Is online gambling legal in California?

California: status at a glance

What California does regulate

California's legal gambling is physical and split between two systems. The first is the card room. The Bureau of Gambling Control, part of the California Department of Justice, reviews and approves the rules of games and gaming activities in all California card rooms before they are offered. The second is tribal gaming: in 2000, voters passed Proposition 1A, which allows casino-style gaming on Indian land under a tribal ordinance and a compact with the state. According to the Bureau, tribes carry out the primary regulation on site, and the state is responsible for compliance with the compact.

Neither system, in the sources we read, includes an online product. The Bureau's page does not address online gambling, and the status table above shows no online casino, sports or poker license.

The two regulators

The Bureau investigates people who apply for licenses, inspects licensed businesses for compliance, and registers nonprofit organizations and gambling equipment suppliers for charity events that use controlled games. It also runs the statewide self-exclusion program, which lets people bar themselves from California gambling establishments.

Alongside it sits the California Gambling Control Commission, a five-member body appointed by the governor. The Bureau's page says the Commission sets minimum regulatory standards for the industry and works with the Bureau under the Gambling Control Act, found in Business and Professions Code section 19800 and following. Its stated aim is to ensure that state gambling licenses are not issued to or held by unsuitable or unqualified individuals. We did not read the Commission's own site, so nothing here is drawn from it.

AB 831 and sweepstakes casinos

California's treatment of sweepstakes casinos changed with a single bill. The Governor's legislative update of October 11, 2025 lists AB 831, by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, under the bills signed that day, with the subject "Gambling: operation of a contest or sweepstakes." Our data shows the law in force from January 1, 2026.

The Legislature's own bill site, where the text and analysis sit, bars automated readers in its robots file, so we did not read the chaptered text. Law firm and trade press summaries, which are secondary, say the law bars web and app games that use two currencies, as sweepstakes casinos do, and reaches vendors and partners as well as operators. Treat those descriptions as pointers to the bill and not as the law itself. For the state-level picture of how the ban is applied, see the page on sweepstakes casinos in California, and for how it compares with other bans see the banned states table.

Sports betting and poker

Industry trackers list California as having no legal sports betting and no online poker. We read no Bureau or Commission page that says otherwise. The national picture, including which states license online sportsbooks, is on the sports betting states page, and licensed online poker is on the online poker states page.

Card room and tribal gaming do exist in California, but the sources we read treat them as on-site activities. The Bureau's description covers card rooms and tribal casino gaming and does not mention an internet product.

Sites based outside the United States

Websites based abroad hold no California license, because California issues none for online games. The state publishes no register of them, and no California regulator supervises them. This site does not recommend or discourage any operator. It describes what the law and the registers show.

Where to get help

The Bureau's self-exclusion program applies to California gambling establishments. For free, confidential support, the national line is 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738). We did not read a California-run helpline page, so none is listed here. More resources are on the responsible gambling page.

Neighbors

California shares a border with Arizona, which licenses online sports betting through its Department of Gaming and has issued cease-and-desist letters to sweepstakes operators.

Frequently asked questions

Can I play at a sweepstakes casino in California?

AB 831 was signed on October 11, 2025, and our data shows it in force since January 1, 2026. The law is the state's answer to sweepstakes casinos, and no California regulator licenses them.

Is online sports betting legal in California?

Not according to the sources we read. The Bureau of Gambling Control page covers card rooms and tribal casinos and does not mention online wagering.

What are card rooms?

They are licensed gambling establishments whose game rules the Bureau of Gambling Control reviews and approves before the games are offered.

Who regulates gambling in California?

The Bureau of Gambling Control in the Department of Justice, and the five-member California Gambling Control Commission under the Gambling Control Act. Tribal casinos are regulated on site by tribes under their compacts.