The NBA playoffs have started, and four Californian teams have stepped up to swing – Golden State Warriors, LA Lakers, Sacramento Kings, and LA Clippers – making the state the host of the largest number of clubs currently in the NBA.
Yet, residents in California who want to wager on the chances of the Lakers winning still can’t do it, since sports betting remains illegal in The Golden State. Fortunately for bettors, card rooms, race tracks, and tribal casinos are legal. However, any online casino or sportsbook remains banned in the state.
A gray area is that of offshore casinos, where players can gamble online without breaking state laws. For example, Visa casinos are extremely popular among US gamblers as they allow Visa card payments, are incredibly accessible, and offer a variety of games. These offshore casinos can be accessed by Californians due to the uncertainty around the laws regulating offshore sites. Some players also turn to crypto sites to meet their gambling needs, as these are also usually licensed overseas, and allow players to make anonymous transactions without verifying their identity.
The only other option for those who wish to play traditional table games and slots is to access legal tribal casinos. California Gambling Law does not apply to these regions as they’re considered sovereign territories and governed by their own laws.
The state also has a Lottery, that was started in 1984 and governed by the California State Lottery Commission. The main goal of the Lottery is to fund California’s education system.
When it comes to legal card rooms, the state has placed a moratorium on all new establishments. There are just shy of 90 active card rooms in California, with nine of the card rooms having more than 50 tables for play.
Sports betting in California has seen some reform, with horse and mule racing and boxing/wrestling/martial arts being regulated by the Department of Consumer Affairs. In terms of horse racing, patrons can wager at the race track or satellite betting facilities.
Despite all this, casinos – both online and land-based – remain illegal.
There have been suggested changes to the gambling laws in California, with Proposition 26 and Proposition 27 brought forward in 2022 which aims to legalize in-person and online sports betting at tribal casinos and licensed online platforms. Unfortunately for punters, neither proposition was accepted, meaning online wagering remains illegal.
The proponents of these suggested changes were gambling operators and iGaming companies, while those opposing were tribal casinos and the companies that run them. The tribes operating these establishments create more than 184,000 jobs at their facilities and contribute $35 billion to the economy. It is therefore understandable that they were strongly opposed to the proposals that would legalize the services they offer across the state.
Similar initiatives were brought, but not included on the ballot, in 2024, namely the California Tribal Sports Betting Initiative and the California Tribal Government Mobile and Retail Sports Betting Initiative.
Should non-tribal establishments and online platforms be allowed to legally operate, the entire gambling industry in California would change. It would result in a dynamic scene, with online sites and retail gambling companies vying for customers.
Given the strong and convincing opposition by tribal casino operators, it is tough to say when sportsbooks and non-tribal casinos will be legalized in California. There is one positive outlook: As soon as the tribal operators and gambling companies can reach a compromise, gambling may be made legal.
