Online Gambling in California | What Is Legal?

by Dan Favale

Updated: May 21, 2026

Online gambling in California is a mess. That’s the most honest way to start this page.

California does not have a fully regulated online gambling market. There are no state-licensed online casinos. There are no licensed online sportsbooks. There is no legal online poker. 

But there are exceptions. Horse racing is fully legal online. DFS apps operate in a contested gray area. Sweepstakes casinos were restricted this year. Prediction markets are growing fast. And offshore sites continue to accept California players despite state regulations.

This page covers the entire gambling landscape in California. We break down sports betting, casinos, poker, DFS, horse racing, sweepstakes, prediction markets, and the lottery. Each one has a different legal status. Understanding the difference matters.

California is the most populous state in America. It has the most sports teams, the most casinos, and the most potential gambling revenue. Yet its online gambling laws are some of the most restrictive in the country. The reasons go back decades. The path forward is unclear. This page is your starting point for making sense of it.

For the full picture on betting and gambling in the Golden State, check our California betting hub.

California online gambling status at a glance

Let’s start with the big picture. Here are all the categories of online gambling in California, their legal status, and what California players actually have access to.

This is the snapshot. Three categories are clearly legal: horse racing, the state lottery, and social casinos. Sports betting is clearly not legal. DFS, sweepstakes casinos, and prediction markets are disputed or restricted in different ways. Online casinos and online poker do not exist as state-regulated products in California. The next sections break down each category in detail.

Notice the pattern. The categories that have always been legal, such as horse racing, lottery, and social casinos, are tightly scoped. The categories that could generate major revenue, including sports betting, online casinos, and online poker, remain blocked. DFS, sweepstakes casinos, and prediction markets sit in the contested middle ground.

For official state guidance, see the California DOJ Bureau of Gambling Control. For the DFS-specific legal opinion, see the California Attorney General’s July 2025 opinion on daily fantasy sports.

Online sports betting in California

Online sports betting is the most-searched gambling topic in California. The answer is the same one we’ve been giving for years: it’s not legal.

There are no California-licensed sportsbooks. DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM, and Caesars do not operate in the state. They cannot legally take sports bets from California residents. The 2022 ballot measures (Props 26 and 27) both failed by wide margins. Prop 26 lost with 67% voting no. Prop 27 lost with 82% voting no. No new initiative has qualified for the ballot since.

So what do California residents do? Many use offshore sportsbooks. Sites like Bovada, BetOnline, and MyBookie accept California players. They are not licensed in California. They operate under international licenses outside the U.S. jurisdiction. They are widely used but not state-regulated. Players take on the risks associated with using unregulated platforms.

Tribal leaders have indicated they will not pursue a 2026 ballot measure. The California Nations Indian Gaming Association voted unanimously against the most recent third-party initiatives. Without tribal support, no measure can pass. DraftKings and FanDuel executives have acknowledged that any future legalization must be tribal-led.

For the full breakdown, visit our California sports betting legal page or our California betting apps page.

Online casinos and poker in California

Online casino gaming is in the same boat as sports betting. There is no state-regulated framework. There are no licensed real-money online casinos. There is no legal online poker in California.

Major U.S. operators like DraftKings Casino, FanDuel Casino, and BetMGM Casino don’t serve California. They only operate in states with legal iGaming frameworks. Seven states currently offer regulated online casinos: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. California is not on that list. PokerStars and other regulated poker rooms also don’t accept California players for real money.

California has tried to legalize online poker before. Multiple bills have been introduced over the past decade. None of them passed. Disagreements between tribes, card rooms, and commercial operators killed every effort. The same coalition that opposes sports betting also opposes online poker.

Offshore casinos remain the most common workaround. They’re not licensed by California. They don’t offer state consumer protections. But they continue to accept California players and pay out winnings.

For more on what’s available, visit our California online casinos page.

Daily fantasy sports in California

DFS is the messiest category in California right now. The apps are everywhere. The legal status is contested. And nobody has fully resolved the question of whether they’re actually legal.

Here’s what happened. In July 2025, AG Rob Bonta issued a 33-page legal opinion. He concluded that all paid DFS contests violate California’s penal code. Every format. Pick’em, draft-style, peer-to-peer. Bonta said all of them count as unauthorized sports wagering.

Four class action lawsuits were filed the same day against DraftKings, FanDuel, PrizePicks, and Underdog. But here’s the catch. An AG opinion is advisory. It does not carry the force of law. A Sacramento Superior Court judge confirmed this when denying Underdog’s motion. The apps are still running.

DraftKings and FanDuel kept their products unchanged. They “respectfully disagreed” with Bonta’s interpretation. PrizePicks switched from pick-em to its peer-to-peer Arena format. Underdog made a similar move to Champions. California players still have access to all four operators. But the legal landscape is anything but settled.

California accounts for over 10% of Underdog’s annual revenue. Losing the state would be devastating for smaller operators. That’s why none of them are leaving voluntarily. The fight is happening in court, not in the apps.

For more, visit our California DFS page.

Horse racing and advance deposit wagering

Here’s the one bright spot in California’s online gambling picture. Horse racing is fully legal online. Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) platforms are licensed by the California Horse Racing Board. They’ve operated in the state for over two decades.

Licensed ADW options include TVG and TwinSpires. Both are fully regulated. Both accept California players. Both pay out winnings without issue. Players can bet on tracks across California, the U.S., and internationally. Win, place, show, exotic wagers, and same-day pari-mutuel betting are all available.

Why is horse racing legal when nothing else is? It comes down to history. Pari-mutuel wagering on horse races was carved out of California gambling law in the 1930s. The federal Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 then created a framework for ADW that California adopted. That carveout is unique to horse racing. It doesn’t apply to other sports.

If you want to bet on real-world events from your phone in California today, this is the cleanest legal option. No legal gray area. No offshore questions. Just standard regulated wagering.

California also has a strong horse racing tradition at physical tracks. Santa Anita Park and Del Mar remain major California racing venues. Golden Gate Fields was part of California’s racing history but closed in 2024. Online ADW lets you bet from home on those tracks and many others. The platforms also offer streaming coverage so you can watch the races you’re betting on.

For more, visit our California horse betting page.

Sweepstakes casinos and prediction markets

These two categories are often lumped together. They shouldn’t be. They’re completely different products with completely different legal issues. Here’s the breakdown.

Sweepstakes casinos are the simpler story. They used a workaround model. You bought one virtual currency. You got a second currency for free. The free currency could be redeemed for cash. AB 831 banned this exact structure effective January 1, 2026. The platforms exited California. They’re no longer an option.

Prediction markets are more complicated. Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket let users bet on real-world events. They’re regulated federally by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, not by states. California tribes argue these platforms violate their gaming exclusivity. Lawsuits are pending.

The prediction market space is growing fast. Kalshi recently introduced sports event markets that look very similar to traditional sportsbook bets. Polymarket offers markets on elections, sports outcomes, weather, and entertainment events. Robinhood, Crypto.com, and Coinbase have also entered the space. The CFTC has not blocked these markets. State attorneys general have taken different positions. California’s position is being shaped through litigation rather than legislation.

For more, visit our California sweepstakes casinos page or our prediction markets page.

Can you get in trouble for gambling online in California?

This is the question everyone wants answered. The honest answer? Probably not. But there are real risks worth understanding.

• Myth: “I’ll get arrested for betting online.”
• Fact: California gambling law primarily targets operators, not individual players. There are no documented cases of California residents being prosecuted for placing bets on offshore sites. The state focuses enforcement on the businesses, not the bettors.
• Myth: “My winnings are guaranteed if I follow the rules.”
• Fact: They’re not. Offshore sites are not regulated by California or any U.S. state. If a site refuses to pay you, your options are limited. There is no California regulatory body to file a complaint with. Dispute resolution is harder.
• Myth: “VPNs let me access regulated U.S. sportsbooks safely.”
• Fact: They don’t. Using a VPN to access a geo-restricted sportsbook violates the platform’s terms of service. Your account can be frozen. Your winnings can be voided. KYC verification will eventually catch the discrepancy.

The real risks aren’t legal. They’re practical. Frozen accounts, voided winnings, payment processing issues, and difficulty getting customer support are all common in unregulated markets. Understand what you’re signing up for before you deposit.

Tax obligations also apply regardless of where you bet. The IRS treats gambling winnings as taxable income. Whether you bet through a regulated platform, an offshore site, or a peer-to-peer DFS contest, you’re technically required to report winnings on your federal tax return. Most casual bettors don’t. But for high winners, the tax exposure is real.