Brand Partner ContentAs the most populated state in the US, California is home to tens of thousands of gamblers who enjoy many of the local casino offerings in addition to easy access to Las Vegas. While there are numerous land-based options in the state, there still is no regulated online gambling industry in California, despite numerous attempts and many other states successfully moving online. Based on the current climate in the market, it’s unlikely this will materialize anytime soon as attempts for over 10 years have thus failed to produce any meaningful regulation according to USGS.
Because of this, Californians looking to play online must look to the offshore sites that offering real money games to players in the state. Luckily, there are still some trustworthy options available to allow real money play across casino games, sports betting and poker. At present, there are two sites that offer reputable and safe gaming options to players in California.
Where Can Californians Gamble Online?
WildCasino.ag – launched in late 2019 and part of the BOL group (serving US players since 1998), Wild Casino offers just over 500 casino games as well as numerous promotions. New players are entitled to up to $9,000 in bonuses when they make a first deposit at the site. In addition Wild Casino offers numerous ongoing promos like cash-back, free spins and more.
BetOnline.ag – another longstanding option for Californians looking for sports betting, online poker or casino games is Bet Online which has been operating for over 20 years. The site offers an excellent selection of leagues to bet on, is one of the largest US poker sites and also features a wide selection of casino game titles for players. New players that sign up at Bet Online can also receive up to $4,000 in bonuses depending on which promotion they select during deposit.
Real Money Play – Depositing & Withdrawing
One of the most frequent questions from Californian players looking to play online is how depositing and withdrawing works, and if it’s safe to deposit and play online. While there are some less reputable sites catering to the US, the options above are completely safe and secure and have been in business for over two decades providing real money games to players.
When it comes to making deposits and withdrawals for real money, these sites offer numerous options for California players. Some of the most popular deposit methods include all major credit cards, money transfer, e-check as well as vouchers that can be purchased at retailers.
When making a withdrawal from the sites, the same options are available as well as paper checks, with the average withdrawal taking just 72 hours of less to be paid out to the player. Operators know that having speedy payouts is one of the most important factors for players, which is why Wild Casino and Bet Online have developed industry-leading payout times.
Latest on Legal Gambling in California – Laws & Regulations
Numerous attempts have been made to legalize online gambling in California over the last 10 years, particularly when it comes to online poker. Lawmakers have proposed numerous bills that have reached the Senate and Assembly, however all of these bills failed to pass and become law, likely due to lobbying from Tribal Gaming entities and offshore companies. Because of this, talks to regulate online poker ultimately failed in 2017 and since then no new legislation has been proposed that would make online poker regulated within California.
Aside from poker, there has been little movement on online casino and in fact it has never been tabled or discussed in serious terms. Because of this it’s unlikely that online casino games will be regulated in the state in the near future, as there seems little appetite to pursue this avenue.
The one area where there may be a glimmer of hope is when it comes to both DFS and online sports betting as these become more widely adopted by many states around the US. For DFS, some efforts were made to regulate this in 2016 which ultimately failed, however there is no legislation banning DFS and therefore many popular sites accepting California based residents.
For sports betting, there has been recent activity to pursue a legalized industry and at present there is a voter initiative to push for regulation, which is schedule on the November 2022 ballot. This means that it could be quite a while before the regulated industry opens up in California, so the well-known and trusted offshore books will continue to dominant the market.
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