are available.
You will encounter different bet sizes permitted with online operations tending to allow for wider betting ranges. This is particularly true at the low end of the spectrum where you might find table game minimum bets of just $1 as contrasted with the $10 or even $25 minimums that are common in physical casinos.
You will also see the action move much faster online. Because shuffling cards, spinning wheels, and rolling dice are handled by the software, these actions tend to take up far less time than in a live setting. This means more time spent actually placing your bets and enjoying the action!
There are different gaming menus at each individual internet casino, but a few categories are present at pretty much all of them. Among the forms of gaming available to you at online casinos in California are:
Just as in their terrestrial counterparts, the slots are the most popular games in virtual gambling sites. Most modern video slots feature highly detailed graphics, exciting bonus rounds, and play across five reels and dozens of paylines. There are usually a few older-style, three-reel options too in case you prefer these simpler slots.
We here at ProfRB have actually taken a look at some of the popular online slots for real money California wagering. You can find out more about them, including comprehensive reviews, by reading this slots guide.
There's hardly any casino, whether offline or online, that lacks the omnipresent 21 card game. Indeed, most of them feature several varieties of this game with slightly different rules, fewer or more decks in the shoe, and different permitted bet sizes. Variants like Spanish 21 and Blackjack Switch are widely spread too although not at every provider.
Not to be confused with multi-player poker, like Texas Hold'em, most internet casinos nevertheless host a selection of poker-like games. Pai Gow Poker, Caribbean Stud, Let 'Em Ride, and Three Card Poker are examples of this kind of game.
There are plenty of other games that use cards, dice, wheels, and other implements of randomization. You will find a healthy selection of them online, including Roulette, Craps, Keno, and Baccarat. The specific titles present at any internet gaming destination will vary from site to site; yet, you should be able to find enough of them to hold your interest.
Video Poker is an old standby with hundreds of different formats found all around the world. It's not uncommon for there to be a dozen or more machines to choose from at some online gambling sites California boasts. Other venues offer a more limited menu, but several of the most commonplace varieties, like Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild, can be widely found on the internet.
Live Dealer technology allows you to combine the best of both physical and California online casinos. The games are actually operated by human dealers in a studio, and the action is broadcast over the internet for all participants to view. The betting controls and chips are all virtual, though, and you make your decisions strictly through your computer like normal.
Since the landmark Murphy v. NCAA Supreme Court case, dozens of states have instituted their own legal, licensed sportsbook economies. There were a couple of ongoing efforts to put sports betting initiatives before California voters in 2022, like the ill-fated propositions 26 and 27, but until there's positive movement on this front, you can still bet on sports with an offshore betting site.
Rather than letting you choose blindly among operators who may not be legit, we have evaluated the existing options for California sports betting and have identified an excellent bookmaker for you to place your bets with:
There are other reputable internet bookies for you to choose from, and you can read more about them in our list of the best USA online sportsbooks.
There have been several attempts over the years to get an online poker legalization bill – like AB-1677 – passed through the California legislature. Yet, all such bills have faltered at one point or another.
Therefore, if you really want to play from home without the inconveniences of traveling to a brick-and-mortar cardroom, you will have to frequent an online poker sites headquartered outside state borders. We here at ProfessionalRakeback are experts at all things related to internet poker, and we have used our knowledge and judgment to select the best online poker site for Californians:
There are many other offshore poker brands that cater to the Californian market. Learn more about them in our guide to California online poker.
When we turn to the lawbooks in the State of California, we find that many of their provisions, especially those that pertain to gambling, were drafted decades or even centuries ago. There's very little that specifically relates to casino games played on a computer.
The main statute that could come into play relating to this activity is the California Penal Code, Part 1, Title 9, Chapter 10, Section 330:
330. Every person who deals, plays, or carries on, opens, or causes to be opened, or who conducts, either as owner or employee, whether for hire or not, any game of faro, monte, roulette, lansquenet, rouge et noire, rondo, tan, fan-tan, seven-and-a-half, twenty-one, hokey-pokey, or any banking or percentage game played with cards, dice, or any device, for money, checks, credit, or other representative of value, and every person who plays or bets at or against any of those prohibited games, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable by a fine not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment.
This seemingly comprehensive language covers dealers, players, owners, operators, and employees, and it specifically names any number of gambling amusements, like roulette and twenty-one. It also generally prohibits any “banking or percentage game played with cards, dice, or any device,” and “banking or percentage game” refers to games in which there's a “house” that accepts all wagers and pays out the wins. It appears that California online casino real money games are definitely included within the ambit of this text.
However, the way that this law is enforced in practice means that you have nothing to worry about. Police have only ever used this law to crack down on illegal brick-and-mortar gambling parlors. There has never been an instance of an individual real money online casino player in California being targeted for prosecution.
Subsequent sections of the Penal Code contain information on a lot of other infractions, such as possession of an illegal gambling device, bookmaking, cheating, and more. In most cases, these crimes are misdemeanors, but some of the more serious charges are felonies.
We've already seen that you're in the clear with regard to CA law if you want to play at an online casino for real money in California. Let's now examine the relevant federal laws.
Federal courts have ruled that the Wire Act only applies to sports betting, so it doesn't even come into play with other forms of wagering, like casino amusements. This leaves the UIGEA as the main form of federal anti-gaming legislation that might apply.
It's unclear whether or not cross-state gaming even counts as illegal gambling for the purposes of the UIGEA. The authorities would probably say that it does, and most banks likely agree being conservative by nature. You may encounter a few hurdles if you try to move your money through the banking system to fund your internet gaming.
However, all of the responsibility for compliance with the UIGEA is on the banks and payment processors. They're the ones who could get in trouble if they're found to be breaking the law. There are no penalties at the federal level for playing casino games online. Thus, you can log in and play with confidence and complete legal safety.
When people search for "casinos in California" in Google or DuckDuckGo, they are more often than not looking for information about brick-and-mortar gambling facilities, not online gambling sites in California. They wish to research and play at the best casino in California itself, excluding the internet. This section of this article is dedicated to providing information about all live venues for casino gambling throughout the state.
Even the most ardent devotee of California online casino real money games will wish to participate in live gambling from time to time. There's just nothing quite like the feel of the clay chips in your hands as you sit at the green baize felt.
Fortunately California has terrestrial casinos in abundance as befits its geographical size and large population. A bit unusually, these are not divided into tribal and commercial casinos but rather tribal gaming venues and commercial cardrooms. There are no commercial casinos in the Golden State although some of the cardrooms have used legal chicanery to make themselves more similar to the commercial casinos found in other states.
The tribal casinos host slots, table games, poker, and all the usual types of entertainments you would expect. There are more than 60 of them across the state with some being little more than tents with a few slots inside. However, the best casinos in California boast luxury accommodations and dining along with expansive gaming floors.
Among the largest of these CA tribal gambling halls are:
In addition to the tribal venues, there are close to 90 cardrooms in the state. Some are tiny rooms that hold but a single table, but at the other end of the scale, California contains some of the largest cardrooms in the world.
Unlike the tribal casinos, California's cardrooms can legally only host peer-to-peer games in which the house retains a small fee for its services. Therefore, games that are banked by the house, like Blackjack and Baccarat, are prohibited while poker is totally fine.
However, some of these facilities have begun hiring outside corporations to provide a player willing to bank action with other players in various games. This technically means that players are betting amongst each other with the house only keeping a reasonable fraction of each bet as its fee.
Such arrangements have been challenged by the tribal gaming groups who view it as an illegal attempt by the cardrooms to expand their offerings beyond what's allowed by law. For now, however, the cardrooms are able to get away with it.
Confusingly, many of these cardrooms have the word “casino” in their names. They are, though, considered a different type of establishment under California state law than the “real” casinos on Indian lands.
The four largest California cardrooms are:
California has a few racetracks and satellite wagering locations where pari-mutuel betting is allowed. There's also a California Lottery, which is one of the highest-grossing lotteries in the nation. Charitable bingo, raffles, and poker nights round out the selection of brick-and-mortar gaming present.
There have not yet been any serious attempts to regulate online slots, craps, video poker, and other such games in Sacramento. This may seem a bit unusual because of the mammoth size of the potential market and the fact that CA voters skew liberal. The explanation for this lack lies in the already-large gambling economy in the state.
The commercial cardrooms, tribal nations, and horse racing industry all view each other as competitors, and each group generally works to obstruct any expansion of the others. There have already been serious disagreements between the tribes and the cardrooms as to what types of games the latter are allowed to conduct, and any move to institute licensed gaming within California would likely see a mountain of similar disputes arise.
Though internet casinos have not been considered in earnest by lawmakers, online poker and sports betting have. However, all bills to regulate these forms of gaming have fallen short largely due to the inability of the various stakeholders to come to an agreement.
We foresee state-supervised real money online casinos in California appearing at some point. But it's probable that this will have to wait until after online sports betting and poker legislation is passed.
With a large population, celebrity culture centered on Hollywood, and plenty of venues for wagering, it's no surprise that many residents of California have made their mark on the world of gambling and casino betting. Denizens of the state have featured in gambling adventures since the mid-1800s, but perhaps the most notable was Archie Karas and his sick heater in the 1990s.
His full name is Anargyros Karabourniotis, and he was born in Greece in 1950. He took a ship to Portland, OR before settling in Los Angeles and becoming a regular at the local cardrooms. After one downswing in 1992, he was reduced to a bankroll of just $50. Many in Archie's shoes would have then quit gambling – or at least taken a break – but this was not the path he chose.
Instead, Karas took his last $50 and drove to Las Vegas. He soon encountered an old pal who agreed to loan him $10,000. Archie began playing $200/$400 Razz poker, tripled his initial stake, and paid his backer $20,000 with $10,000 remaining for himself.
Heading to a local pool hall, Karas ran into a well-respected pool and poker player. They began playing 9-ball at $5,000 per game. Archie started winning, and the stakes increased to $40,000 per game. Archie Karas booked a $1.2 million win that evening and followed it up by going to Binion's Horseshoe where he won a further $3 million from the same individual playing poker.
Armed with more than $4 million, he then challenged the most skilled poker players in town to play against him heads-up. An all-star roster consisting of such prestigious names as Stu Ungar, Chip Reese, Johnny Moss, and Johnny Chan rose to the challenge, but Archie prevailed against most of them. Six months after voyaging to Vegas, Archie Karas had won at least $17 million.
Archie was by no means done. Switching to craps, he would regularly bet $100,000 on a single roll of the dice and sometimes more. Over the next couple years, Karas grew his winnings to more than $40 million, and at one point, he won every single $5,000 chip circulated by Binions.
Alas, all good things come to an end especially in the negative-sum world of gambling. Over a three-week period in 1995, Archie lost it all. He first dropped $11 million in the craps pit and then $17 million in baccarat. He wisely took a break from the tables at that point, returning to his native Greece. However, he was soon back in Las Vegas where he lost his remaining funds at craps, blackjack, and poker.
Since that epic run, Archie Karas has won and lost seven-figure sums multiple times. Unfortunately, he has also run into trouble with the law over gambling-related crimes. In 2014, Karas was convicted in court after an incident at Barona Casino in San Diego County where he marked cards in order to win at Blackjack. He was sentenced to three years' probation.
When it comes to picking a California online casino for real money play, there are certainly quite a few of them. There's nothing in either state or federal law penalizing you for playing these games over the internet, so you can sample the offerings of a California online casino without any fear of legal consequences. Pick a real money online casino for California from our list above, and before long, you'll be enjoying the fair, smooth, and exciting gaming action you seek.
If you don't want to have to sift through the comprehensive information we've provided and just want to get started playing as soon as possible, then don't worry; we've got you covered. Here's our top pick for best online casino in California:
If you live elsewhere in the country besides California and you would like insight into where you can play casino games on the internet, don't hesitate to consult our internet casino USA guide.
The topic of online gaming in California is one that many people often have questions about. If you wish to get quick answers, then look below in our FAQ where we address some of the common queries about California online casinos.
Yes, there's nothing stopping you from gaming online from California. There are countless internet casinos prepared to accept your action whether you're a serious high roller or a low-stakes dabbler.
Simply find a trustworthy operator from the list above, sign up for an account on your computer, and then play to your heart's content on your PC, smartphone, or tablet. It's that easy to gamble over the internet in California.
Yes, you can legally play at internet casinos as a resident of California. All of the laws that address this industry restrict penalties to the owners and operators of the sites. As an ordinary player, none of these statutes apply to you, so you can play over the internet without any legal worry.
This is a bit of a gray area, but ultimately, we would conclude that yes, casinos that operate via the internet are legal in California. There are a few laws on the books that could be used to target the management and key executives of these firms. However, these statutes are only enforceable within the United States, which site personnel are cautious to ever avoid visiting. Therefore, they're largely immune from the efforts of federal law enforcement.
Furthermore, this kind of online gambling business is based on well-understood trade agreements that permit signatories access to each other's markets for gaming and other services. The United States is a party to these treaties, and it has already been found in violation for attempting to prosecute internet gaming companies.
Yes. Although play money and social casinos exist that don't use actual money, the best gaming excitement and opportunity to collect valuable winnings will come from the kind of real money online casinos California residents love to frequent.
No, California doesn't license or regulate any internet casino companies. The needed legislation to allow for this has not been passed into law. In fact, there have never been any serious legislative pushes to draft such a bill. We believe that it could be five years or more before state-supervised online casinos for California become a reality.
This is a matter of opinion. Chumba claims that its sweepstakes business model makes it perfectly legal in the State of California. We have our doubts regarding this legal argument as well as the excellence of the platform in general. Space doesn't permit us to list all the issues we have with Chumba here, but you can find out more in our detailed Chumba review.
Cal games are table games that are found in California B&M cardrooms. Most of them closely resemble well-known games like Pai Gow Poker and Blackjack, but the rules have been slightly altered to make them legal in California.
Games that are banked by the house are not permitted at commercial cardrooms in the state. Therefore, Cal Games are structured such that there's a “player-dealer” who books the wagers with the other players and handles the payouts. In most of these games, the opportunity to be the player-dealer rotates around the table, but anyone can decline and participate as solely a regular player.
In practice, there's usually a permanent player-dealer, supplied by a third-party corporation, who collects all the losing wagers while paying out the winners. All the other players are expected to pass when it's their turn to be the player-dealer. We have even heard that certain cardrooms have banned patrons who insisted upon their right to act as player-dealer.
Should you desire more information about California gambling, then you can peruse the following external resources:
We strive to maintain this information and update it frequently with our research. However, we are not immune to making mistakes or omitting information that you, dear reader, may find of use. If you have any further questions not addressed in this guide or have noted any discrepancies or inaccuracies, we urge you to contact us with your questions and concerns so that we may swiftly
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